T5 for my 1969 c10

[Domingo]

Im putting together a drive train for my 1969 c10. Right now I have a l31 in the shop been clean out, heads been rebuild. Im adding a ramjet cam. The truck had 307, sm465 and 4.10 gears. I would like to keep a manual transmission. Recently I found a 1984 camaro T5 transmission, and a 4 speed Saginaw, both are asking $600 which one is a better deal, or are they over priced.

[cadillac_al]

They are priced on the high side. A T5 may work if you are easy on it. They have a reputation of being weak. I drive an 84 Z28 and the T5 even feels weak. It feels like the gears are made of plastic. I baby it and it makes funky noises but it has worked pretty well for 30+ years. Personally I would spend double to have a better trans.

[AcampoDave]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=7869612 I've been wanting to switch from a Saginaw to a Muncie and am just about ready to pull the trigger. Maybe a Muncie might not be what you are looking for, but if so.... here's a little bit more about the new m22z from a previous discussion.

[Captainfab]

With the engine you are building, it will produce torque that is well in excess of what the T5 is rated for. I'm not sure how much torque the Saginaw 4 speed is rated for. Of course that also depends on how you drive your truck.

[Mike C]

The 2.64 and 2.66 aluminum cased Super T10 are rated the same as the World Class T5, 300#/ft. The T10 does not have a reputation for being weak at that level.

The Saginaw is equivalent strength wise to the T5 IMO but without the deep first gear and the OD.

The 1984 T5 is a non-world class box. It is not as strong as the 89 and up WC. But it will take a surprising amount of power with some caveats....

No high rpm clutch dumps.
No speed- shifting. (Clutch, shift, unclutch)
Try not to run WOT in 5th gear very often.

The Camaro box is a little goofy because it is rotated 23 deg for floor clearance and to improve shifter location in a 3rd gen Camaro. It has it’s own bellhousing with hydraulic clutch slave bracket from 84-91. 83 is a one year only mechanical linkage bell.

The shifter on the Camaro box is too far back. It really needs the tail shaft housing (and maybe the main shaft?) replaced from an S10 to move the shifter forward in a truck.

A post above recommends spending double to get a better box, but it takes more like 4x the $600 to get there. If you drive it like you are 40 years old and not 20 years old it will be a decent all-around solution.

Google is your friend for T5 swaps. There is tons of info out there on multiple message boards about swaps in all sorts of vehicles. The Mustang T5 is a common swap in C2/C3 Corvettes and is more common and in some ways easier than the GM box.

[Lugnutz65]

The Camaro T5 transmission is actually NOT rotated. The Camaro bell housing has bolt holes that mount the T5 in a rotated position. If the Camaro T5 is mounted on a standard cast iron bell with a 4" +11/16" center bore then it will NOT be rotated. Please visit THIS LINK from my website that show what I'm describing.

Yes, the Camaro T5 shifter is too far back for a bench seat. The S10 tail housing swap can take care of that problem but it is very very hard to find an S10 tail housing with a cable speedo connection.

[Pontitruck]

Any thoughts on using the AR-5? Isn't that what was used in the Mallet Solstice builds? I'm taking the whole set up out of a 65 GMC project I bought.

[Mike C]

Originally Posted by Lugnutz65

The Camaro T5 transmission is actually NOT rotated. The Camaro bell housing has bolt holes that mount the T5 in a rotated position. If the Camaro T5 is mounted on a standard cast iron bell with a 4" +11/16" center bore then it will NOT be rotated. Please visit THIS LINK from my website that show what I'm describing.

Yes, the Camaro T5 shifter is too far back for a bench seat. The S10 tail housing swap can take care of that problem but it is very very hard to find an S10 tail housing with a cable speedo connection.

That's just semantics I guess. If you use the Camaro bellhousing, its bolt pattern is rotated 23 degrees so the trans mount is level. If you use the Camaro T5 with a standard bell the trans mount is rotated 23 degrees. The problem in a truck is solved either way with the S10 tailshaft and a standard bellhousing as you know.