I've read a few of the "guides" on swapping a T-5 from my automatic, and I'll be picking up the trans on Sunday. I just wanted to go over a few things really quick. Do I need to drop the steering column for any reason if I'm going to leave the shifter cable in there (the one that goes to the ignition)?

Part-wise...I'm going to need..

T-5 trans (duh!)
clutch
throwout bearing
pilot bearing (Timken)
pedal assembly
hydraulic assembly
shifter (have Hurst short throw on the way)
flywheel

The rest is just wiring, right? Also, for the flywheel, I have an '88 automatic 305 that I just bought a new starter for. Will this starter work with the T-5? I don't know how many teeth my flywheel is, I bought the cheap starter from Murray's. What flywheel should I look for?

 

I did an Auto to T5 swap on my Formula last fall and it wasn't too hard.

I left most of the shift-lock cable in the column but cut it where it left the column since it was a pain to unlatch it.

My 88 had the connector for the Clutch safety switch up above the drivers side kick panel so I installed that from the doner car. I read that all 3rd gens should have that connector in the car regardless of what tranny was installed. In fact, the 88 GTA that the T5 came from had the harness for the Automatic shifter in it as well.

The only wiring I had to do was run 2 wires from the automatic shifter harness to the tranny for the reverse lights.

I also used the Auto starter that was on my car, didn't even have to remove it to do the trans swap. The GTA used it's same starter when we put the Auto in it.