lynns59

Well I found some Pennzoil Synchromesh today so I'm going to put that in my T5. It's got the same specs the GM stuff does and it's safe for the brass syncro rings.

Frankie the Fink

One of the 5-speed commercial vendors is trying to get a T-5 conversion prototyped for a C1 and I have been in contact with them the last couple of weeks. They figure they can reduce the price of a 5 speed kit below that of a TKO with this approach. They were actually trying to put the T-5 in a '61 (same as my car) last week and when I inquired how it was going I got the following two word email: "Not good". So I'm not counting on this being a 'low-impact' swap until I hear more. I would consider cutting out my ashtray pocker but I'm not doing surgery on my tunnel....

lynns59

Unless you have the transmission bolted to the engine and put them in as a unit or you unbolt the engine and slide it forward, or do what I did, you will not get a T5 in a C1. There just isn't enough room between the frame and the tunnel to push it back far enough to get the input in the bell housing. Also if you want to keep the shifter in the original hole you will have to use a V8 Camaro T5 which is rotated 17 degrees counter clockwise. Because of this you have to raise the tunnel area around the shifter about an inch to get it off the shifter plate. dgsmith on this forum installed his straight up with an older bell housing and he had to raise his tunnel around the shifter to clear it. I didn't want to slide the engine forward so I removed the section of the tunnel and made it where it can be removed again if the transmission needs to come back out for some reason. I can certainly understand someone not wanting to cut their tunnel though.

lynns59

Well the T5 is installed and now there is a problem with the clutch. It's a new USA made OEM kit that came from Carolina Clutch and Converter. It's identical to the old factory one that came with this T5. It's so stiff you can barely push it in and when it does move it's not much. Anyone ever got hold of a new OEM pressure plate that was too stiff?

JohnZ

Who's the clutch manufacturer? Is it a 3-finger Borg & Beck coil-spring type or a diaphragm-type?

lynns59

Manufactured by Zoom and it's a diaphragm type. USA made also.

OCS1667

Lynn I think your explanation of the clutch being stiff can be solved in this manner.. I resolved that problem by drilling another hole in the cross over shaft allowing for more clutch rod leverage, in fact two more holes until I got it right.
Maybe some else can explain what I'm recommending you do.

Dennis

silverslashstreak

Lynn, if you used the stock T5 tipped bell housing the pivot point of the clutch fork is different than the stock clutch fork.
You will need to extend the clutch fork about a inch and a half to lessen the pedal effort.

Jeff

lynns59

Well I've figured that out now. The old clutch fork ball is very close to the center hole of the bell housing and this creates a lot more leverage. This Camaro fork pivots closer to the center of the fork. One problem is the "L" shaped plate I welded to the end of the arm and the location the linkage rod is bolted to it. I've got to cut that off and make it so the linkage rod bolts up at the fork and not 2" in front of it and like you said I'm going to extend it a little. It's already a little longer and I can't go much more because of clearance issues with the frame. This will also give me a better linkage angle and more leverage. I had already added length to the Z bar where the linkage mounts to get it down lower. If it's not one problem it's four or five!
I do appreciate all of the help from everyone though

silverslashstreak

Lynn if you added length to the down leg of the Z bar you went the wrong way and decreased the leverage of the Z bar, which also would make your clutch harder to push. You need to drill a hole higher on the down leg to increase the leverage and decrease pedal effort. This will shorten the throw of the clutch fork, but since the pivot ball is farther out on the fork you will still have plenty of movement to disengage the clutch.

Hang in there, it is the smoothest trans out there and it will be a ton of fun to drive when you get it sorted out.

Jeff

lynns59

Maybe so. I just figured it would be better to get the linkage rod more in line vertically so it would be pushing back more than pushing down and back. But I will look at doing this. I'll get there but it's a real pain in the A$$!!!!!!

OCS1667

Lynn I was trying to figure out what you welded on to the clutch fork. I thought I shared with everyone the photo of how to use the clutch rod I built and secure it to the clutch fork.
Note, I cut the center of the fork out and welded a sleeve with a nut welded on the other in to receive the bolt that secures the clutch rod to the fork.
It works great, why did you try to reinvent the wheel and make your life frustrating.
Dennis

lynns59

Well Dennis I don't remember if I saw your clutch arm picture or not, I've looked at so much. What I do remember is looking at the pictures that silverslashstreak has posted on another thread. He welded an extension on his clutch fork as I did but I didn't extend it far enough out. I'm going to fix that though. I wasn't trying to reinvent anything.
Click on the link below and look 7 posts down. I'm sure you've seen these before but it's completely different from yours and that's the one I remember looking at. Your way obviously works too but it just seems like it needs further out for more leverage on the arm.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...in-63-a-2.html

lynns59

I have a question for Dennis, dgsmith, and silverslashstreak. What kind of pressure plate did you use for this swap? I've modified the clutch fork by cutting of the leg I had on it and extended it straight out about 1 1/2" inches, made a longer linkage rod, and bolted it to the end of the arm. This made very little difference in the way it feels. It softened it up just a little but it still acts like it did before. When you push the pedal it disengages all at once, then when you let out on the pedal you can feel it engage all at once. There is nothing gradual about it like a clutch normally would feel. I even put the old pressure plate that came with the transmission and it feels exactly the same. The new one is the exact same as the original one that came with the T5 and it is a Borg Warner brand, not a Zoom. Any suggestions?

OCS1667

I used a brand name pressure but nothing special.

Don't forget to grease the shaft that the through out bearing rides on.

I'm sticking to my guns on the cross over shaft, did you relocate the clutch rod on the shaft, that resolved my problem.

I used the bell housing that came with the T-5 and the fork, as you can see. There is no change in the length of the fork. I bolted the clutch rod to the fork and then attached the other end to the cross over shaft. I first attached the clutch rod to the original hole [located at the bottom], but it was way to stiff, I drilled 2 holes above the original hole to get the right feel. I went and looked at it from above, I can't get to it from underneath the car. I measured from above, and from the bottom of the cross over shaft to the final hole it measures 2" to the mounting point, of the clutch rod. If your attempting something else I would not know how to advise you.

It has to be something simple.

Dennis

lynns59

The clutch kit I bought is an OEM replacement for an 86 Camaro and others. It's a diaphragm type pressure plate. I'll just have to keep messing with it. I'll look at the down leg of the Z bar next.

silverslashstreak

I am using stock diaphragm style clutch. I feel like you must have something dragging or hanging up somewhere. Even when I first hooked mine up and did no extension of the fork it was not all that hard to push the pedal. I have read on the c3 section that a couple guys had a problem with the fork and the throw out bearing binding up some how and had to grind a small area so the clutch would move smoothly. Sorry I don't know the details.

Jeff

OCS1667

Lynn, how is it going, we haven't heard in a couple of days.

We want to hear you fixed the problem, and are enjoying your hard work.

Dennis

dgsmith

When I got my WC T5 it had a decal on the case calling for Dexron III trans fluid, the Mobil 1 trans. fluid is a direct replacement. Again, I've had the trans. in a previous car and the present vette for 10 years and it's worked fine. Also, repeating an earlier post, a mech. clutch 4 sp. bell housing will cause fewer clearance problems because it mounts the trans. straight on, not with the 17 deg rotation that a T5 bell housing will cause.

lynns59

Yes I know it would and if not for wanting to keep the stock appearance around the shifter you better believe I would have used one. But, it's too late to change now and the only real problem at this point is the clutch issue. I've got another, longer linkage rod made and have lengthened the clutch arm so I've got 7" from the end to the pivot ball. I'm also going to do as suggested and move the linkage back up to the original location on the down leg of the cross bar I just haven't had time to fool with it yet.