My 305 is crapping out so if i get a 350 can i bolt it up to the T5 without ripping the tranny into pieces??? If no then what are my other standard tranny options. I know there is the t56 but thats expensive. How much and how difficult is it to strengthen up a T5.

 

Everybody is gonna tell you that it's a bad idea with good reason. Just think, gm never mated a t-5 to a 350.

 

Depends on how long you expect it to last. Without serious abuse, like power shifting and others things...I think it could hold up quite awhile (and as long as the 350 isn't too heavily modded)

GM had multi-year/mileage warranty concerns that they had to worry about.

 

Josh R - if you search the site you will find countless posts on T5/350 combos

lots of comments against it

lots of comments for it

I suggest searching and decide after informing yourself with knowledge and experience of others.

 

my two cents would be to save up some money and pick up a T56. that T5 will not last when putting it through any type of abuse with a 350 in my opinion.

 

There are two possible reasons I've heard for that that make sense to me:

1. The T5 wasn't strong enough.
2. An f-body with a 350 and T5 was faster than same year Vettes (and you know we can't have that).

I tend to believe #2 more than #1 (have also heard couldn't get the L98 to pass emissions requirements with a T5 - I don't buy that one at all).

But, T56 is really the "right" way to go manual. However, if you don't do high-RPM clutch dumps or speed shift the T5, it'll last behind a 350 (one notable member had a non-WC T5 behind a 400 for years - but he knows how to drive).

 

Not to get too far off topic.....but why does that seem plausible to you?

Corvettes still were a bit lighter and had a bit more HP.....no way could TPI 350 5 speed Camaro out run a manual 350 TPI Corvette.

 

as for the vette being slower, it may be possible that they had different gear ratios, tuned more for high speed than acceleration. Maybe. Just saying.

And would it be easier to get a T56 later on. I can't afford to get a 350 and a t56 at the same time. Is it hard to swap a transmission out from the bottom?

 

Vettes of the day were actually heavier than 3rd gens. In 1987, the fastest U.S. production car was a V6 - the turbo Regal. As you might imagine, that didn't sit well with the Vette crowd, so to have two production cars that could out-run them, one of the same badge, was totally unacceptable. That remains the most believable reason for no f-body 350/T5 to me.

Most often done that way, in fact.

 

ok thanks. So i just won't beat to hard on the T5. I can't wait to be shifting like a Semi and still beating all my friends cars.

 

The t5 should be fine as long as you don't beat on it to much. I run a mild 350 with a t5 and the only reason I had to replace the trans was because it was low on fluid, and I ran it on the highway about 100 miles at 65 or so. And that was a non-w/c. now I have the world class, and so far its running well.

 

t

 

so by the way im understanding this a t-5 will be sufficent for a 350, as long as i don't dump the clutch and powershift. my dad and i are preparing for a swap 2.8 to 350, i have the t-5 now in my '88 firebird. Whats the difference between a world class and non world class t-5 ? And none of the 350 factory cars had a manual?

 

I see nobody has addressed this..

There was were"basically" 2 different T5s. Your 86 T5 & the World Class T5 (started in 88 IIRC?) that had more splines, bigger input shaft & more.....basically stronger.

Now...A WC T5 is much more likely to live abused behind a 350, than a non WC T5.

 

no 350 cars had manual, and no convertibles came with a 350

 

This thread is about MODIFYING a car, not what came stock

 

ok so my '88 is prob. not a wc because it's a v6, so i should be looking for a 305 car that is a manual '88 or later? please feel free to correct me if im wrong. OR how much does a good shape used t-56 run and how hard is that swap?

 

WC doesn't have more splines than non-WC. V8 has more splines than V6.

V6 T5 = weak unit that doesn't belong behind any V8.

 

Could a V6 T5 even "spline up" to a V8 then? Sounds like it couldn't.

 

the clutch disc would need to be v6 also, but this is crazy talk

more thread hijacking: http://www.flatheadv8.org/ernie/ernie-t5.htm

good info on the t-5

 

well currently i am running a non w/c t-5 behind a 383 build and so far so good but i dont beat on it either.

 

You will also need a V8 bellhousing to bolt the V6 T5 to the V8. Also, didn't the V6 T5 have different gear ratios not optimal for V8s?

 

so when people talk about not beatin on the t5 do they mean NOT AT ALL or maybe a dump here and a pass at the strip there, as long as it's not all the time?

 

It seems that everybody has differant luck with the T5's behind a decent engine. I have been running a non WC T5 for 5 years with 300 rwhp. 25-30 passes down the track, some with slicks. I also beat the crap out of it whenever I drive it. The only failure I've had was a broken shift fork which let the broken pieces get ground up and foul the 5th gear syncro. Not a big deal except I was 350 miles from home and have 4.10 gears. Kinda of made a crappy drive home.

The original poster should definately use the T5, if it dies quickly due to driving habits or whatever, then upgrade. It won't explode in your driveway.

Here it is at the track, I am not nice to the tranny.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Oug24NFBc

 

ok. Then i will use my stock tranny. I sure hope it doesn't blow up in my driveway.

 

I have a Gen0 350 small block and a WC V8 T5 with 2.95 first gear. I put down about 315 ft-lbs at the wheels, but my weight is about 2,500 lbs. fully loaded.

I have no problem at all, but keep in mind that I'm about 800lbs at least below a typical 3rd gen.

 

why are you so light?