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T5 swap, all you need to know

so has anybody attempted this swap w/ the 700/900 series volvos? if so what tranny did you use? do you use the one from a camaro, if so i need some info on how it worked out. if you used the ford one , how much hacking was involved for the shifter to work?
 
RvolvoR said:
so has anybody attempted this swap w/ the 700/900 series volvos? if so what tranny did you use? do you use the one from a camaro, if so i need some info on how it worked out. if you used the ford one , how much hacking was involved for the shifter to work?
I've got a mustang T5 in my 94 940. To get the shifter to fit you have to cut some of the metal at the front of the shifter hole in the body of the car. I made my own shifter from a piece of scrap metal. In the picture I haven't installed the trans mount yet, the little shifter piece on the trans that the shifter bolts to riases up when the mount is installed.

100.jpg
 
I'm the fist (only?) to have put a Ford T5 in my 700.
You need to re-read through the thread more carefully (at all). Your question is answered in detail, sans pictures on my behalf. (DON"T JUST PERUSE THROUGH, IGNORING ANYTHING THAT'S OLDER THAN A WEEK. THIS THREAD HAS LOADS OF HELPFUL INFO IF YOU JUST SPEND THE TIME TO READ IT)
 
Trouble shifting with Clutchnet setup

After trying everything under the sun to solve the initial shifting problems with this conversion, nothing worked. Then after the clutch had been in about 200 miles, the shifting started to improve. Now with approx. 2K on the car, the shifting problems are gone. Turns out the problem was the puck style clutchplate. It is .335 thick versus .315 thick for the stock volvo clutch. Once some of the thickness of the clutch plate is worn off, it no longer spins the input shaft of the trans with the clutch in. Mine measured .325 when I checked it when I had my car apart to remove the Clutchnet p/p. I am using my stock pressure plate til I reinstall the Clutchnet p/p, which has been upgraded to the 100% over stock(two spring diaphrams vs one). One of the other guys also had the p/p upgraded and the clutch plate resurfaced also. When reinstalled, the shifting problem was there again. It had been shifting good before the clutch reline, which indicates the extra thickness is what is causing the shifting problem.
Clutchnet thru all this has been very responsive and helpful. They are truly interested in having satisfied customers. You can always expect problems with new setups, but with the cooperation of Clutchnet combined with tbrickers working to solve the problems, this conversion very soon will be trouble free.
 
Doug: My car was like several of the others initially. I had to shut it off to get into reverse. As I said in my other post, it did start shifting better as the plate wore down. Now it shifts easily into all gears, even reverse. To work out of the box, the thickness should be removed. Otherwise, you will just have to live with it til it wears in. I did help mine along by intentionally slipping the clutch for short periods. I would not recommend this to anyone else because of the potential for serious damage to the clutch, p/p, and flywheel.
 
T5 is in! Slight issues for the gurus to weigh in on...

Hooray! (I think...)

I just finished my T5 install. It took a little while because I ran into a few snags along the way, but so far I'm still glad I did it.

The car: 1984 245 GLT, originally with M46 (first tuned by tuff240, came to me by way of jackbombay)
The parts: junkyard T5 from a '91 Mustang, McLeod throwout bearing, v-performance.com adapter plate, clutch, pressure plate, and lightweight aluminum flywheel (clutch and pressure plate are therefore the clutchnet models), B&M short shifter, stock mustang tranny mount

I'm planning to write a step-by-step guide (of sorts) for this swap for the 240 series. I'm very much indebted to Doug and the others that came before me and have provided me help with this swap. I figure that the least I can do is take all the knowledge they've discovered and make a nice write-up so all the vital information is in one easy format.

Before I get to that, though, I have a question for the guys who've done this swap.

I'm having trouble shifting into gear. As I said, it's the Clutchnet clutch and pressure plate, and I understand some people have had problems with those. I'm using the McLeod throwout bearing, so the bearing height should be correct. I've tried adjusting the clutch cable quite a bit. If I adjust it so that the fork is as far forward as possible, the throwout bearing obviously rides against the pressure plate so much that the clutch won't engage at all. If I adjust it as far back as possible, the clutch engages fine, but I find that the gears are really hard to shift into. I've got it set somewhere in the middle right now, and the clutch engages fine. The gears are still really hard, though. I have to completely shut off the engine to get into reverse without grinding. The other gears sometimes just take a little nudging and sometimes take the strength of an ox.

(I should note that the transmission shifts fine into all gears with the car off.)

Now, I know a few people said that the Clutchnet pressure plate is thicker, and that some shifting issues go away once the clutch wears down a bit. I want some opinions, though, on whether that's what my problem likely is. So please, weigh in.

I've been rushing to get this done before this weekend because I would really like to take this wagon on a long trip. That would give plenty of miles to break/wear in the clutch, but I want to be sure that I don't have some other issue before I get out on the open road.

(As an aside, is everyone using the stock rubber shifter boot? I've yet to install anything, so I can still see the open road (and smell my clutch!) through the hole... I tried to put the stock rubber boot on, but it doesn't seem ideal for the new shifter position. So is anyone using anything else?)

Thanks,
Aaron
 
I got all the parts from John Parker around the end of July, so that was just a few months ago. So I would have to ask him, but I assume that I got the most "up to date" parts in terms of what works for this swap. I got a lightweight aluminum flywheel, Clutchnet pressure plate and clutch... I don't know anything more than that, since I basically just told John my power goals (a vague range around 220hp+, I believe) and he sent me these parts.

He referred me to McLeod for this throwout bearing, which is an adjustable Ford-compatible bearing. I installed it as I received it, with the two spacer rings installed.

I'm guessing from everything I've read that the clutch needs to wear a bit. I wonder though... why is it that some folks are having issues and others are not?

Has there really been a solution to the problem with this combination of parts, or is that what's causing the problem? (Obviously we can't compare to someone who used a stock flywheel, stock clutch, stock pressure plate, etc...)

I'm going to cross my fingers at this point, I guess, and hope that it wears in okay. I'm otherwise out of ideas.

(Any ideas on the shifter boot, anyone?)

Aaron
 
T5 swap write-up

Okay... I'm no pioneer of this swap, but I felt I should do something helpful for the rest of you contemplating doing this yourselves. So, I've done a write-up. I'm only slightly better at writing than car repair, so if you notice anything that needs to be changed, drop me at e-mail (aaron at aaronreedbaker.com).

To conserve bandwidth for my host, the pictures I took are at the bottom of the page as individual links.

The write-up:
<a href="http://www.aaronreedbaker.com/t5swap.html">www.aaronreedbaker.com/t5swap.html</a>

Aaron
 
Haven't read your write-up, but let me add a couple cents.

Seems as though the disc that JP is supplying is perhaps too thick. I used a Spec-Clutch disc (6-puck carbon/ceramic), and have had absolutely no issues with gear engagement, including reverse. The tranny shifts and acts just as if it came from the factory like this.
The disc is supposed to be pretty grippy with a bit of slip, but I can say it is surprisingly streetable. I was expecting it to be neck-snapping engagement, but once it broke in (only 250 miles), it engaged like butter and held like a mad SOB muckerfuther. This is absolutely positively undeniably the most bestest greatest wonderfullest clutch disc I can imagine. And it's supposed to be good to at least 450HP.

ClutchNet 100% overstock clamping-pressure PP (double-spring). Volvo B23F.
Spec-Clutch 6-puck carbon/ceramic disc. Ford 2.3L NA Mustang.
Stock B23F iron FW. Will be McLeod-made AL FW when I get it running again.
McLeod hyd TO bearing. Ford T5 bolt-on model.
JP's adaptor plate.
CNC'd bellhousing. Volvo B23F.
 
Driveshafts

On driveshafts....

There is no "rule" that applies to a D/S length vs. resonant frequency by which it can be determined just by length, diameter, or a combination of the two.

To calculate the "critical speed" (or RPM) of a driveline, you NEED to know some very specific things:
-length, joint center to joint center
-outside diameter
-wall thickness
-modulus of elasticity (varies by material, grade and hardness)

I don't have the formula, but a internet aquaintance of mine who is a "NVH" engineer at FMC has run numerous calcs for me in the past for some of the drag cars I've worked on.

Basically, the shorter each section is, the faster it will rotate, the more Tq it will transmit, and the smaller in diameter it needs to be. In almost EVERY case, two shorter shafts are "better" than one long one. The only real reason some OE's use a single shaft is overall cost. If they can "sneak by" with a single shaft, they do so, even if it means programming a very slow upper road speed limit (under 95 MPH for example). When you are building 100,000 units/year, saving $5/unit is a LOT of savings over time.
 
Who would like to be my personal guide through this world of confusion, I want to do the swap and have the ressources, I'm just so lost :???: :???: :???:

Thanks...
 
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