T5 Bellhousing

[91dime]

I want to put a T5 from my s10 behind a 3.8 and im looking for a bellhousing. Mecloud makes one but its in the 500s from summit, but in this months hemmings there is a article on T5s and they say that the bellhousing from 79-81 firebirds ,79 skylark casting # 563441, and the 82 f bodys casting # 14037657 will bolt up to a T5. Anyone know if that will work?

 

[GNVAIR]

65 to about 81 BOP manual trans bell housing with dual starter provisions. Remember Olds and Pontiac had driver side starters and Buick had a passenger side mounted one. All of the ones listed has the Saginaw/Muncie pattern as does the 83-92 F body T5. Just make sure the bell is NOT from an H body (ie Monza, Skyhawk, Sunbird) as they are designed for cable clutch (pull style) and the fork exit is on the bottom of the bell rather than on the side. The other thing to note is that in a G body application you will have to bash the floor in under the gas pedal to get full travel on the fork unless you plan on using an internal slave set up such as what Tilton and Quarter Master make. A factory G body BOP bell is extremely rare as only 78-81 models using the Buick 3.8, Pontiac 301 or Olds 260 came with them. These had the pivot ball for the fork mounted lower and utilized a special fork that looked like a boomerang (same one the 78-81 Chevys used).
A GM T5 will not last behind a turbo 3.8 unless you plan on upgrading to a G Force gear set.

 

[91dime]

Yeah Im planning on sending it out to g force, I figure it will be cheaper to have the stock t5 built up than to buy a TKO or T56 and buy everything to swap into my truck. So I might be better off buying the McLeod bellhousing. I don't want to beat up my floor pans because we painted the whole undercarriage to match the body. So if I do find one from a car, it will need to be a Buick because of the passenger side starter. Thanks for the help.

 

[GNVAIR]

Wait, you are putting this into an S10? If you are then I couldnt answer whether you would have to massage the floor. My experience is from G bodies. Only was you will get around that is using a hydraulic internal slave cylinder set up without a fork like this Bullet-Proof Hydraulic Throw Out Bearings.
Also note that you still need a stick shift flywheel for a Buick V6. Centerforce PN# 700010 does make a steel one that fits a 10.4" clutch. Summit still lists at for $316. You will need to rebalance the rotating assembly (crank, rods, etc) to use it.
Also note that you might be better off with the TKO as the G Force stuff is pricey. A built box from them is $2000. A gear set alone is $1095
http://www.g-forcetransmissions.com/pdfs/PricingT-5.pdf

 

[91dime]

I haven't built the engine yet so getting the rotating assembly balanced isnt a problem. Ill look into the TKOs, do you know if they make anything with similar dimensions to the T5? Who sells TKO, the only place I know of is kiesler.

 

[GNVAIR]

Mostly Mustang places sell the Tremecs. You can try Forte's in Mass. They sell the ones modified for GM applications.
The Tremec would be a smarter choice anyways as S10 requires a mid shaft mounted shifter. The Tremec can accomodate 3 positions for shifter mounting.

 

[91dime]

yeah ive found a few places, ive already contacted 5speedtransmissions.com about a TKO swap. Is the 3500 they put in s10s a TKO?

 

[GNVAIR]

Tremec is a manufacturer of many different gear boxes. The aftermarket Tremec that the Mustang guys refers to is the 3550/TKO/TKO 500/TKO 600 series. The 3550 was the original (10 spline input/28 spline output, 3.27 1st gear), The TKO was the upgrade version (26 spline input/31 spline output, 3.27 1st gear and .68 or .82 5th). These 2 were discontinued about 3 years ago and replaced with the TKO 500 (26 spline input, 31 spline output, 3.27 first, .68 5th) and the TKO 600 (26 spline input, 31 spline output, 2.87 1st gear, .64 or .82 5th).
You can no longer buy a 3550/old style TKO new unless you find someone that has old stock.

 

[91dime]

So the TKO 500/600 are the same as the 3500, besides the 500/600 can handle more torque.