Nelson man

Hi guys i have a 1982 firebird trans am that should have came with 305 carb and auto trans. I got the shell for 300 very little rust. for the motor i have a 1989 chevy 350 tbi out of a suberban i got for free and i bought a junkey 1986 T/A with a carb 305 and a t-5 borg warner tranny. I was wonder how hard the swich is and my how to do it. O and what do you think quater mile time might be.

hedberg667

Well first off i'm gonna say that this switch is not impossible but rather implausible. The T-5 wont be able to hold the power of the 350. The reason that a 350 manual tranny was not available in ANY thirdgen was because then you would have a car just as quick as the vette but for less money. Rather the best motor/manual combo you could get was the 305 TPI and the T-5. I would say your best bet is getting a built manual or going with a 700R4 out of another 350 car.

19 Trans am 82

Its not that bad of a swap, I did it to my 82. As for the trans holding up to the power, well it wasn't rated for the power output of a 350 but mine has lasted for a year now and its still going . I say go for it if you have all the pieces, it makes the car a lot more fun to drive.

RocketyMan

Go for the stick. It's a good idea for more driveability. But if you want a drag car, sadly, go for the auto.

my two cents.

hedberg667

Im not saying that the swap cant be done but more should not be done in the long run. If you drive your car a little hard then the trans just wont hold up. My friend did this to his 89 camaro and the trans lasted for a little while but then blew up in the street and he was stranded for a good 3 ours. Also the dangers of blowing a trans on the street could cause more damage than just having to replace the trans. I admit a stick is more fun but its better to spend a little dough and get one that will last rather than put in an inferior piece that will cause problems down the road.

walrus108

I've been driving a converted from auto GTA 350 (see sig) for years and it's held up just fine. I go pretty hard at it too. It's a little tired these days but the tranny had some miles on it before I installed it. If your gonna be running street tires, a T5 will do just fine and should hold up for quite a while.

So if you have the parts already and you'd rather have a stick, I say go for it. I would offer this advice to make it live though. No drag radials or slicks. Avoid speed shifting. Get (at least) the lightweight 16lb flywheel like was used with the F code TPI engines. (Advance sells these new pretty cheap). And run the lowest rear gear you can live with. And keep it full of high quality tranny fluid. These things will protect a T5 tranny from shock and abuse and help it live a very long life.

In my experience it's the kids who can't drive a stick to begin with or the one's with a heavy flywheel, slicks and a 2.73 rear that will easily toast many T5's and then preach for evermore that this is just inherent in the trannys themselves. Stang guys don't complain about the T5 nearly as much as the GM guys do. They are a good tranny when used within reason. I've learned this while pounding on a few different one's of them over the past 18+ years, so I do speak from experience.

Nelson man

hey guys thankyou for your words. ok it has 3.23 rearend gears, I was going to use the fly wheel of the 305 carb. but will check in to the lighter flywheel. I was cheaking out a used turbo 350 tranny for 50 bucks. what is quailty tranny lub I relly have not work with maunal trannys before. O and is there a way to toughen up the tranny?

walrus108

You're not really gonna be able to toughen the tranny up. Ford motorsports has probably gotten the most you can get out of a fatory T5 and I think it's rated at like 350ftlbs. But that rating is supposed to mean that it can take 350ftlbs of torque for 24hrs straight. Yours is weaker than that.

If you're going to drag race, even occasionally, you'll eventually blow that T5. The 350 turbo would be a much better choice for drag racing and can handle much more abuse.

Your carbed 305 most likely had the heavier flywheel. They used these in the lower powered versions to make them feel faster and harder to stall. But when you spin a heavy flywheel up to say 3000 rpm and dump the clutch, you send a much greater shock through the drivetrain than with a lighter flywheel. If I remember right, your flywheel is like 28lbs which is significantly heavier than the TPI 305's got with their T5's. Anyhow, that 305 had a two piece crank seal and the 89 has 1 piece. You'll need a different flywheel for the 350.

My 350TPI makes tremendous torque, I drive it regularly, and I floor it at least once every time I drive it. It has yet to blow the gearbox and I don't expect it to either. But I could probably make it grenade anytime I wanted also! You just have to understand that you are pushing it to it's design limits, and treat it as such. Like I say, it's a decent choice for a road race or even auto cross tranny. Great just to drive around if you'd just rather have a stick. But it's not meant for drag racing or high powered engines. But then again, neither are the rear ends they put in our cars.

Good luck!

Nelson man

hey guys thank you for all th posts i would still like any thing else you can think of any thing else. good news on the project i got engine and tanny pulled. it is a one peice rear main seal nubers on it are GM 5.0L G 14088551
ok i pulled them apart and found the fly wheel is a smaller diameter the the flex plate was fo the stater is smaller to acomidat it has a 21 pound fly wheel. and i was wondering if torque specs on the fly wheel and cluch set up? I alson took the brake booster and pedles.


Any info is apperiated thank you.

Nelson man

Hey one more thing should i get a stage 3 kluch kit or some thing

walrus108

I have tried quite a few wiz-bang clutch kits in the past. Even custom performance disk with high tech materials that cost a fortune. Those will grab harder for sure but they're hard to drive. Not much in-between release and engage. And they have never lasted very long. I tried the Ram stock replacement kit from summitt and I have to say it is the best clutch I have ever used. It's stock #88730. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RAM-88730/

I am going on 4 years with this clutch and it has not yet begun to slip. This is by far the longest lasting clutch I have ever used in a TPI F-body. I've paid $300+ dollars for a clutch that was a pain to drive, only lasted 6 months, and it destroyed my flywheel.

One thing though. Since installing this clutch in my car, I had to do a clutch for an RS Camaro at work (I am a mechanic) and we bought the duralast kit from Auto Zone. It appeared to be the same kit as the Ram I bought and also the Zoom kit I was able to compare side by side. It was only slightly cheaper than the Ram was but with them being local and having a warranty, I wouldn't hesitate to use that one also. In fact, when the time comes, that's what I'll be using.

Using a heavy weighted pressure plate like the centerforce will also create more inertia and cause destructive shock force to travel through your drivetrain which is much harder on your tranny and everything else for that matter. My belief is that using a stock type clutch will protect your drivetrain also. It is lighter, less rotational inertia making it faster and easier on your drivetrain, and also more likely to slip a bit. I'd rather have my clutch wear a bit faster and protect the rest of the drivetrain than grip hard and sudden and punish everything behind it.

Also get the roller pilot bearing if you can. Brass is ok but I really think the roller is superior.

I hope this helps you out.