what can i use from my v6 t5 for a v8 t5. anything? slave cylinder? is there anyway i can convert my v6 t5 to a v8 via getting a v8 bellhousing? i need help/input.

 

I don't think it would last long! Aren't they much weaker than the V8 ones?

Otherwise, I think all you need is a different bellhousing, but I'm not sure.

 

actually their the exact same specs and mine is a 92 world class...so thats why i was wondering! bump for someone who knows

 

I need to know as well, because i cant find a v8 t5 anywhere but there are plenty of v6 ones around. Did any of the 4th gen v6 cars come with 5 speeds, and if so, would they work? (assuming bellhousing swap).
Sorry for being so ignernt.

 

No, the V6 tranny is weaker than the V8, and will not last long.

 

Wrong, they hold up as much as a v8 would, plenty of people have used a v6 t-5 and used a custom clutch setup to bolt it to a v8.

Yes the hydraulics are the same for v8-v6.

 

I did a search, but evidently i dont know the right phrase to put in. Can somebody link me to a thread with this info? (v6 t5 behind a v8) Or possibly a website?

 

I don't know how they could do that as a V-6 trans has a longer input shaft. It would not bolt to any V-8 bellhousing.

 

Spacer in between bellhousing and trans, perhaps?

 

Trust me, if it could be done, T5's would be a dime a dozen. I went through this about 2 years ago, they won't mate up or hold the power if you could do it.

 

ok...if the v6s are rated at the same specs aaron why wont they hold as much...if anything it could be better since they've only had 150hp put through them at most. what about getting the v8 input shaft and bellhousing?

 

the v6 trany is NOT weaker than the v8 trans. the problem u might run into is spline count. its hard to find a 26 spline v6 t-5. if you do it will perform equally if not better than a v8 t-5. its possible for a v6 t-5 to perform better b/c the v6 t-5 had different gearing(not including wc t-5). if the v6 t-5 u have is a 26 spline all u need is a v8 t-5 bellhousing. everything else will work fine. but if the v6 t-5 is a 14 spline then i wouldnt use it. the few splines would be easily prone to stripping. also it will prolly be hard to find a 14 spline 10.5 in clutch, or at least a good one! i tried doing this same swap, but all i could find in a decent price range were 14 spline v6 t-5s! goodluck!

 

Here's how that works:

You've got a 6-cyl transmission. To get the clutch gear ("input shaft"), you need to find a V8 transmission. So your program looks like this:

You go to the junkyard and buy a V8 T-5. You take 2 T-5s completely apart, and put one back together, using the 6-cyl case 9no different from the V8 case) and the V8 gears. You can't change just the clutch gear, you have to change the countergear too. When you're done, you throw away the V8 case, and all the 6-cyl guts.

Now that you understand what you'd have to do, here's common sense:

You go to the junkyard and buy a V8 T-5. You take nothing apart. You put the 6-cyl trans in the garbage. You're done.

That 6-cyl T-5 is worthless. If you're putting in a V8 motor, get the right transmission, and don't even bother with it.

There is no such thing as a 26-spline 6-cyl transmission. That's one of the details that makes a T-5 either a 6-cyl one (14 splines) or a V8 one with 26 splines.

It is not true that the trans will not bolt up, or any of that. It'll go right into a V8 and not work. In fact I fondly recall one of the many, many, many times that I tore mine up, calling up the junkyard and having them send me one; I had my old one out about the time it arrived; I slapped the new one in; put the car completely back together, fluid and interior and whees and all, and the car wouldn't even pull off. No power in any gear. I was steamed. I jerked it back out, and only then, noticed that it had the smaller (weaker) 6-cyl clutch gear, which of course wouldn't engage my clutch. So I can assure you, it will bolt right up.

It is also true that it would work, if you had a clutch made with the V8 outer diameter, and the 6-cyl hub splines. But why anyone would spend extra time and money on a custom clutch just so they could deliberately use an inferior transmission, is beyond me. That's just not a good idea. Which has little or nothing to do with any "specs", whatever those might be; just the facts concerning the 2 units.

 

Once again, its done, several times. CUSTOM CLUTCH!!! The T-5 isn't as weak as a lot of people make it out to be. Texaslt1 is running his t-5 on 317 rwhp with drag radials and has lived for 2-3 years and runs 12.8 on a 1.8 60'ft. He isn't babying it. Z28***** ran an actual V6 t-5 on his lt1 swap and it lived through hard launches. Its how you treat it and if it were me and I was taking the time to have a custom clutch made (which really isn't that expensive) I woudl also rebuild the tranny I bought.

Inferior? bleh.

 

I run a V-6 T-5 in mine. It has held up fine but if there is any way for you to get a V-8 T-5 , get it instead. The gearing is horrible in the V-6. 1st is 4.03 to 1 and 2nd is 2.34 to 1 IIRC. Too much of a jump for performance use in my opinion.

 

what exactly did u do to get your v6 one to work? the reason im wondering is because if i do the swap soon and dont have the tranny i can save up more and in a month or two get a t56

 

V-8 Bellhousing
Custom Clutch
Thats all I know of. When I bought my car it was an auto but the guy threw in the V-6 T-5 that already had custom clutch and V-8 bellhousing. Save up and get the T-56, it'll be worth it in the end.

 

yea thats what i want to do but funds being limited...i might have to borrow cash from my dad.

 

My goodness RB83 is still trying to argue this, wow pretty funny, i thought i've proven my point numerous times on this issue.

The ONLY difference when it comes to using a V6 T5 behind a V8 as far as custom goes you can use the early V6 disc with the 9 11/16 dia, and the V8 flywheel / pressure plate and drive it fine, if you are going to leave it in for quite some time i would suggest getting a custom disc made, 1" 14 spline just like the V6 T5 10.4" diameter to match the V8 pressure plate.

USUALLY (read i've done this more than once quit trying to argue with me.) you need to grind the tip of the input shaft where it goes into the pilot a tad shorter.

I've had one living behind a TPI 305 with dualcats, etc for quite some time, dont care if you say its crap it wont work, it wont last, you can come to tampa and yell at the trans, tell it that its not allowed to be alive, who gives a crap.

(if anyone wants a little entertainment do a search in the trans forum on my username, go back to the old posts and see how many times RB83L69 said it isnt possible to do and was arguing with me on this) its been done, the first time i did it i was 16, im 22 now, go figure, i think its been proven by now.

Pasky is a little mixed up though, i've never had a T5 running behind an LT1, afaik TexasLT1 is the only one.

 

When in there did I say anything about "not possible"?

I just got through saying, I've already done it myself, by accident! How do you get "not possible" out of that? In fact, if you're 22 now, I did that when you were in about the 1st grade. I think I might be alittle ahead of you on this.

What I actually said was, it's possible, but stupid. People interested in performance go for close-ratio transmissions with large-diameter shafts, not wide-ratio ones with small-diameter shafts.

You will find that if you put the right transmission into your car instead of graunching the grocery-cart version into a performance car, that the car will go faster. You would also find, if you had a motor with some power as opposed to a TPI 305, that it takes less to shred a 6-cyl one than a V8 one.

Don't put words into my mouth, no matter how young you are, even if you are only 22.

 

OK.....so it is possible. Lets get that out of the way. Now, as far as what i would be doing with it, it will be a daily driver with less than 300 hp. I just want something more fun to drive than the 700r.
So if i read it right, i need the following:

v6 t5 trans
v8 bellhousing
v8 flywheel
v6 clutch plate
grind off the input shaft

Correct? Also, is there a difference in the crossmember?

 

crossmember is the same.. the rest should be right from what ive been reading people need to do research before posting out of their butts.

 

Yes that parts list will work; except, you need a V8 clutch, and a 6-cyl clutch disc only.

Crossmember is the same.

Like I posted above, the transmissions are so near identical externally, that back when the other guy was still in kindergarten and I had already put a 400 in my 83 and torn up about the 3rd or 4th T-5 with it, I accidentally swapped a 6-cyl trans into it and didn't even notice until I took the car down off the jacks. Torque arm, shifter, bell housing bolt pattern, crossmember, back-up light wiring, speedo cable hookup, is all the same the same the same.

I doubt it would be more "fun" than a 700, except for the physical act of shifting if that could be considered "fun" in and of itself.... you know how the 700 drops the engine RPM from "scream" to "lug" when it goes from 1st to 2nd? Now imagine that, except every single shift, from every gear to every other gear. Basically, instead of being able to select "the right" gear for the situation, you would be able to select "a" gear but most likely it will always be too high or too low. Which is not much fun.

 

Ok...well, i think ive decided to hold off on the swap. Im probably just going to paint this car and sell it anyway, because ive really got a jones for a 66 Chevelle. How fun would one of those be with a big block and a t56? Hmmmm?

 

i was just wondering ive also decided to go with a rebuilt v8 one or a t56....probably the t56.

***just so everyone understands***
v6 trans will work..might not be desireable
v6 trans is just as strong as v8 trans
gearing is different.

done.

 

I have a 86 z28 with a 305 4bbl. I purchased a clutch assembly to replace it and once everything was apart, I find out the previous owner had put in a t5 from a v6. he kept the larger diameter flywheel and used the smaller clutch disc. The new assembly I have has a different spline count (for v8) and obviously doesnt fit. So here is my question:

Can I just swap out the v6 input shaft for the matching v8 shaft?

Also, is it alright to use the smaller disc with the larger flywheel (for curiosity sake).

Dardie

 

I Just did the conversion, and to swap a v-6 car to a 350, you need to replace the v-6 motor mounts with v-8 horse shoe type, and the cradle mounts as well, the bellhousing on the t-5 needs to be swapped to a v-8 with hydraulic clutch and throw out fork too. you need to contact a clutch and brake ONLY shop and order a 10.4 inch clutch that is made by rhinopak for SPECIFICALLY this conversion if your input shaft is 14 spline, if it's 26 (4 speed and SOME t-5's you can go to a parts store easy, also you need to order a flywheel at 153 teeth and starter both for an 84' firebird 305. the starter will need different bolts too. (shorter) and you will need to buy flywheel bolts too. Now, unless your modifying your v-6 harness for v-8 tpi (which can be done at a cost of time and frusteration) I will assume you are going to go carburetted, most likely old school holley or edelbrock, and an hei distributor. This will require you to isolate the pink hot to the coil wire, tach wire (and new v8 tach), cooling temp wire and extend it,v-8 manifolds or headers for the 305 wont work, whole new exhaust system needs to be made if you can't score 350 firebird exhaust system, heater hosing, rewiring of the alternator wires, lengthening of the starter wires so they dont burn on the manifolds or headers, heater vacuum line isolation, vac line running, modification to the gas pedal cable, various new brackets including a whole new power steering pump setup for a v-8, new radiator, shroud and fan,( I use my electrics on a switch) and mcuh much more. THIS IS A SERIOUS SWAP PEOPLE!!! Not to be taken lightly. Throw in the cost of the engine build and time involved and it's almost not worth it unless you REALLY love your car this much. Which I personally do. I still kinda feel it aint worth it all. Not to mention he who decides to tune port it. :cringe: Well, I hope this is useful as to informing one as to what they are getting into. I didn't know, so he's you have it. info on 90% of the swap. -Colt