Ok guys so I am going to be doing a T5 swap to my 1979 vett. This corvette is already a 4 speed, and not a performance vett and I just go do cruises with it. I was just curious what I need to get to accomplish this. I already have a fresh rebuilt W.C T5 out of a late 80s Camaro and a new Valeo clutch (was included with the T5). I know I need a drive shaft…but where would you recommend, I get one and what length. I also know I need a couple of other parts for this swap what would you recommend, why would you recommend it ,and were do I get these parts…Also I would like to put a hydraulic clutch in what would you recommend. The other thing I forgot to mention, is that I am operating on a budget and do not want to spend more than 1000 on parts when all is said and done but that budget is negotiable if the parts are justifiable.

 

your clutch setup is paid for and works. going hyd is too much effing around for no reason. have your driveshaft shortened. around 3 to 3.5 inches shorter. BUT FIRST MAKE SURE YOKE FITS NEW TRANS!! which it will but you must be sure. rear mount. get a hunk of that cheap angle iron with holes in it from Lowes and cut-bolt until you have an adapter that fits the crossmember and the angled mount on the trans. now get some real steel and copy it. here is a thread with shifter and mount mods. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...5-in-a-c3.html search T5 swap c3 corvette. you will find a lot. the old threads the pics are gone. many are ford or chevy v6 conversions. ignore them. you have the correct v8 chevy trans.

 

Put a T5 in my 68. Loved it so much I put one in my current 77. You can keep your current bell housing and personally I would stick with the stock clutch linkage also.
You already have all of it, ball stud, fork, rods, but of course its your choice, I just like it simple.

As for the drive shaft you can shorten the one you already have. Im sure who ever cuts it will tell you where to take the measurements.
My 350 auto yoke worked with the t5 if I remember correctly. Perhaps your 4 speed will also.

The other 2 mods are the rear mount and shifter. Here's a pic of my rear mount, which was made from
the cars original trans mount. Cut the nose off, welded a plate across the front and had the cut piece welded back on at the
correct angel, because my T5 is mounted straight with a stock bell, not the tilted camaro bell.






My shifter is a ford T5 shifter, since this pic was taken it now has a dummy vette stick. I went with the ford because its straight, where the
stick attaches to. On the chevy its angled. Top mounting plate of the ford shifter needs to be trimmed. You can see it comes up
through the gate a few inches to the left to look correct. Nothing more than a plate with a hole in it with a tab on the side to attach the stick.



Other than the correct clutch, you need a screw in back up light switch. Got mine off ebay. Just run your current 2 wires to it.
Run a speedo cable to the trans, nothing special there.

 

I finished my T5 swap last year in my 80. Just take the driveshaft to a driveline shop and have them shorten it. Might as well have them throw in some new u joint while its there. They will also balance it after cutting it down. Just be sure to get the transmission installed first and measure for the proper driveshaft length.

If your car was already a manual I assume you will be mounting the T5 "straight up" and not at the 15 degree angle like the camaro's? Manual linkage will not worked with the camaro bellhousing tilted. My car was originally an auto so I installed the camaro bell with the 15 degree angle. Doing this put the transmission mount level and it really helps put the shifter closer to the correct position. I was almost able to use the stock camaro shifter. But on that note, I highly recommend the Pro 5.0 shifter. MUCH better feel over the stock shifter and its a much shorter throw. It has a stub with two threaded holes so it easy to make an adapter to put the shifter where you want it. I also tried a knock off amazon ford T5 short throw shifter before finally ordering the Pro 5.0. DO NOT waste you money on the cheap knock off's.

As far as hydraulic clutch, the 85 one ton master is pretty easier to install if you decided to go that route. Lots of information on this forum to help you. Originally I also used the 85 one slave, but the feel was terrible. Just switched to Howe Racing internal slave and couldn't be happier! The slave is only about $150 and the clutch feel like a new modern car. Can't speak to the durability yet (I've only put about 200 miles on it). Zero regrets going hydraulic, BUT if I started with a manual car I would have used the manual linkage to save money because I'm a tight a** on a budget.