T-5 transmission converson questions answered!!

Mod, if I put this in the wrong place please move accordingly.

Just finished my T-5 swap a few days ago!!


Ford T-5 transmission swap for 700 series.

The reason I swapped my M-46 for the T-5 was the fact my M-46 leaked pretty bad, and I never liked the gear ratios. With the T-5 you can go as far as to turn it into a straight cut gear dog tooth trans. There are many different gear sets avaiable for it, part are easy to come by, and the transmissions are easy to find. For 5th gear, there also also 2 different options, the second option is of course an aftermarket gear set.

Im writing this to hopefully fill in any gaps and answer questions reguarding the swap on a 700/900 series. This swap was done on my 1990 765 turbo, which only came auto, but I had previously converted it to the M-46 with the hydralic setup.

I picked up my T-5 from an ad in the Recycler (local classifidies) This is the parts list.....

T-5 Transmission.

Ford pilot bearing and release bearing (throw out bearing) for 87-93 V-8 5.0 mustang.

Ford clutch disc from 84-86 Mustang SVO 2.3 turbo. This is the 10 spline disc for the T-5, but is also 9" for those of you with the 9" flywheels. Or you can of course have your clutch custom made also. I used the factory Volvo pressure plate.

An adaptor plate to match the Volvo bell housing to the T-5. I used www.v-performance.com for the adaptor plate. The plate did not come with bolts, so your standard grade 5, 7/16" course thread bolts is what you need to get. There are 8 total. Also the 4 bolts in the T-5 input shaft need to have the lip ground down so the Volvo bell housing fits flat onto the adaptor, as you can see from the pic below.

Clutch fork modified to work with the Ford release bearing. V-performance also modified my clutch fork. They can set up your cable or hydralic forks.

A driveshaft yoke for the T-5 transmission. I went with the 2 peice Volvo driveshaft and had the Ford yoke mated to it with a U-joint. Vibration isnt an issue and it all fits nicely. You will have to talk to your local drivesahft shop about length. I was told to push the yoke in the trans all the way, pull it out once inch and measure from the center of the U-joint cap on the yoke, to the middle of the center support. Your driveshaft shop amy also be able to get you the correct yoke for the transmission.

The stock Mustang transmission mount for the T-5.

A 4x6" peice of 1/4 inch steel is what i used to bolt the mount to. Basically it gets welded to the Volvo crossmember in the middle. The trans mount will fit just in front of the crossmember, and all you have to do is drill 2 holes into the peice welded to the crossmember. The only problem I ran into here is the trans does not sit perfectly level, so the mount is cocked slightly. I put a few washers under one side to level out the mounting surface, I will soon have to adjust how its setup, im not sure what I will do yet.

Now onto the shifter mystery. Everyone says you have to cut the floor, which I did not want to do unless I had to. Maybe my car is different, but this is what I did. I put the trans in, shifter and all, but no handle on the shifter and no clutch for ease of installation. I saw where the shifter hit the floor, about 2 inches or so in front of the hole. I took the trans back out and took a hammer and pounded on the floor to move it up slightly, and I ground about 1/8-3/16" off the top of the ford stock shifter. I have almost 1/2 inch clearance between the top of the shifter and the floor with the trans fully installed. Now remember your results may vary, the only thing you can do is get it in there, and see where everything is. As for a shifter handle, I went to the local hardware store, grabbed a 3' peice of 1/2 roundbar. Took my torch and got the end red hot, and flattened it with a hammer to bolt onto the ford shifter. I made 2, 90 degree bends. The stock shifter handle goes straight up onto the shifter. I did mine upsidown. Basically the handle looks like a U as you can see in the picture. The bend into the car was not enough, so I bent it a bit more and it's perfect. I went to pepboys, picked up this trick shifter knob with a light up shift pattern it in, put it on the end. Painted the handle Cast Cote color. (its a dark brownish grey) I still need to work out a boot and insulation for the floor. I pull probably get a sheet of rubber and fabricate that, then find a universal boot for the rest.

Overall its a simple conversion, just takes time and money. Fabrication is minimal. I hope this clears up any holes that I noticed in the "acrives" about this swap on the 700/900's

Pic of shifter before floor mod
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODYzNTAwNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of floor after hammering
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODYzNTAzNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of handle attached to ford shifter
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODYzNTAyNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of shifter in floor (I bent the shifter up a bit more to make the handle a bit farther forward
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODYzNTAxNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of modded clutch fork
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODY3MTk4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of T-5 ready to go with Volvo bell housing installed
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODY3MTk3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of my shifter at night
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODY3MTk2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of shifter daytime. The knob comes with different size nylon inserts and 3 set screws
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODY3MjA4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Pic of inputshaft bolts ground down
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/wODY3MjEyNnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE=.jpg

Very nice writeup! I much appreciate someone spelling it out for the 7 series like you did. Well written and great pictures. Thanks! later,

Ben

ooo, this is a swap that has been lurking in my mind since day 1! Thanks.

quite comprehensive, kick ass work mark. howd it do on the dyno?

Dyno results were
158 HP @ about 4700 RPM
220 lb. ft. torque @2800 RPM

Mark

great write up. I keep thinking that it would be nice to do that swap eventually. I just gotta not be broke before I can get serious about it.

volvorod85 said:

Dyno results were
158 HP @ about 4700 RPM
220 lb. ft. torque @2800 RPM

Mark

Click to expand...

what boost? mine made 230 hp (4500-6500) and 280 tq, boost was 17psi on the spike, but it droped sharply to 11 before 4000

T5 transmission swaps are one of the best upgrades around for manual RWD volvos imo. I was very happy when I did mine.

t-5 swap

i know its already been covered but on a 240 you dont have to modify the floor or the shifter,right?

Warning!

I covered the installation of the T5 into a 245 on my website. This isn't so much a plug for the write-up as a warning. I was mistaken on the bolt sizes for two pieces. If you were relying on me for the right info, make a note.

I assumed that the adapter plate from v-performance.com used the Volvo bellhousing bolt size (M10 x 1.5). It does not. The plate is tapped at 7/16" course thread, as the post above states.

If you use the lightweight aluminum flywheel from John Parker, also note that it is tapped at an SAE thread size. I used the Volvo pressure-plate-to-flywheel bolts, and they were the wrong size (metric -- M8, I think).

The result is that my swap has taken much longer. Obviously using the wrong thread sizes causes big problems with stripped threads! The lesson here is not to make assumptions, and to ask questions whenever you don't know something.

My write-up has been updated with this information:

http://www.aaronreedbaker.com/t5swap.html

Be smart and pay attention to details, guys! (Not like me!)

Swallowing my pride,
Aaron

I too made the same mistake with the adaptor bolt sizes, but quickly realized after the first one didnt thread perfectly, they had to be different. My dyno results were on a bone stock B230FT 3" exhaust turbo to tail, A T03 with a .52/.48 on a ported 90 manifold running 10 PSI. The 3 pulls were in 4th gear, on 91 pump gas. I also have brown top injectors, and there is no O2 sensor right now, so its running default mode on the LH 2.4 ECU which is set up for the stock injectors, so its a bit on the rich side. Still had a little ping as you can hear in the video which i will hopefully post soon, but clears up after id say 4500 RPM. I dont really have a boost spike either, maybe 1.5 lbs at the most, maybe.
Mark

Workin on the insulation for the floor around the shifter, hopefully ill have pics up later tonight.

volvorod85 said:

Dyno results were
158 HP @ about 4700 RPM
220 lb. ft. torque @2800 RPM

Mark

Click to expand...

sounds like a tired engine or out of tune dunno.. sure it's not 168 or something? :-\

916volvosport said:

sounds like a tired engine or out of tune dunno.. sure it's not 168 or something? :-\

Click to expand...

Dyno results are at the wheels...there is a 25-30 HP loss through all the drive train. Stock its supposed to be 162 HP at the crank...i figured with my mods 170-180 HP, therefore about 150 at the wheels...i was pretty close actually
Mark

916volvosport said:

sounds like a tired engine or out of tune dunno.. sure it's not 168 or something? :-\

Click to expand...

~160 at the wheels isnt bad at all for 10psi and a 3" exhuast, 162 is stock flywheel hp...maybe a bit low, but not too bad

15% losses would put that right around 182hp

stylngle2003 said:

~160 at the wheels isnt bad at all for 10psi and a 3" exhuast, 162 is stock flywheel hp...maybe a bit low, but not too bad

15% losses would put that right around 182hp

Click to expand...

i pulled 168.6 at the rear wheels that's why i was curious.. b21ft later manifolds 2.5" exhaust piping, 10 psi mitsu 13c turbo.. engine prolly had a couple thousand miles on it since the overhaul..

916volvosport said:

i pulled 168.6 at the rear wheels that's why i was curious.. b21ft later manifolds 2.5" exhaust piping, 10 psi mitsu 13c turbo.. engine prolly had a couple thousand miles on it since the overhaul..

Click to expand...

I pulled 183whp and 231 torque with 13c at 12.5psi and 3inch exhaust. 201whp and 263 at 17psi.

this is great! makes me think twice about getting an m90...... are you having any of the vibrations with the 2 piece drive shaft that other people have talked about? im much more apt to spend 1000$ on something i KNOW i can get parts for and replace easly

boosted12a said:

this is great! makes me think twice about getting an m90...... are you having any of the vibrations with the 2 piece drive shaft that other people have talked about? im much more apt to spend 1000$ on something i KNOW i can get parts for and replace easly

Click to expand...

I thought the M90 was nearly identical to the M55(or whatever the 850 5-spd is) just a RWD tranny and not a FWD one.

But I'd imagine a t-5 swap could easily be cheaper than an M90 swap.

good point, but i can get parts to fix a t5 at almost any local parts store and if i realy trash the tranny, i can get another one from a junk yard the same day

the M90 and the FWD M56H share the same internals