Follow along with me as I install a Borg Warner 5 speed in my '52 F-1.

A little background......my F-1 has a mostly stock flathead V8 and a column shifted 3 speed trans. It runs and drives good, but really needs a couple extra gears. Especially on hills...
I'm also hoping to gain some mpg's on longer trips.

So I picked up a t-5 trans from a '90 S-10 and an adapter ...
There are a zillion t-5 articles on the web, so I won't go into all of the technical differences of these transmissions.
This is your basic non world class t-5....I did pull it apart and check for any problems. It was really clean inside and the bearings and syncro's looked real good.
Fingers crossed...



Stay tuned...

Adapters

There are a couple of adapters out there to do this swap......I chose the Dwight Bond type adapter plate. This requires a "hogshead" from a 4 speed truck trans (I have several laying around) and also an input bearing retainer from an early Ford CAR trans.
I bought the adapter, pilot bearing and correct clutch disk from Dick Spadaro early Ford parts. www.dickspadaro.com

The adapter plate looks very well made....



Hogs head



Bearing retainer



Pic of the old trans ready to come out.....my weekend project.

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DNFXDLI said:

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X2 Subscribed

X3 subscribed. This is definitely a cool swap.

The best laid plans....

I was sure the truck had a 10" clutch in it already, so I assumed I could re-use the flywheel.....
Turns out it has an 11" clutch, so now I have no flywheel. I have like 8 flathead flywheels laying around, but no 10".

Any of you flathead guys have an extra laying around?

Will call the machine shop Monday and see about redrilling one. I could use the 10" disc on the 11" PP, but prefer not to. Whichever flywheel I use, it will be resurfaced and balanced with the pressure plate.

I pulled the old trans and clutch yesterday by myself....it looks small, but is still pretty heavy!
I also need to remove the column shifter while every thing is apart.

Old tranny out....



5 speed with adapter and bell housing mocked up



Input shaft with a junk release bearing mocked up

It really looks like it belong together.

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I can only imagine how heavy that bigger is....it's gotta be cast iron.

Not nearly as heavy as the crashbox 4sp.

havi said:

Not nearly as heavy as the crashbox 4sp.

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Yah, those things are at least a hundred pounds it seems. For this one I made a crude cradle for my floor jack to take the weight...

You've pretty much got to....you'll either hurt your back or crush your face trying to lift it by hand.

tinman52 said:

The best laid plans....

I was sure the truck had a 10" clutch in it already, so I assumed I could re-use the flywheel.....
Turns out it has an 11" clutch, so now I have no flywheel. I have like 8 flathead flywheels laying around, but no 10".

Any of you flathead guys have an extra laying around?

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I don't - sorry. Even my 48 half-ton with the 3 spd HD trans uses an 11" clutch....

The smaller clutches I have are all on 21 studders or 59ABs

mtflat said:

I don't - sorry. Even my 48 half-ton with the 3 spd HD trans uses an 11" clutch....

The smaller clutches I have are all on 21 studders or 59ABs

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Thanks for checking Tim....it was worth a shot!
I have located a correct flywheel, but I may have to buy the entire engine to get it. Is that really a bad thing though? Can't have too many flatties...
Also going to see the machinist tomorrow about redrilling one. I couldn't have picked a worse time to do this swap....I literally have a dozen other projects going on at the same time...

I am curious about how strong the T from the S10 is. What is the HP and TQ rating that they can handle?

Ridgerunner said:

I am curious about how strong the T from the S10 is. What is the HP and TQ rating that they can handle?

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Depends on what engine it was behind. 2.2 4 banger.. not much....

But the 4.3 v6... can't even lie.. they'll giddyup... so they probably are rated better.

What's the difference between the car type bearing retainer and the truck version? Can the truck part not be made to work?

52 Merc said:

What's the difference between the car type bearing retainer and the truck version? Can the truck part not be made to work?

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The truck style has a slightly larger bolt pattern, otherwise the same. The light duty 3 speed that I removed also has the car style retainer......

After several delays and distractions I finally have a little update......
I got my flywheel back from the machine shop, re-drilled and surfaced. Looks great. Hopefully I can get the trans stabbed in the next couple days. Then make a new crossmember and get a new drive shaft made, etc, etc.

Trans is in!!!!!! Well kinda.......it is bolted up to the engine anyway.
It slid in like a dream, no problems. Next I have to build a mount/ x-member as the old one is not in the right place. I will pick up some box tube in the AM and hopefully get it welded up tomorrow.

A pic as proof..