rjmonty

I have a 76 w / manual clutch, 4 speed. I bought a WC 5 speed from an 87 Camaro with the bell housing (hydraulic clutch). There are several problems I’m having.

Before I started this process, I thought I could bolt the 5 speed up to the BH that was used for the stock 4 speed even though several threads talked about the 15 degrees of trans rotation needed to get the shifter in the console correctly. I didn’t understand the point until I saw it with my own eyes….duh.

Ok, now I know my existing BH won’t work, next I tried the BH that came off the car w/ the T5. It had the trans bolt pattern that rotated the trans 15 degrees, great! It was made for a hydraulic clutch so it had an extra bracket molded to the side which I cut off. Now, I realize that this won’t bolt up because the starter motor is different between the Camaro and the Vette. I thought a Chevy 350 is a Chevy 350, but I guess not.

In addition, the clutch fork on the BH from the Camaro comes out at about the 8 o’clock position which interferes with my exhaust pipe. The clutch fork on my stock 4 speed BH came out about the 9 o’clock position which is what I need.

Some one must have run into these problems before. I know that most the threads talk about a using a T5 from a Mustang and using an adapter plate but the input shaft on the Camaro T5 and my Vette 4 speed are the same length.

So, does anyone know what bell housing (out of what make, model & year) can be used with a Camaro T5 for a direct bolt on to a 76 350? I see a reference to an 85 Chevy 1 ton. This may be hard to find in a junk yard. Are there any others that will work? Please help me. I about ready to put the 4 speed back in and forget the whole thing.

Beasley's 76

I can't answer the questions regarding the T5, but I just installed a T56 in my 76, I purchased the adapter plate and T56 input shaft from Fortes Parts. The adapter plate allowed me to mount the T56 to my old 4 speed BH and left the clutch setup just as it was. You reference an 85 chevy one ton, that is for the master cylinder and slave cylinder for the hydraulic setup I don't think you use the BH from the 85 chevy? I still have the BH from my T56 that came out of a 97 camaro, I'm not sure it would work either but if you find out it will, it's for sale.

Randal

BerniesVette

If I'm not mistaken, Carguy4sure did the camaro T5 swap. PM him for details, I think it was an easy swap for him.
Bernie

Garys 68

Cant help with the starter, but consider a hydraulic master cylinder (Norval used one from the 85 1 ton) and a hydraulic throwout bearing for the camaro with the camaro bell housing.

MakoVette

This is a pretty good link http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/0407vet...speed_install/

opps, 6 spd install

Fevre

Bolted my t5 to my vette bellhousing, think I had to enlarge the trans bolt holes but no biggie. Cut the shifter handle off at the base and weld a jog (I used black pipe) to get it come out the stock hole.

L824spd

Fevre, clean installation, really nice. I have also been considering the T5 swap in my 76. My thoughts were to cut the console plate all the way across, eliminating the area of the shift pattern. Then I would search out an oversize boot to clean it up. The shifter will pretty much come out in the center of the console won't it? Did you encounter any other issues?

rjmonty

Thanks for your replies. I thought of doing what Fevre did, just didn't want to mess up the console. But Fevre, nice job! I wish you had a pic of the shifter before you put the boot on. Thanks again.

Fevre

I know someone on the forum (maybe fauxrs) did that with a 6 speed, they removed the center section and have a large boot covering it, I prefer the stock look but his looked like it could have come from the factory that way.

I did not take any pics since it was such a ratty job. My welding stinks and I did not get the geometry right so the jog section was hitting against the under side of the plate when in 4th. I plan on getting a Pro 5.0 shifter so rather than spend more time on refabbing it I ground a notch in the black pipe jog secton. The orig ball is too big for the stock t5 shaft so a little duct tape and presto! you have a orig looking shifter stocking out of the console. I am surprised how solid it feels given the fact it is a stock t5 shifter (which sucks to start) then add in my poor fabrication and welding plus the duct.

Only real issue I am having is I do not think I have the driveline angle right, getting some vibration at highway speeds. Once I get that sorted out I will get the Pro 5.0 shifter and modify it.

Fevre

It is actually a Tremec he is running, looks even better than I remember

evalu8r

I did a write up on this swap also, if you use the camaro bh you have to go to a 10.4 clutch and flywheel and the starter has to be for a 305 v8. That's the way I went, but I used a CF II clutch. Also if you use this BH you have to modify the slave cylinder mount to accept the truck slave. Which is another thing, you can you use any of the 85 chev truck hydraulics. The slave does come close the header flange if you have headers, I shortened the flange and got good clearance. The shifter I cut down to a stub then welded a piece of 5/8" stock to the side of the nub 1.5" forward, tapped threads to bolt any Hurst handle on. This put me in center of the factory opening and looks like it came from the factory. Hope this helps.

Chris

L824spd

That looks great in the middle of the console. I really like it.

rjmonty

Fevre,
If you mounted the trans to the stock Vette BH, then was the rear trans mount at a 15-16 degree slant from the horizontal? If so, did you just make a special bracket to accomodate it? If so, would you take a pic and display? Sorry for the 20 questions but I would love to see how you did it.