Does anyone here have either pro-shifted or face plated gears in their standard tranny car?
I'm thinking of modifying my T-10 for this, as i've had times when i've "missed" a shift (having not been a born and bred racer, I can only assume this is called "missing" a shift... It's when I can't get the car to go into a higher gear, and end up revving the bejesus out of the car because it refuses to go into the gear until the RPM's drop back down??)

The car is never raced at a track per se, since I never have time to go to the track. It's not daily driven, but just a weekend cruiser, and rarely at that.

I'd like advice from anyone that has driven either a pro-shifted or face-plated car? I'm wondering if the tranny BANGS everytime I shift, or if it's simply easier to get into gears, but wears out faster? ie. do I need to start working out at a gym to be able to drive it afterwards?

Thanks

 

Do you mean dog-ring type engagement, instead of the synchros?

That's how my T5 is set up, with straight cut gears too

 

YES ! Exactly! Your dog-rings are what they refer to as "pro-shifted". Face plating does basically the same thing, but is supposed to last a bit longer, etc etc. Either way, yes, no synchro's in the punch line.

For more info;
http://www.libertysgears.com/faceplate.htm


So my question to you is:

-How is it to drive? Do you have to double clutch it everywhere you go? (except when racing?) Is it a bear to drive?

Side question - How are the straight cut gears? Do they howl pretty bad?

 

I don't find it hard to drive, but it certainly feels different. I've never had to double clutch. But shifting at WOT without the clutch is pretty cool

I don't mind the gear noise, I kinda like it, but my car is hardly a daily driver anymore. You can definitely hear the whine over the exhaust though

 

Never had to double clutch eh? Ok, I saw a video on youtube of a guy with a pro-shifted T-5 in his '67 Mustang, and he explained how to drive a non synchro-mesh tranny, and it seemed like you had to double clutch it unless racing.

My car is also not a daily driver, but I don't want to have to change my driving style because I can't shift it...

So driving it normally, is possible? ie, clutch, shift, let out clutch? No weirdness there?

What is different about it during "normal", ie non dragstrip type of driving?

 

It's really not that different from a transmission with synchros. As I understand it, they both operate in the same basic way. The difference is the dog-rings have 5(not sure on the exact number?) "teeth", compared to 30+ with synchros. With that many teeth, it has to slow down until the speed of the gears matches up before they can "mesh". Since the dog ring has only 5 considerably beefier teeth, the gears can mesh practically instantly. (meaning you don't have problems at high RPM shifting like you described, with the synchros not meshing)

Besides the different "feel", you DO need to be careful when you're shifting to make sure you hit the right gear. If you accidentally shifted from 2nd to 1st while trying to hit 3rd gear for example, it would go into first. There are no synchros to "grind" and prevent you from going into gear.

I wouldn't drive a transmission like that without an aftermarket shifter

 

hmm, ok. Good info - thanks.
I do have a Hurst supercomp shifter, and i've managed to push it back into 1st gear instead of third only one time --so far.


Anyone else have similar / alternate thoughts on it?

Thanks

 

Sonix, was your car originally an auto? I am swapping from an auto to manual trans, thinking of getting a T10 or muncie. My question is, is the hole in the floor for the shifter in the same location as it is for a T5? I don't have a trans yet, but I am wanting to get everything set up for it now, and I have no idea where to cut the floor.

Not trying to steal your thread, so PM me if you prefer.

 

Thread jacker!
No, my car was a stock T-10 car. So I have no idea what the hole in the floor is compared to an auto, or even for a T-5.
Try the swap forum, or the driveline forum. Or try a search, you can't be the first one to ask that question...

 

The T-10's are shorter than the T-5's. How much shorter, I'm not sure exactly

Short enough however that from '82 to '84 the driveshaft was longer, and seeing as how the shifter on the T-5 is on the end of the tailshaft, it sounds like the hole location would be different


--Sonix, one thing I left out about "normal" driving....

You need to put the car into first gear while you are still coasting forward if you are coming to a stop. If you forget to do that, you may find yourself unable to select first gear without moving the car forward or backward a little bit You will only make this mistake TWICE lol

 

I started a new thread. Didn't find any answers in a search... just this thread...

 

Thanks for the info. I forgot about the earlier cars having a longer DS. Yeah, it does sound like a T10 would have the hole in the floor further forwards.

 

As a side note, I just spoke to Liberty gears.
They cannot face plate 2nd gear on this transmission, due to space constraints. I would have to have #2 pro-shifted, then face plate 3 & 4.

They mentioned that if I was street driving it, 2nd gear would be worn out pretty quickly, and they do not recommend me doing that. They advised that I just have them do a "hazing on the cones", and use new synchros etc. I'll have to look into that...

 

How fast is "Pretty quickly"?

I know that my dog rings won't last as long as synchros, but this is the first I've heard about them wearing out quickly

Did they give you an approxamite mileage or something?

 

Buddy has a face plated t56 trans and he said it the shifter feels close to stock except no issues at 7200 rpm when he has to shift it. He has around 4500 in his trans now I believe with all the hardened shafts and gearing.

 

Used to run a Liberty Pro Shifted T-10--but can't say that I ever had it on the street for any length of time.... The trans is made to be shifted clutchless at WOT, and they do work quite well for that. Broke the tranny, as in the main shaft came apart on a 2nd to 3rd shift and grenaded everything... Went to a Doug Nash 5 speed after that and never went back to the T-10's.....

Got to ask why you want dog rings on the street???? I've learned that race only setups are best left for just that, race only... The new Richmond 5 and 6 speeds as well as the TKO 500's and 600's would make a much better choice for street and occasional drag use then a pro shifted T-10!!!! Never have seen a lot of opportunity for clutchless shifting on the street... I have ran Super T-10's with a V-Gate shifter on the street, makes a nice setup if down shifting isn't a big concern... For regular street use, an H pattern shifter with a synchronized transmission is probably the best setup....

 

my thoughts exactly. if you never take the car to the track, you are spending a whole bunch of money to make the car less-enjoyable to drive on the street. and i've personally shifted pretty dang quickly with a bone stock t56.
here is a vid of a bolt-ons only LT1 car with a bone stock t56 we were running:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmJLA...eature=channel