I have an 83 Trans Am with a T5. The trans is almost gone, and I would like to get something stronger to replace it when it fails. I have access to an aluminum T10 out of an 82 car, and I was wondering what it would take to swap it in.

My biggest concern is the bellhousing. Do any of you know if the four speed can use the t5 bellhousing? Mine has a mechanical clutch, but I'm not sure if the four speeds were angled in these cars like the t5 is.

Thanks!

 

No.

To put in that T-10, you need the bell housing and the fork, for sure. And a shifter of course. It's kind of a shame but Hurst discontinued the "install kit" for the 82 a long long time ago, so you're stuck with the crappy stock crappy crap one, if you have it. If not, ... good luck. It might be possible to modify some other "install kit" to "fit", I couldn't say, but I have my doubts. At least, doing it in any kind of sanitary, non-sodomistic manner.

"Mechanical clutch" doesn't too much matter to the transmission itself. It doesn't care what's pushing on the fork that's pushing on the throwout that's pushing on the clutch. However I know of no bell housing that you could upgrade from that old Stone Age linkage crap to the modern hydraulic stuff with, that would fit both the car and the transmission. Not a stock one anyway: no doubt some provision could be found in the aftermarket but it might not be cheeeeeep.

The VERY FIRST mod I did to my 83 L69 Z28 was to get rid of its stock crappy shifter, probably no more than 2 or 3 weeks after I got it, when I busted my knuckles on the dash shifting into 3rd. The NEXT mod I did musta been in about 86, when a totalled 84 Z28 appeared in the junkyard; I ganked its hydraulic system and put it in my 83. One of the happiest days of my life owning that car was throwing that sh***y linkage crap in the trash. (almost as happy as the day I dropped a 400 into the car) Between those 2 things, it REVOLUTIONIZED driving the car. Unfortunately I still had the crappy 1st design T-5 in it and tore up 5 or 6 cores a dozen or more times before I gave up on it, put a 2nd design in it and resigned myself to babying it, and then in about 97 or so, got a T-56. Which is what I'd advise you to do, and not put ONE DIME into anything else, except that T-56s that will fit these cars, in good shape, are getting scarcer all the time, and more $$$$$ even when you can find one.