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The transmission stays upright in this setup. It's only if you use the 88 to 92 Camaro bellhousing that the transmission is leaning at an angle. But at least when you do that it's easier to hook up the mount. Since the transmission is straight the angle on the mount face on the tail housing has to be dealt with. Another thought. Look for a tail shaft housing from a Mustang or some other car. I believe the Mustang shifter location is actually a little better than the Camaro shifter location. And it's got that bigger shifter hole with a whole lot more aftermarket shifters that fit it. And I'm also pretty sure a non world-class tailshaft housing will go on a world-class transmission. Because there is no difference in the overdrive which is behind the transmission case in the tail shaft housing. And that might give you straight up and down Mount and a better shifter location. The 4th pic in initial post is an adapter for the angled mount.
Last edited by derekderek; May 31, 2020 at 12:22 PM.
The foam insulation made it very annoying to remove the bell. Note to self: when test fitting, remove distributor and bolt from underneath. And stuff foam in after (don’t glue).
Oh and with crossmember out, dropping the trans was quite easy.
Last edited by DorianC3; May 31, 2020 at 01:05 PM.
If I remember correctly you can't use a Mustang tail housing in place of a Camaro tail housing and vice a versa. The mainshafts are different lengths. Only way to use the Mustang tail is to swap in the Mustang mainshaft which will fit in the Camaro case.
If I remember correctly you can't use a Mustang tail housing in place of a Camaro tail housing and vice a versa. The mainshafts are different lengths. Only way to use the Mustang tail is to swap in the Mustang mainshaft which will fit in the Camaro case.
i believe the small diff in length is taken up with the slip yoke. Believe. not sure. you do not want to use a ford tail shaft as then you need a ford yoke with ford spline count. they do not make a ford yoke where you can unbolt the u-joint.
You may be correct but I once looked into this. G-force makes a 9310 hardened Ford mainshaft. I was thinking of using this shaft in a gm case so it would be a direct bolt on to the muncie bell. They told me it will work in the gm case as well but the tail housing would have to be swapped to ford tail to work. Different length and speedo drive in different location. I figured this shaft is good upgrade for the t5 as mainshaft flex under high load is main reason for 3rd gear shattering. Common problem the 5.0 guys had years ago.
So, I removed the pressure plate and reinstalled the bell...
Then I measured the old and new trans toes how this would impact the drive shaft etc.
The trans slipped on there silly easily, but then Murphy kicked me in the . None of the bolts fit. I had two drop the trans to find out that the bolt holes needed a tiny clean up for the bolt to slip through them. Of course it took forever slipping the trans on the second time around.
I had to jack very high to replicate the 2 degree angle I had. It is just about against the body.
I discovered that it was too tight for this simple bracket.
The cross member still needs to travel an inch up and yet the rubber mount is already touching the bracket.
I believe I will be doing a variant of the below. I forgot who deserves credit for this one. Ideally I could make it adjustable somehow...
You, Sir, are the reason why I hide in a corner and call on friends*. Incredible.
*For some reason I have fewer friends these days...
Cutting as carefully as I can...
Now the crossmember is flush
...and the trans mount clears the lower bracket. I plan to weld a plate to the lower bracket figure my way from there. Tomorrow I’ll get a closer look at the exhaust hangers.
I couldn’t resist. It’s very vague and not correctly placed, but I like it so far.
The clutch disc is ordered along with a couple other goodies including a Pro 5.0 to make my life easier.
Unfortunately I only noticed now that the speedo cable looks to be too short as the gear is on the other side of the transmission.
ADD - then again, I should be able to pop the speedo cable on the other side of the transmission at the firewall.
The boxed section is too small and the piece I bought to fabricate a bracket is too thick. I ordered a few more pieces. That should do the trick.
This may be a bit overkill
Too small, but not by much...
FedEx should deliver today the clutch disc, so I’ll still be able to make progress this weekend. I should be able to do most of the conversion except for the brackets. If all goes well, that will happen next weekend. Next weekend, I may actually be back on he road.
To Do:
Drop trans and bell housing
Install clutch disc and pressure plate
Install bell housing
Measure bell-to-spring fingers distance (0.200, was it, of clearance will be needed for throwout bearing.)
Measure distance from throwout bearing-to-trans and shim to reach the required clearance.
Install stud to guide slave cylinder.
Compare the speedo cable gears of the M21 vs T5. With luck I can reuse one or the other to get an accurate speedo reading.
Move speedo cable over.
Find a way to connect the reverse light switch
Glue again hanging heat insulation
Examine exhaust hanger for modification, adapting it to the 18 degree cant. I may have to turn that around. not sure yet how I’m going to do this. I’d like to preserve the way the factory did it.
Check oil level in trans. Possibly drain and fill with fresh Dexron III
Measure again driveshaft trim required. It seems to be between 2.75 and 3.0. Send it off to be shortened.
Remove Z-bar assembly.
Install master cylinder. Bleed.
Cut a plate to weld onto trans support.
Cut a trans support bracket to be welded on to the plate at 18 degrees.
Figure a way to make adjustable with shims and slots to get required driveline geometry.
If I make good progress this weekend by next weekend I may be running again.
The only thing truly getting in the way is a "Honey-Do" : remodeling the old office into a cloak room and loo.
I should do one of those unboxing videos that are so popular now. Makes me feel like humans are actually hobbits when I see those.
What’s in the box
The clutch disc American Powertrain hydraulic clutch conversion kit. I am not too thrilled with the complexity of the Z-bar system. I’ve read much good about the conversion; now significant downsides. Furthermore, my replacement block will not come drilled for the Z-bar. Wilwood. This looks iffy to me but... we’ll see I guess. The heart of the beast. Clever marketing but won’t work on me... I never do. Other items in the box. With a transparent cap. Seems helpful. What do you read ? Words, words, words. Not sure it will fit but the old one certainly doesn’t. I wonder what this is. It looks like a thingy.
. None of the bolts fit. I had two drop the trans to find out that the bolt holes needed a tiny clean up for the bolt to slip through them. Of course it took forever slipping the trans on the second time around.
ADD: Plugs. One to drain; other to fill and check level.
