so ive been doing my reserch on t-5s and ive found that the later WC t-5s in the mustangs were reputed to be stronger than their Fbody counterparts... so the bellhousing bolt pattern is the same for both, length is the same, output shaft is the same, shifter position is either the same or only a slight variation (no info on this just by comparing pictures), however the input shaft is different on the mustang. so i was wondering if i could swap in a Fbody input and first gear when i did a rebuild. im thinking i would also have to switch the round collar thing (sorry cant remember technical ) that is around the input shaft as well.
any ideas or input is appretiated... and if you think this is a dumb idea dont be afraid to tell me so haha

 

In general, any time a ratio is higher numerically (like a 3.35 first gear vs. a 2.95 first gear,) it is weaker.
Nope.


Nope. F-body is 27 spline small GM; Mustang is 28 spline small Ford.
If the countershafts were the same toothcount at 4th gear, it would work out. But I don't think they are. And then for the adaptation of the Ford trans. to the GM bellhousing, you'd be spacing the trans. back, having to run an extended pilot bearing... And basically getting into more work than just getting the right trans. in the first place.

 

Not sure where you can "research" and come up with THAT; but wherever it is, you should do your research elsewhere. "Reputed to be" and "is" are 2 radically different things sometimes.

The T-5 is the T-5. Doesn't matter what kind of car it comes in, what brand, how many cyls, nothing. It has the same spacing between the shafts, the same shaft diameters, the same aluminum-foil case, it's all the same the same the same. Only things that are different, are the bolt patterns where the case bolts to the car, and things like spline counts which vary from car model to car model, and gear ratios. It might be true that the gear ratio affects the ultimate breaking strength somewhat, in that a small gear on the clutch gear such as the stupid wide Frod ratios or the GM 6-cyl ratios has, puts more stress on each individual tooth for any given level of torque. Other than that, any hint you have ever gotten from anybody anywhere that says Frod T-5s are any "better" than GM ones, is PURE UNADULTERATED UNVARNISHED BS.

The BH pattern is not the same; Frod uses one of the Frod patterns, GM uses the GM pattern. The shifter position is not the same (the F-body version is utterly unique and unlike ANY other chassis in that the shifter is rotated partway around the ext hsg to bring it back into alignment with horizontal after the trans is rotated by the BH). GM and Frod drive shaft splines are not the same. The clutch splines are of course different. In short, there's no swapping between them, at ANY of the points where they have to interface with the rest of the car.

The countergear cannot possibly be the same for different gear ratios; after all, the ratio changes are made by changing the # of teeth on the clutch gear and its diameter, and correspondingly changing the # of teeth on the countergear and its diameter. But since the shafts are always the same distance apart (88mm centers specifically), then the sum of the 2 gear radii has to always be constant as well, meaning that if you make one smaller the other has to be larger, and vice-versa. So you can't change the clutch gear tooth count without also changing the countergear.

So, ..... ummm,,,, ..... yeah. I'll let you do all the hard math and figure out what kind of idea that would be.

 

cool i dident mean to get you guys all rielled up over the ford thing.. rest assured im a chevy guy all the way but if i can get somthing better somwhere else ill take it.. this really was to confirm or deny a bunch of things i read while looking into a t-5 swap.. ive only ever worked with th350/400s and old muncies.. so i figured you guys would know.. i figured since some of the mustangs had the same gear ratios as the Fbodies that they would have interchangeable gears/ input shaft.. and as for the case ive seen picts with whats been discribed as the "butterfly" bolt pattern (center pict above) as being on fords an gm T-5s but like i said ive never worked on one so i thought id ask.. i cant exactlly go down to the local junkyard and look for myself being that im deployed.. and as we all know there is plenty of missinformation out there on the internet.. so thanks for shooting down this idea before i wasted my time.. and yes sofakingdom i did the math and even a marine can figure out that i was oviously misguided and misinformed... thaks for your input guys

DISCLAIMER: Im a Marine not an english teacher.. so if i Fu#$ed up the spelling get over it

 

It'd probably be easier if you just explained your goals, and the experts could tell you what parts would let you reach that goal.

 

well really its a case of i can find good stang t-5s all over the place.. and i kept hearing from chevy and ford guys this rumor about them being stonger.. im kicking around a 350 swap or just a 305 rebuild in an 86 t/a and figured a manual swap was in order given the ease at which it is accomlished in these cars (ive done trucks and 2ed gens and this looks even easier)... so i figured id get a stang t-5 and just swap input shafts durring the rebuild.. but apparently it dont work that way... lol.. the car is going to be a fun DD so im not really worried about the strength i just figured they are plentiful and if i can get a little more security out of it WTH.. but like jmd and sofakingdom said my information was severly misguided..

 

If you're not worried about strength, then a Fbody T5 should work fine. Mustang T5's aren't any stronger. In the Mustang community everyone talks about upgrading to the T5Z, or other stronger options, and there are constant threads on rebuilds. It's just as much of a problem over there, except that finding a used T5 for a Mustang is a lot easier.

 

Posting your location helps.
Posting in classifieds helps. Maybe the regional forums too.
They're out there.
The only one I have needs a rebuild and belongs to someone else anyway.