5spd Conversion (with pics)

[kiwi f150]

I converted my Friends 65 Mustang from the original 4spd (25 spline no less!!) to a T5 that i managed to pick for him when i was in CA last year - i brought the CPP conversion kit from Sacramento Mustang so that he could keep his original cable style clutch rather than switch it out to a hydraulic system ... the conversion also lets you use the original bellhousing also.



The Mustang



Underneath the mustang with the driveshaft removed and the oil drained from the gearbox - should have taken a pic of the oil as it was very shiny with the metallic fragments running through it. One thing to do with jobs like these if you haven't done many is to take plenty of photos so that you know where everything came from and where it should go back.



The driveshaft - check that the uv joints are in good order and that the threads are clean and free on the uj clips before reassembly.



Remove the gearshift boot and then the gearshift lever assembly from the gearbox - you dont have to do this but it makes it a lot easier (i'm all for easy )



The conversion kit - new gearbox crossmember and mount plus the spacer plate that will mate the T5 to the T10 Bellhousing , the white box underneath contains a new heavy duty clutch kit.



Gear box out and sitting beside the brand new T5 - before you go to far it always helps to make sure everything will line up and fit properly which is why the clutch plate is sitting on the input shaft of the T5



Test fitted the new clutch release bearing on the throwout arm - note the enlarged hole and cracking in the throwout arm which needed to be fixed - in an ideal world i would have got a new arm but there aren't many mustangs here so spares are something of a rarity.



Here is the spacer plate sitting on top of the bellhousing and you can see that i've bolted it down with two bolts and have a specially modified centrepunch sitting in one of the new holes to drill out for the new mounting position.



here's another shot of the spacer plate with my modified centrepunch sitting on top



Here's the bellhousing with the holes drilled out and ready to accept the new mounting bolts - everything with this kit is very tight and there is not really any room to fix things if you bugger it up which is why i was pretty picky with measurements.



Here's a shot of the flywheel which really should have been replaced but again availability and my mate's tightfistedness reared their heads again so i had to settle for giving it a quick polish to flatten it off. This shot also shows the spigot bush which i wanted to replace with a spigot roller bearing.



Here is a really handy tool which is used for removing smaller bearings from places just like our spigot bush is hiding in.



This how the tool works.



Here is a shot of the old spigot bush sitting beside the new spigot bearing.



I like to use a good quality threadlocker on things like this - especially the capscrews as you certainly don't want them fretting and wearing out the mounting points.



Clutch kit all bolted up and aligned with the aligning tool included in the kit.



Old bracket alongside new rear cross-member



New T5 now in Residence and filled with fluid - now the fun begins!!



Here you can see that the exhaust is hard up against the the gearbox cross-member and will need to be moved out of the way so that there are no annoying rattles - you can also see where i have repaired the end of the clutch throwout fork.



Exhaust expanded to clear the cross-member



The wiring loom needs to be extended by about 12 inches to connect to the reverse light indicator switch in the T5



Voila now my friend has 5 speed and no more leaping out of second gear when he gives it some gas ..... him and his boy are a wee bit soft as they reckon the heavy duty clutch is a bit hard to operate - i tell them to drink a cup of concrete and harden the ***k up as they are being girly $$$$$ clutch changing whiners

[DNFXDLI]

Nice job Mark!