I am looking for a replacement T5 for my 1983 SC camaro. I need to know if the style of clutch will make a difference in my replacement? My car has a manual clutch linkage, instead of a slave cylinder/hyrdaulic clutch. Would I be able to keep my manual linkages if I bought a T5 that originally came with a hydraulic clutch, or would the bellhousing be different, due to not having the mounting locations for the linkages? Would I be able to swap the bell housing off of my current T5 onto a replacement hydraulic clutch setup T5? I can't find this information by searching, but if there is a thread somewhere out there that has this info, please post a link here.

 

No. No difference whatsoever. The trans is absolutely the same in every deatil, unaffected in any way.

No further threads required. Which probably has something to do with why there aren't any.

You'd LOVE getting rid of that stoooopid Stone Age linkage crap. I threw that stupid Neanderthal garbage out of my 83 in the trash, after hating it for EVERY SECOND I owned it, I guess it was in late 86 or early 87; the ABSOLUTE FIRST 84 model car I came across in the junkyard. I had ALWAYS hated it, in all the 4-speed cars I'd had in all the decades leading up to buying this 83, and it was just as much a POS in 83 as it had ever been in any 50s, 60s or 70s car I'd had up to that point which I can sssure you, were NUMEROUS.

In case you can't tell, I'd recommend swapping to the hydraulic actuator system.

 

How much work is involved with swapping it over to hydraulic? I agree with you 100%, I would much rather have a hydraulic clutch. What parts would I all need?

 

Bell housing, fork, pedal assy, hydraulics.

Clutch, trans, everything else, is the same.

 

Sounds like it would put a dent in my checking account.
Now your saying the bellhousing is different, so how would it work with my manual linkage if it is different? (In what ways do they differ?)

 

The hyd BH has a big bracket-like thing to attach the slave cyl to. And, the ball stud for the fork is in a different spot, because the leverage from the linkage is different from the slave cyl.

Other than that, they're pretty much the same.

In this day and time, the dent probably isn't too severe... seems like it only cost me maybe $250 - 300 back 25 years ago, when the 84 was so near a brand-new car that was so WASTED that somebody had probably died in it. I tried not to think about that part too much.

 

So would I still be able to hook up my manual linkage to a hydraulic setup trans if I bought a T5 from a newer car? Would that other bracket get in the way, and would having the ball stud in a different spot affect me in any way?

 

No, not exactly...

You'd be able to wholesale swap the entire knuckle-dragger linkage for a 20th Century hyd setup, by changing out the BH, pedals, hydraulics (duh), and fork. You would NOT have to change the trans, clutch, engine, or anything else. The trans could stay the same.

In my 83, I went through I can't tell you how many T-5s over the years. I know for a fact the 83 one was still in it when I changed to the hyd setup. Then after that I must have gone through at least a dozen other ones, all the way up to at least a 91 one.

I finally got wise though and put in a T-56.

 

So if I were to keep my mechanical setup I would have to use the BH that is currently in the car, correct?

 

I think so, yes. Or at least one just like it. Although I've never tried to mix-&-match that. Like I said I changed the entire thing out and then just threw all that linkage crap in the trash, some one of the times I moved across the country. Except I think I might still have the BH somewhere.

 

Alright cool, that was the information I was most concerned with. I wasn't sure if I would be screwed if I bought a newer trans. or not, because I wasn't sure about the BH.
Reps to you brother, you just saved me some headaches.

 

Right; trans is the same and they all interchange, difference is in the BH.

 

Okay, that makes sense. Thank you very much, now I just gotta track down a used trans. for my crapmaro.. hehe.

 

You seem very knowledgable about these T5's, so I was wondering if you could answer one more question I have. What would work for a replacement in my camaro? I have read several threads about s10 transmissions, but aren't the shifters in different locations? I need a v6 t5.

 

Right: The S truck version of the T-5 has the shifter about 5" or 6" farther forward; and doesn't have the rotation feature required for one of these cars.

The only T-5 that will fit a 83-92 6-cyl F-body (no T-5 in 82), is one from a 83-92 6-cyl F-body. Any year trans will fit any year car, within that range.

6-cyl ones are pretty plentiful; shouldn't be too hard to track one of those down. There were more to begin with, they don't get tore up as much as V8 ones, and there's no real demand for em, so they're easy to find and usually cheeeeeeeeep.

 

Yeah I keep reading that they are supposed to be everywhere, and a dime a dozen, but I can't find one within driving distance of me to save my life.. I have checked every scrap/salvage yard within a 100 mile radius of me, and none of them have any in good condition. I will have to start checking craigslist/ebay and see if anything pops up there.
Thank you again for the information, you have been a huge help.