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4cl t5 swap questions

sc0terdad said:
so I was considering maybe, since I already have the t5 with the 3.97 1st that to combat that ratio it would pay off to use a 3.31 rear end making 1st gear idle at somthing 10 kph and be good till somthing like 24kph ish

or does this seem a bit aggressive for what is ultimately a redblock car?

and should have 5th cruising 3500rpm at about 107kph with extra legs for high-ISH (not really) top speed
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That 5th gear cruising rpm at that speed seems kinda high in my opinion. Not something I'd want to live with if I did a lot of highway driving.

First seems fine, but I'm also ok with my m47 first gear and 3.31 rear end but a lot of other people hate it.
 
Driving experience aside you would need a no longer for sale style of adapter kit or to work the stock bearing retainer on a lathe to fit the deeworks kit?
 
Superhans240 said:
Driving experience aside you would need a no longer for sale style of adapter kit or to work the stock bearing retainer on a lathe to fit the deeworks kit?
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Little late to this, but how do you mean, are there such drastic key differences in the 4cl t5 that it does not mate up to the adapter kit?

I seriously hope not, I?m in balls deep now with a 4cl t5 and all the swap parts ready to go
 
sc0terdad said:
Little late to this, but how do you mean, are there such drastic key differences in the 4cl t5 that it does not mate up to the adapter kit?

I seriously hope not, I?m in balls deep now with a 4cl t5 and all the swap parts ready to go
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There shouldn't be. I think it only has a slightly longer input shaft.
 
I wouldn't hesitate to run the 4 cylinder Ford T5. For a street car, they are great. That's the whole idea of the wide gear ratio spread. A low first gear for stop and go traffic and steep hill starts, a high overdrive gear for low rpm high speed cruising. I have had plenty of them in 2.3 TurboCoupes. They shift fantastic compared to anything Volvo ever installed. Plenty of the TurboCoupes with very simple mods were turning low 13 second quarter mile times running them with the stock 3.54 rear axle gearing and still getting 31 mpg on the freeway. A TC is a 3,400+ pound car.
 
2manyturbos said:
I wouldn't hesitate to run the 4 cylinder Ford T5. For a street car, they are great. That's the whole idea of the wide gear ratio spread. A low first gear for stop and go traffic and steep hill starts, a high overdrive gear for low rpm high speed cruising. I have had plenty of them in 2.3 TurboCoupes. They shift fantastic compared to anything Volvo ever installed. Plenty of the TurboCoupes with very simple mods were turning low 13 second quarter mile times running them with the stock 3.54 rear axle gearing and still getting 31 mpg on the freeway. A TC is a 3,400+ pound car.
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Awesome to hear, this is somewhat what I was thinking when I had bought the trans.
I also don?t have plans to really run the trans at it?s very limits.
 
also I have seen and heard some different things about driveshaft options for a T5 swap, and it seems like people have had highly varying success with solid driveshafts and 2 piece driveshafts.

my question is, why don't I see more people just having a drive shaft shop lengthen/shorten their stock drive shaft? is it not possible?

also If I were to go about having a drive shaft fabricated one way or another, is there a concrete measurement as to how long the driveshaft has to be to work with a T5 swap (using a yoshifab/deeworks kit)

thanks
 
A good drive shaft shop can make you whatever you want. If you pay attention to drive shaft/flange angles you should be able to use a one piece drive shaft and have it run smooth.
 
1-pc mustang driveline with yoshifab adapter didnt work for me. My '85 245 is lowered, maybe 3". The 1-pc mustang driveline was hitting the floorboards.

Solution was taking my old 2-pc 2" dia volvo driveline to shop, they shortened the front piece and put a new T5 slip yoke, 3010 u-joint, and a driven yoke to fit onto the 2" driveline. New rear u-joints type 3000 (stock) also. The shop just needed measurements to the centerbearing. I also went with a 740 centerbearing/housing (pressed onto stock 240 centerbearing position) and an aftermarket adapter for 240. No adapter needed, adjusted pinion angle, working great.
 
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sc0terdad said:
Little late to this, but how do you mean, are there such drastic key differences in the 4cl t5 that it does not mate up to the adapter kit?

I seriously hope not, I?m in balls deep now with a 4cl t5 and all the swap parts ready to go
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No the supplied bearing retainer in the kit and the stock bearing retainer are very different and you can?t fit the stock bearing retainer into the Volvo bellhousing. You need to cut the Ford bearing retainer on a lathe to maintain the tight tolerances required for play on a t5..... some have done it by hand. I have no experience with either method I convinced my friend to buy a v6 and swap the input shaft. 4cyl t5 doesn?t mate to a Volvo bellhousing with a deeworks kit. It says when you buy it very clearly
 
I'm assuming that we're talking about the deeworks adapter kit here.

2.3 4cyl wc & nwc T5 input shaft bearings are very different (larger, wider) than the v6/8 bearing races and require the stock bearing retainer be turned down to the Deeworks retainer dimensions. You may need to add a spacer ring on what's left of the snout to mate up with the bell as well. Furthermore, the 4cyl input shafts themselves are a little bit too long on their own, and need snipping. There's a thread about this here.
To my knowledge, there's no input shaft swaps that can be done to a 4cyl for it to accept a v8 input shaft bearing.

For mounting the box to the bellhousing itself, assuming you've got a ford pattern t5, the deeworks plate mounts it right up with no modifications necessary. If your t5 is muncie patterned, sell.

However, if you can get your hands on the adapter that requires you to turn the bellhousing and use the ford throwout bearings, you're good to go if you circumcize that input shaft.

For the driveshaft, if your car isn't lowered too much if at all, go with the yoshifab one piece adapter. If your car is lowered quite a bit, fatadams has the right idea with a custom 2pc.
It might also be a good idea to have adjustable torque rods, for setting pinion angles.

For gear ratios, throw that t5 into the ocean and get a v6 or v8 spec one lol.
The first is a stump puller near-identical to an m47, gap to second is slightly shorter, same with 3rd. Fourth is 1:1, and od is just a hair longer. During normal driving, I don't think you'd feel much of a difference.
Joking aside, try the ratios on it and see if it's adequate for YOUR needs.

tldr, if you don't have easy and cheap access to a lathe, recoup costs and buy a v8wc. If you do, neato, give it a try.

I hope you've got a way to bolt the trans onto a crossmember, and good luck.
 
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Wood said:
2.3 4cyl wc & nwc T5 input shaft bearings are very different (larger, wider) than the v6/8 bearing races and require the stock bearing retainer be turned down to the Deeworks retainer dimensions. You may need to add a spacer ring on what's left of the snout to mate up with the bell as well. Furthermore, the 4cyl input shafts themselves are a little bit too long on their own, and need snipping. There's a thread about this here.
To my knowledge, there's no input shaft swaps that can be done to a 4cyl for it to accept a v8 input shaft bearing.
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well, looks like its time to brush up on my lathe skills.



Wood said:
I hope you've got a way to bolt the trans onto a crossmember, and good luck.
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the yoshifab crossmember should still work for this right? the trans length wont end up being any different after doing the machine work?
 
Wood said:
For gear ratios, throw that t5 into the ocean and get a v6 or v8 spec one lol.
The first is a stump puller near-identical to an m47, gap to second is slightly shorter, same with 3rd. Fourth is 1:1, and od is just a hair longer. During normal driving, I don't think you'd feel much of a difference.
Joking aside, try the ratios on it and see if it's adequate for YOUR needs.
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thats just one of the things, i figure that if I throw a 3.31 on the rear it should somewht even out right? I may very well be missing somthing so let me know if this doesnt quite make sence.
 
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