Midnight Sun

I have heard that a t5 just does not last long bolted up to a 350, unless you drive it real easy. But I am a teenager and will be beating the hell out of my engine and tranny.

My question is, t56's are expensive so what would I need to do if I wanted to hook up a t5 to a 350, what needs to be replaced? Is it even possible?

pasky

If you have a V6 t-5, don;t believe it will work, it has a different input shaft and you can't just grab a input shaft from a v8 t-5 and put it on. If you have a V8 t-5 all you'll need is a v8 bellhousing should bolt up to any SBC. As far as which to go with, if you can't afford a t56 you should be ok with the t-5, just don't punch it until you can afford the beefier t-56 or go with a Tremec TKO, heard that one is a direct swap in.

Midnight Sun

a tremec TKO world class 5 speed will bolt right in, and can handle a 350?


BTW.

My plan would be a 350 mated with a t-5 (from a 305 v8 car). Is there any way to beef up the T5, better flywheel or other components, or is the whole gearing just crap in general?

Midnight Sun

anyone?

scottland

no, the weakness of the T-5 is the case, and not the gears.

so there really isn't any way to beef it up.

a world class T-5 won't last long.

a Tremec TR-3550 or a Tremec TKO is fine.

or a T-56 is fine as well.

TKOPerformance

The T5 has been getting a bad rap for strength and reliability almost since it was new. The truth is that plenty of people run T5s in seriously fast cars (plenty of 5.0 Mustang guys run them into the 11 second range). I have a lot of experience with the T5 as a former 5.0 racer, and have rebuilt several over the years.

If you decide to go with the T5 get an aftermarket shifter. The stock shifter is junk, and is usually the cause of a blown second gear after a botched powershift.

There are plenty of interal upgrade parts for the T5. Contact Hanlon Motorsports. You can get a whole upgraded gearset for about $450. These are the "super alloy" gears, and seem nearly immune to breakign the 3rd gear, which is the other big problem with the T5 under racing conditions.

Will it hold up? That depends on a lot of factors. If you don't have traction it will be a lot less likely to break. If you don't blow powershifts in it it will last longer.

Personally, I run a T56 because of the strength, and the extra gear, but it is an expensive swap. You will end up spending about $2,500 by the time you're done. A complete used T5 setup, even if you rebuild the trans with the better gears, will only run you about $750 if you shop around.

Camaro_nut

I will be spending about $2,500 for my T-56 swap as well
But, my opinion, is way better to shift into 6 gears than
5, and WAY better than a slushbox 700R4 to do it for you!

pasky

Whats so expensive about the t-56 swap? What I mean is you can do the swap for less than $2000. They go for about $1200 on ebay and you can modify your old tranny mount to fit fine, or just buy the one for $100 off these rip off thirdgen sites =/. Can use your old driveshaft and everything....Unless of course your referring to the clutch as well, yea they go for a pretty penny for a good one.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for not bashing T-5 cases TKO...

I've heard that one too many times, and I've yet to see a cracked or stretched casing on any of them. Sure it's possible if you're running serious HP and TQ (like 600 HP plus nitrous).

I imagine a Tremec or T-56 could be destroyed at those levels also....If you powershift and miss gears, you can destroy a T-5 with a 2.8 in front of it.....

Try neutral dropping a TH400 a few times. It'll break too!!

A few on this board run stock WC T-5's behind 400's with no problems.

I will too, but I had my T-5 upgraded. But my 400 will not be stock.

Like TKO said....depends on traction, shifting etc....

scottland

that cases don't crack or break, they FLEX.

look at a Tremec transmission, notice the ribs on the case of the transmission, they're not for your plessure. They provide extra structural integrety to the case, to prevent it from flexing.

when the case flexs, the spacing between the mainshaft and the countershaft gears gets bigger, so only the edge of the teeth are engaging, rather than the meat of the gears. this causes them to strip or break.

so a T-5 can be upgraded with stronger gears, but the case can/will still flex, putting wear and tear on the gears.

A Tremec transmission is the way to go,

either a T-56 or a TKO will withstand the abuse of a 350.

lol, but then look at me, running a 350HO with a 4sd saginaw, which is about as weak as a non-wc T5.

and its held up for the past few months, but i DO have the money saved up for a tremec when it does give out, and when it does scatter, it won't be a surprise.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

scottland - Yep, I've heard all this before....let's focus in on all the pretty ribs on the casings (not for your pleasure). AFAIK, there are no ribs or any added structural integrity on the fronts of either casings whether it be a T-5, T-56 or Tremec. Plus part of the upgrade includes a countershaft bearing retainer ( I think that's what it's called).

This is the area the main and counter shafts will "flex" allowing the shafts to pull apart and strip gears.

Let's just agree to disagree on this....

G Force is not a brand new company- they've been in the business for many years. They rate this trans to handle up to 600 HP and roughly the same in torque. And don't think I didn't ask a few places including them about the casing flex. Every one said the T-5 really isn't any worse than any others.

You say a Tremec is the way to go. Tremec's are great trannys, no argument there. I just didn't see one advertised to handle the power level G Force claims their upgraded T-5's can handle.
Period. I had the $$$ to get any one of the three. I chose this one. My opinion. You're entitled to yours.

And no, even though my 305 runs great, I can't get near the rating of this trans. But I hope the 406 will come closer. I looked real close at getting a 350HO like yours too!! They seem to be a good bang for the buck! How do you like yours?

To the main question though, yes a T-5 can handle a stock 350 - but that ALL depends on how you drive it.

Camaro_nut

The reason why mine is around $2,500 is because it
was $1,525 for the complete T-56 conversion from Ebay,
and I plan on buying a Spohn crossmember. I don't
have welding skills in order to modify the existing
member correctly. Plus a nice new powercoated one
looks better . Also, I plan on buying the stage two
clutch package from Spec which is around $450, also
a new driveshaft from Spohn $325, and finally a new
B and M short throw shifter, $165. I hate the stock shifter.
And please don't call the thirdgen websites "rip offs"
cause they are not, your just cheap

scottland

For the most part i love it.

only two things i dislike, the out of the box L31 valve springs, and the cast pistons.

right now im running an XE268, and it runs pretty hard.

I keep trying to go to the track, but every week i can, they are closed. But i am going to try to go on Jan. 9th.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I like the vortec heads. They breath good down low. With a little machine work for new springs, etc, you can get even more out of it!!

Cast pistons are tried and true, so long as you don't go nitrous or blower etc...it's a good platform to play with.

Snowing here, all tracks closed..."Go Pack Go"!!! I kinda like Arizona!!!

BigRuss

G Force, as I recall, also uses straight tooth gears, which adds to the strength, but unfortunately makes for a noisy tranny; correct me if I'm wrong. I really wish I could afford one, none the less. That's the tranny used in the Camaro ZL-1, which last time I checked was running the quarter mile in 9.55 seconds.

Pretty sweet...

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

They do use straight cut gears on thier dog-ring style kits. As I recall they sell for about the same price. I got the synchronized gearset that has a little angle cut into the gears, so it's more street friendly...not noisy at all!! Well, maybe 1st whines a little...

pasky

Yea, sorry bad choice of words, I mean im sure they give ya what ya want and all but man half the stuff their selling you can find somewhere else about 15-30% cheaper. I may be a cheapo, but i'll find everything your getting and still have money left, thats for sure.