has anyone tried welding in extra bracing and metal on the t-5 case to make it stronger? like say webwork on the outside of the case and mayby a girdle for the top cover? going to try it this summer since already have t-5's can try it with but was just wondering if anyone tryed it yet

 

The top cover isn't what's weak. Bracing that won't help.

Where it's weak, is across the front, between the clutch gear bearing (the big hole in the front of the case) and the countergear bearing (the smaller hole). Those 2 holes are 77mm apart, IIRC; take out of that, half the clutch gear bearing diameter (which would work out to about 40mm) and half of the countergear bearing (which would work out to 30mm) and you can see, not a whole lot of metal left in there.

Here's what you have to work with.



You can't brace it on the outside, because the clutch gear bearing retainer is there, and it's up against the bell housing; and you can't brace it on the inside, because the gears are there.

The most effective thing I can see to do, would be to mill off the whole front of the case, like ¼" or so; make a steel plate of the same thickness, with the identical same holes for the 2 bearings, and the "ears" to bolt to the BH; and figure out a way to attach that to the sides of the case, in some fashion that wouldn't leak. Not impossible I wouldn't think but not trivial either; and not real cost-effective, compared to the alteratives (junkyard T-56 for example).

 

im just wondering a junkyard t56 in this area is like 1100 wheras i have t-5's available already wouldnt cost anything to make something up for it except some metal. might be able to make a new bearing retainer(ive seen that astro performance does that) excpt take it further and have it come down to around the area for the counter gear bearing and have some more bolts to brace that area(drill some holes for it) and then come out to the "ears" and bolt there mayby weld some more tabs on the side of the case and bolt it in the center of the case also(does it flex in the back also?) im just looking if it works sweet ive done something to make something useless useful otherwise if i break it w/e i wont really have anything inveseted other then my time. some teflon tape on the bolts would stop any leaking. i know they use 1/4 adapter plates between the engine and bh all the time so this should be the same thing. trust me im not looking to invest a ton of money or anything just more of being bored and wanting to tinker lol

 

Like I said, it should be possible... if you have access to material and a machine shop, you could give it a try. Probably wouldn't even have to be the whole front of the case; maybe just a big oval kind of thing with those 2 holes in it. The main thing you'd have to watch out for with that, is that there's preload between the mainshaft and the clutch gear, and in the 2nd design T-5, also on the countergear, which tends to elongate the case from front to rear. But if you arranged your hypothetical oval piece of metal so that it went in from the inside and was restrained from coming out by 1/3 of its thickness overlapping 2/3 of the case thickness ½" wide or something like that, it might work; that would also give you a place to put a groove for a big O-ring into, to seal it.

Only one way to find out.

 

should be fun, the whole car should be done near the end of summer so i might get one pass out of it who knows im only expecting 320-325 hp from the engine with a 200 shot of nitrous but ill have to record the first couple of runs(late this year or start of the season next) see if the trans blows

 

There is a company that makes an aftermarket case for the T5 and aftermarket gear sets. There is more wrong w/ the stock T5 case than just some ribs missing. I think the way the countershaft is retained on their aftermkt. case is totally different.

 

Don't they just call that the TKO-500?

I think his idea is *not* to spend $2000 on this.
I think it's a nifty idea. If you have a big heavy duty milling machine, and are completely willing to tear apart the T-5 case so you can set it up on a machine, I think it'd be a cool mod to try. Machine a great big hole, press fit in a steel disc, machine the holes for the shafts and try that.

 

no totally different animal

 

ill prob end up putting a tko500 in it but i would like to play around with a t5 until next year for fun ill prob only get a couple runs in at the end of this season or 1 if i blow it up. im not willing to put a bunch of money into junk lol just bored

 

Well, just keep in mind as you attempt whatever, that the thing you're trying to fix, is the front of the case stretching and allowing the gears to push themselves apart from each other. That's the T-5's strongest weakness. In fact, you can tell if the one you have is already ruined that way; if the front countergear bearing leaks, or if it spins (note in my pic, the one on top has a big wear mark where it's been spinning and rubbing on the back of the clutch gear bearing retainer), that's a sign that the case is already stretched to the point that the bearing hole is oval instead of a circle. It's already smoked.