T-5 tranny into a '71 C10

[57T210]

Hi Folks.

After getting tired of fighting with the shifter column linkage, I've decided to swap out the old 3 speed for a T-5 that I have. With the truck's 4.xx rear gear, would probably up the gas mileage some as well.

While it looks pretty straight forward, any of you have any 'heads up' info that I need to know before I start?

For example, just by eyeball, looks like the shifter and bench seat may be a tight fit...

Thanks for your input.

[oldiron]

moving over to the pickup forum

[57T210]

ttt

[Longhorn Man]

what did the tranny come out of?
What kind of driving do you do? If you beat on it more than once in a while, you may want to reconsider the tranny you've picked.

[Brad]

You don't say what engine you have, but you can bolt the T-5 up to all the typical SBC's and of course to the L6's. However, if you put alot of pedal into the V8, the T-5 may not last long.
I've got an '86 Camaro T-5 behind my 250 and it required enlarging the mounting holes to 1/2" and shortening the driveshaft and punching a hole in the floor where the shifter comes through. If you have a bench seat then you may want to swap the Camaro tailshaft to the S-10 tailshaft which places the shifter about 12" farther forward I think. I've never done this swap as I have bucket seats, but I've always thought that it might be possible to do a similar mod to what the Tri-5 Chev's do when adding a manual trans under the bench seat. Hurst makes a special shifter that angles out from under the bench and it seems that one could make something similar for the T-5 mod and still keep the bench. Whatever you do, don't use the S-10 trans as it's not a very useable gear ratio for daily drivers, plus it's a much more complicated install. Also, here in the PacNW, we have alot of hills and mountains and ideally I'd have a 4.11 rear instead of my 3.73 so that I could keep my truck in 5th more often.

[57T210]

Thanks for the thoughts, Brad. I put one in my '57 (has a front bench seat) and it fit well enough. Buckets are an option for the truck. (btw, sounds like a cool 'in line' you got there).

Longhorn: the engine's a slightly warmed up 350: mild cam, 4 bbl. I'll get on it on the rare occassion but not the prolonged burnout type.

Is there a rear cross member made for this swap or am I on my own?

I'll post a pic of the trans. I believe it's from an S-10; NWC for sure.

Thanks.

[69rut]

If you have an S-10 tranny, you should have no problem with the shifter. Just remember that the S-10's came with 4's and 6's, not V-8's. Because of this there are some with really low first gears. If you have a 4.11 rear axle you may not even need first. This may also throw off the other gears as they may be too far apart so that shifting drops RPM's down too much between shifts.

There are some T-5 sites that can help you id your unit to aviod possible problems.

[retselgerg]

I'm interested in this as well, keep us posted with pics as you dive into this swap..in the near future im gonna add a 5 speed whether it be a NV3500, 4500 or T5.....the ole granny tranny is very unfun to drive lol

[rscam]

I just swapped a NV3500 in my shortbed 69 and it fit great. Even the driveshaft was the correct length. I just had to buy a conversion U joint. I got it out of a 90 Silverado short bed for $300. That included driveshaft,transmission, clutch and pressure plate and master and slave cylinders. I think those are good for about 310 ft./lbs of torque. Not the stongest trans but good for medium duty.