I didnt want to take over the guys post below. I know about video and hanlon to get it. I just want an idea if this is feasible. I was told on my transmission that I need to change the clutch fork and the 5th/reverse gear. AAmco wanted 500+ to do it with the tranny already pulled. Is this something I can do without any prior knowledge other than pulling the tranny. I saw below that some super alloy gears of somesort are 400 for all of them or 60 for indiviual, would you reccomend I change all the gears If Im upgrading from a 305 to a 350 with about hp between 300-320?

Rupert

 

If you can pull a trans no problem. A rebuild shouldnt be to hard. With the power your talking about you wouldnt have to beef it up much if at all.

 

The T5 rebuild is fairly straightforward. You will need inside and outside snap ring pliers, basic hand tools, and some way to install and remove bearings. The book will tell you to check the endplay on the countershaft, but I have found that as long as you use Timken bearings and the original shims the endplay spec never seems to change. I always check it, but I've never seen it deviate from spec.

You can remove bearings with a press and clamshell fixtures, or you can do it with a brass punch and a hammer if you're careful. I did several transmissions and transfer cases like this before I got my press and have had no bearing failures over thousands and thousands of miles.

Torque is really what kills transmissions, not horsepower. A WC T-5 is rated to I believe 300 lbs/ft., maybe a bit more. The Z-spec box that Ford sells with the better gears is upwards of 350 lbs/ft. Is it worth it? That question is nearly impossible to answer. Plenty of people break T-5s with stock cars. Plenty of people run 12s with them with little to no breakage. Piece of mind is always a great thing.

Traction is also a big killer. A street car will be less likely to blow the trans, but a botched powershift can do it, even without traction (trust me, I've done it). Regardless of what you decide, I highly recommend a high quality aftermarket shifter. I'm partial to Pro 5.0, but other have posted their undying love for the Hurst and B&M products too.

 

Alright, I have a few more questoins now. Where would you get that Ford Z spec gears you are talking about. Hanlon? How much do they typically run? The press you are talking about do you have a picture or can you point one out on a website as to what they look like or where I can get one. I mean I would think it would be best to change all the gears while im there to save me the problems potentially later. I have read that people dont seem to like Ram Clutches and seem to favor Centerforce do they just seem to be a little better? And lastly I have seen Flywheels that weigh less and are advertised to be a little better from about 250+. I have not read about anyone who has ever got one, have you heard about the performance over stock?

Rupert

 

The Z-spec gears (also called "super alloy" gears) can be found at Hanlon for about $450.

The press I use came from Harbor Freight tools. It is a 12-ton free-standing model. It cost about $135 I believe.

I've had no experience with the Ram clutches. I too have heard bad things though. I've also heard bad things about Centerforce on T-5 and T-56 cars. I run a SPEC stage III in front of my T56 and an very happy with it.

I am also running a lightweight McLeod aluminum flywheel. Couldn't say about a performance improvement, but the engine will spin up faster, so there's definately some gain. However, that all comes at a price. The idle is unstable due to the low intertia of the flywheel. The car drops RPM incredibly fast when the clutch is pushed in. This isn't a big deal if you're good at heel/toe downshifting, but you won't believe how fast the RPMS drop. For a mostly stock street car I would advise against it.

 

I will have to look into the gears. It wont be till probably summer till I tackle this but from what you guys say it doesnt seem to be that difficult just time consuming. My problem is I always seem to screw stuff up the first time and have to go back and redue it, but it makes me learn it. Depending what I do over spring break to the engine will ulitmately determine if i go with the alloy gears. I think ill just stick with the heavier clutch from what I have read in the last few days. Thanks for all your help, I may try to locate you in the upcoming months if i run into trouble

Thanks again
Rupert

 

No problem.

BTW, when you do rebuild it test is out on the bench by spinning the input shaft by hand and checking that each gear works. T5s have a slightly tricky rail shifter that sometimes seems right but isn't and the trans winds up stuck in 5th gear. It sucks when you put it back in the car before finding that out...

 

And don't try to shift through the gears with the tailshaft off; you'll run the risk of the 5/rev shift rail sliding sideways into it's front bore and gouging the side of the bore, which will prevent it from shifting in those gears.
Guess how I found that out

Pete

 

Probably the same way I found out that the shift linkage wasn't back together right!

Fortunately I had access to a lift when that happened and it was no big deal to pop the trans out, fix it, and slam it back in. The car did sound horrible trying to take off in 5th gear though...