5 Speed Manual
Transmission Installation - Part 3
Bring on the Pain
Onto the fun part: installing the transmission.
With those of us with access to a lift and transmission jack, please read
on. However, for the many of us without, a few pointers before going
through some excessive lifting:
1.) The transmission weighs about 75-80 lbs without the fluid. Do
yourself a favor and don't put fluid into it until you're done installing
it.
2.) Use a floor jack to assist getting the transmission into position before
installing.
3.) Turn the input shaft splines on transmission so one spline is facing 12
o'clock (to match the clutch disc center hole as described on last page)
3.) The transmission should be slid into the bell housing steadily and at
the right angle. Be sure that the clutch arm, throw-out bearing, and
clutch plate all are engaged correctly by the transmission.
4.) If the transmission will not slip completely into the bell housing,
leaving a 1/4 - 1/2" gap before bottoming out, it simply is the clutch plate
and clutch not absolutely in line with the pilot bearing installed in the
crank. Actuate the clutch lever while jiggling transmission to get
transmission to fully seat.
5.) Get some cheap 12mm threaded rod and cut 4 lengths about six inches long
and thread them into the bell housing. use these rods to align the
transmission upon installation.
(Lengths of threaded rod or long bolts with the
heads cut off make great aligning rods for the transmission.)
The Rear Mount
Apart from the trick clutch cable kit Modern Driveline also has a
very nice rear transmission mount for this swap. Not only does it
allow for good clearance of the exhaust system, but it also allows the owner
to retain the emergency brake in their car.
(The mount is heavy duty and nicely welded up.
Notice the slot for rear transmission mount adjustment and the arm to retain
the emergency brake on the car.)
After installing the rear transmission mount, simply jack up the
rear of the transmission, slide in the new bracket, and install with two
bolts.
Because my transmission came with the S10 tail shaft, the
speedometer cable inserts into the transmission right at the rear of the
front sub frame. Because the tolerance is so tight between the rear of the
front sub frame and the speedometer cable, one needs to modify the sub frame
to make room for the speedometer cable so it won't be kinked.
Modern Driveline is aware of this problem and is working on a fix at the
time of this writing, but advises Falcon owners to use a hole saw or Dremel
to cut a hole in the sub frame, fish the cable through, and install it into
the transmission.
I decided to simply create a notch in the sub frame piece, and then
fabricate a removable plate that covers the notch (not shown).
Buttoning It Up
Now the last of the little things:
Reverse Lights: The reverse light switch is on the side of
the transmission. I headed out to the junkyard and looked for cars
with the T5 so I could get a factory wiring loom with the correct reverse
light plug. After some searching I found that the reverse light plug
is used on all T5s - so do yourself a favor and look in the
engine/transmission pile for a T5 and yank the reverse light harness instead
of crawling under some cars.
Retrofitting the reverse light plug was easy. Using an old neutral
safety switch the Neutral safety switch wires were soldered together, while
the reverse light wires were soldered to the original switch's reverse light
wiring. With this done the modified loom is plugged into the car and
the installation looks stock from under the hood.
( The reverse light switch [left] accepts the plug
supplied by the local wrecker [right]. A little soldering and
electrical tape makes a clean installation [bottom])
Plug old vacuum lines: If you had an automatic don't forget
to plug the old intake manifold vacuum lines!
Exhaust work: Don't be surprised if there is some interference
caused by exhaust systems after this swap. The new bell housing a bit
different than an automatic and old style manual. After a clearance
problem appeared on this project, a quick trip to the local muffler shop was
in order to get some needed clearance in the driver's side exhaust pipe
where it meets the manifold.
Fill the transmission: The T5s did NOT use gear oil, rather
they used simple ATF fluid because of the more intricate roller bearings
used with in the transmission. After doing some reading the
transmission here got Amsoil ATF synthetic transmission fluid. About
2.75 quarts of this pure synthetic ATF was pumped into the transmission.
Don't forget to install that driveshaft yoke or you'll have a mess on your
hands!
( Amsoil is a well known synthetic and is
recommended by Modern Driveline )
Driveshaft: Since you had your driveshaft out, its a good
time to check the universal joints and if zealous, the driveshaft balance.
If you had a 3 or 4 speed in your Falcon, your driveshaft will need to be
shortened by an inch or so. For my 65 Falcon I measured a needed 52 -
52 1/2" driveshaft length for my swap.
The driveshaft pulled out of this car looked original and pretty beat up.
I went ahead and ordered up an Aluminum driveshaft at a local builder here
in Chicago. The aluminum driveshaft weighs about half of a steel shaft
and are known to help deliver more power to the rear wheels as well as offer
less vibration at higher speeds.
I supplied the driveshaft builder with the required measurement and the
original driveshaft yoke. In about a day I had a new balanced
driveshaft with new universal joints and it slid right into place.
Clutch cable adjustment and fine tuning: Now that the
transmission is in the final clutch cable connection can occur. Simply
follow the clutch cable kit directions and connect the cable to the clutch
arm, making sure that both cable nuts are threaded onto the back of the
clutch arm. After this step is complete, remove the stock clutch pedal
return spring and adjust the cable actuation bracket to the appropriate
height (detailed in the cable kit's directions)
After this the clutch arm travel was measured and found within the
specifications set by Modern Driveline's instructions. After that
check it was simply a matter of installing the dust cover over the clutch
arm
( The dust cover protects the clutch arm, cable,
and clutch internals from dust and debris [left]. It is held in place by a
clip and screw [right])
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