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Yet more B20 t5 trans swap questions

S

Shinchan

Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Location
Lafayette, CO
I'm looking mate a t5 to a B20. I have a candidate who's tag comes out as a '99 WC from a v8 Mustang. It's set up for an electric speedo, but that can be dealt with. Other than that, would this be a candidate to mate up to the B20 with the Vintage Performance bits? A lot of the documentation out there is all over the place with regards to dates I should be looking for. Do I need a specific spline count on the input shaft? Anything else to look for to make sure this will bolt in?
 
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Most of the kits use the fox body input shaft, up thru 1993. In 1994 they went to the sn95 body with a longer input shaft. You can swap the shaft, not too hard. If that is from a 99, it is a v6 box, not the v8, since the v8 ran a t45 starting in 96.
 
thanks, very informative. I guess the search goes on, it will probably cost me more to swap parts in this one to get it to work than it would cost to buy one ready to go.

gsellstr said:
Most of the kits use the fox body input shaft, up thru 1993. In 1994 they went to the sn95 body with a longer input shaft. You can swap the shaft, not too hard. If that is from a 99, it is a v6 box, not the v8, since the v8 ran a t45 starting in 96.
Click to expand...
 
I've done some looking, and you are right, it doesn't seem too hard to swap the input shaft out. I guess the question is whether I spend $250 on the 99 v6 trans plus $200 for a new input shaft or just buy a foxbody v8 WC for ~$650. I'm guessing the v8 trans is a bit stronger?

gsellstr said:
Most of the kits use the fox body input shaft, up thru 1993. In 1994 they went to the sn95 body with a longer input shaft. You can swap the shaft, not too hard. If that is from a 99, it is a v6 box, not the v8, since the v8 ran a t45 starting in 96.
Click to expand...
 
Do you already have the "vintage performance bits"?
If not, do a search regarding their reliability and business practices before sending any $$$
 
^^^^ has very valid points. VPD has been very difficult to work with for a lot of people.

As for $200 for an input shaft, shop around. Bought my new Tremec brand one from Astro Performance years ago for $115. Chinese knockoffs are very common, run around $80, don't hold up as well though.

The V6 box may have different ratios than the V8 box, depends on what box you're looking at.
http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Borg-Warner-T5-ID-Tags.htm
 
I see. I had heard that it's hard to get an engine from them some times of the year, but I hadn't heard that they can be generally problematic.

It's the 260 trans which shows as "1999 Mustang WC (w/ electric speedo) but unfortunately it doesn't show the stock ratios for this particular trans.

gsellstr said:
^^^^ has very valid points. VPD has been very difficult to work with for a lot of people.

As for $200 for an input shaft, shop around. Bought my new Tremec brand one from Astro Performance years ago for $115. Chinese knockoffs are very common, run around $80, don't hold up as well though.

The V6 box may have different ratios than the V8 box, depends on what box you're looking at.
http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Borg-Warner-T5-ID-Tags.htm
Click to expand...
 
The later V6 trans is actually stronger than a foxbody v8 box, and has the same ratios. It's really a good buy at $250. Do some research and you'll see.
 
+3 on the 'do an internet search' on VPD and John Parker.

I got my T5 swap kit from him waaay back in the day. It's to mount to a B230, though, not a B20, but that's just a matter of where the bolt holes are - the B230 adapter plate just has the OHC engine's tile factored in, where a B20 sits upright.

And it's made for a specific style of T5. Input shafts vary in length, as do the throwout bearing styles (different noses on the trans). I know the older T5 swaps were made to fit WC -93 Mustang transmissions. I got a 94 Mustang trans locally for a pretty good price, and quickly discovered that the input shaft was about 1/2" too long to work - I ended up swapping the input shaft and input shaft retainer (and bearing) to get it to work. This was done by Tremec/Ford to accommodate the slightly longer 94-04 SN095 4th gen body.

So the '99 trans you have might not work without swapping some parts around.
 
Coming from a guy with an SN95 trans in the car now, and another on the bench, it's pretty darn easy to swap them out, takes about 45 minutes. Just gotta make sure you get the right one, and see if you can get one with a bearing preinstalled to make it even easier.

Using the DeeWorks adapter, it replaces the front bearing retainer anyway, so that's gotta come off. Takes about 20 minutes to pull the tailshaft housing and top cover, then you can pull the input shaft, install the new one, then setup the preload for the new shaft and bearing retainer. That also gives you a chance to check out the trans condition.
 
It was nice that the input shaft had a small semi-circle cutout that lets you pull it out without dropping the countershaft down. The Volvo M40/41? Has no such thing. It's a great shortcut.
 
Looking at the Deeworks adapter, he only states that it is for B21 and up redblocks.
Did you use this adapter on a B20 with success?

gsellstr said:
Coming from a guy with an SN95 trans in the car now, and another on the bench, it's pretty darn easy to swap them out, takes about 45 minutes. Just gotta make sure you get the right one, and see if you can get one with a bearing preinstalled to make it even easier.

Using the DeeWorks adapter, it replaces the front bearing retainer anyway, so that's gotta come off. Takes about 20 minutes to pull the tailshaft housing and top cover, then you can pull the input shaft, install the new one, then setup the preload for the new shaft and bearing retainer. That also gives you a chance to check out the trans condition.
Click to expand...
 
No, I haven't used one on a B20. I was under the impression it would work, but maybe there is a difference.
 
Yes, in the car now. It does use an M45/46 bellhousing instead of the M40/41 bellhousing, had to make a spacer to run the 140 style clutch cable, but that's it.
 
I have one of his 140 T5 crossmembers. It looks SWEET under the car, not that anyone would eve see it. FWIW I'm also using it with my CD009 trans - I just made a little adapter to bolt the T5 trans mount to the CD009.
 
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