I am finally biting the bullet and swapping to a 5sp from my 200c. i havent been able to find anything in my searches so figured I would ask, although I do remember seeing stuff posted. The cross member for the 200c will work for the t5 as well as the drive shaft right? I seem to remember seeing that at one point or another. I will have to run hydraulic throw out bearing as well du to clearance issues with long tube headers? I think the rest is basic stuff unless I am forgetting something, the clutch pedal, cutting the tunnel for gear shifter, thats kinda given easy stuff I think. Trying to get a tally of parts before ripping the car apart, I will be getting the transmission on sunday, but I am away from home at work so I have a few weeks to gather the rest of the parts before I get home. I think I should be able to do it in like 2 days or so with all the parts handy.

 

Wrong, and wrong.

The 200C crossmember sits too far forward and is too short to be moved back.

Your car lacks the bolt holes for the T-5/700-R4 one. Not exactly a deal-breaker, but a minor hurdle that must be jumped.

The T-5 is something around 1½ - 2" longer than the 200C, meaning the DS must be that much shorter.

Can't speak to the hyd TOB stuff. I always ran the stock setup with that.

The pedals may or may not be "easy". Kinda depends on what you've got.

​​​​​​​Same for the bell housing.

 

Gotcha, there is a crossmember on hawks motorsports for t5/th350, thats probaby the one i want then correct? As far as the DS goes, you mentioned the 700r4, would that then be the correct length? Its been about 2 years since i have even thought about a swap so i forget all the particulars. I had thought the slave cylinder would have clearance issues with long tube headers? Like i said its been a minute since i really thought about everything.

 

Crossmember & driveshaft for TH350 is the same as for 200C.

Crossmember & driveshaft for T-5 is the same as for 700R-4.

They are different.

Can't say about interference between slave cyl and headers; mostly depends on the specific headers in question. Not a universal one size fits all (or not) answer.

 

I have to tell ya...

I have been constantly impressed by your posts.
Yourself and a few select others, regularly post excellent and accurate information/ answers.
The forum members are very fortunate to have you guys here!


If you guys ever end-up in the New York City area; and are looking for a job...
Show me that your hands-on experience is on par, and I have Jobs available!

 

Be sure to inspect the T5 Bellhousing and pedals before purchasing them,.... there is a hydraulic version and a mechanical - "Z"-Bar - version. The hydraulic version of the pedals has a metal rod on each side that is required to mount the clutch hydraulics. You just want to be sure that you've got the right combination of parts at-the-ready before starting the conversion.

Picture of the hydraulic pedal rods...... BE SURE that these rods are placed as shown on the firewall when making your marks to drill the holes. It's VERY important that these holes are in the correct location !!! ( I always temp install the pedals,... mark the holes, remove the pedals, and then deal with drilling/cutting the firewall bolt & cylinder holes out, then re-mount the pedals when done. )

 

i only see 1 rod on here and the one on hawks motorsports looks nothing like that. Yeah i dont want to buy a ton of parts that wont work. I got the driveshaft figured out, i need one from a 700r4 and i think im gonna go with a UMI crossmember. The stock t5 cross members look identical to the one i have 🤷. I read a thread somewhere that the starter is t5 specific as well?

 

Yeah you ABSOLUTELY POSTIVELY UNEQUIVOCALLY need that other rod thing as John's photo shows. The thing in your phone screen grab will NOT work right.

You are correct, a 700 drive shaft will work with the T-5. It is shorter than the one for the 200C.

You are correct that your crossmember "looks" the same; but it is NOT. The T-5/700 one is longer, maybe ¾" or so, because it sits farther back (2" more or less), and the "frame" is wider apart the farther back you go. You MUST have the one for T-5/700.

There sort of is a "specific" T-5 starter. More accurately, there is a "specific" earlier-model 700 starter. Later on, they seem to have dropped that, and instead made ALL the starters T-5 ones. The T-5 version has a sort of flatter place on the side of the part that holds the nosepiece bushing; the 700 one is more bulged. The bulge interferes with the stock T-5 bell housing. The T-5 one however will work with either the T-5 or the 700, which begs the question of why they made 2 different ones in the first place... just more stupid GM $hit I suppose. Oh well. I strongly recommend NOT using a stock 8x starter however; it is basically the same old 6V direct-drive Delco POS from World War 2, that can JUST BARELY turn over a 305 on a good day with a hot battery. The LT1 starter is a newer design with reduction gearing, and will spin the motor AT LEAST twice as fast, and use less battery juice doing it. If you have to buy a starter, get one for something like a 96 Vette instead of 8x Camaro/Firebird. You'll also need the bolts that go with it, as well. (which you'd need for any starter different from whatever you have now, anyway)

 

I have to say i appreciate the info, you break everything right down 👍👍. Yeah i have to have blockbdrilled for straight starter anyways so the starter i have now wont work at all, tried that not knowing when i first got the car. Bought a 153 tooth flexplate and yeah its a LONG ways from meshing together. What you saying about it being wider now makes sense, i was confused on that before. Lol im slowly getting a parts list going and where to order everything. Would you recommend getting the cross member that has the torque arm relocation bracket on it or keep the mount on the trans? Still on the hunt for pedals that have the 2 arms 🤯🤯🤯

 

I have to say man i appreciate the info, you break everything down very well 👍👍. Im slowly getting a parts list going. I have to have the block drilled for straight starter anyways so i will need a starter. Would you recommend getting the cross member that has the torque arm relocation bracket? On the search for pedals with 2 rods lol.

 

I have to say man i appreciate the info, you break everything down very well 👍👍. Im slowly getting a parts list going. I have to have the block drilled for straight starter anyways so i will need a starter. Would you recommend getting the cross member that has the torque arm relocation bracket? On the search for pedals with 2 rods lol.

 

Man i appreciate it, you break everything down 👍👍. I did find a set of pedals with both bars, they are on the way 😁 along with a driveshaft. Since im buying an aftermarket crossmember anyways, would you recommend the one that has the torque arm relocation bracket? As far as the starter goes, i looked up a 96 vette and it doesnt have a nose cone, more like the mini starters from jegs, is that the correct one? The starter i have now is the staggered one and the block isnt drilled for other so im pulling motor out to have that done. I guess ill have to see when pedals get there and start actually doing the swap, is there a marking on firewall where that goes?

 

Not sure if my posts are going through or not 🤯🤯

 

Long tubes aren't a great fitment idea for the third gen. I'd carefully consider carrying the passenger side exhaust idea, even if you're going duals.
Long tubes are going to complicate clutch release fluid / bracket / fork / access, no matter which way you go.

A manual is going to increase the amount of loading and unloading of torque on the crossmember via the torque arm. So? So get a crossmember welded up, or purchased that gets the torque arm off the transmission. This lets the trans. mount last, and you can run a rubber one that transmits less vibration.

It's always a good idea to get "everything" from the same donor car. The earlier 84-? pedals have a rod-slide lockout switch that's a different design than the ?-92 button style. I don't think you can go wrong trying to source parts from as late as possible, but if it has the button style from a third gen, those are the pedals you want.

The bigger L98 starter doesn't fit the T5 bell. They get swapped into 305 cars sometimes. The T5 and 305 starter does fit. So do both versions of the 93-97 LT1 starter. So do the C4 Vette starters.

Before you stab the T5 in, see if it has a 7 or 9 tooth drive gear. Swap to the right one. The outside one can be changed later if you want to get the job done quick and don't have the correct one. If you end up with a 86-up bird or 90-92 Camaro, the VSS in a third gen T5 can be pulled and replaced with speedo gear and sleeve so your speedo cable hooks right up.

And get a new shifter socket bushing. The stock "plastic" one is the way to go in the T5. Bronze transmits vibration.

 

found these, only ones i could find with the 2 rods. Thanks for the input on the torque arm, i never thought about it wearing on the mount but yeah that makes perfect sense. I wish i had a total donor car to get everything off of lol. I still have to get a flywheel and stuff as well. Its a 2 pc rms with staggered starter so i gotta pull motor to have the hole drilled for that. If i run a hydraulic tob, i shouldn't have clearance issues with headers should i? My dad has one on his mustang and its just a hose that comes out of bell housing, pretty damn slick i thought.