5 spd manual in 71' lwb

[Estanley]

My bro-inlaw wants to know about putting a 5 spd man. from a late 80's model Camero in his 71'. He has the 3 spd man. now.

[67Fleetsidedream]

What is your brother inlaw plan on using his truck for? Hotrodding, pulling things, carrying heavy loads, mostly cruising? The GM 5 speed trannys are very weak. GM designed them only handle the torque that the stock TPI 305 or the V-6 produced. Is the car a V-8 or a V-6. V-8 tranny and the V-6 tranny have different input shaft counts. My suggestion is for him to save his money and get a Richmond Rod six speed or a Tremec T56 six speed. Both of these trannies will handle 400-450ftlbs of torque.
I have the T56 and am very happy with it.

[mdill]

There were two T-5's offered, don't know the
year cut offs, but the later world-class T-5
was stronger than the earlier T-5 and is the
only T-5 that might live (for a while) behind
a mild V-8. I am not a camaro expert by any means so
there may have been other 5 speeds could have been
in a camaro that might be a better choice.

[Project1970]

Nah, there's no such thing as a strong Camaro 5-speed. There's a reason GM never even put them behind the 220hp-ish L98 350.

[Estanley]

His truck is basically just a driver. He ocasoinally pulls a small trailer with a riding loawn mower on it or a couple of motorcycles. Right now he has a stock 307(POS). He will never really hot rod this truck, its just mainly a driver for trash and yard work and stuff. The only reason we were thinking a Camero 5spd. was we were thinking we could find on cheap. What other GM 5 spds would work?

[Longhorn Man]

The 5 speed out of a later model truck would be the best bet. Get ahold of Huck for details.
The T5 probably would loive hooked up to a 307 and not being pushed hard...but it is a weak tranny. Same one the Mustangs had (the 'ole 5.slow) and many of them went bad with the 302 being stock.

[gr8scott51]

The T5 in my '68 (behind a 300 horse 350) is holding up fine, but it's just a cruiser. If you plan on using the torque (racing, towing, etc.), then it's not the tranny for you. The Camaro version won't work welll in a truck for a couple reasons: 1) the shifter is mounted on an angle 2) the shifter is located at the end of the tail shaft (if you have a bench seat, you'll have to cut a hole in it).

I used a NWC (Non-World Class) T5 from an '85 S10. That located the shifter in just about the normal floor shift position and gave me a 0.72 overdrive. A spacer plate is required (or cutting the input shaft). A clutch assembly from an '89 V6 Chevy Astro van works. Remember to get the drive shaft from the S10, too, you'll need it to match up to the output shaft.

I am very happy being able to cruise the hiways with everyone else. The inliners group has a lot of useful information on how to choose a T5 and install it behind an inline 6.

good luck, Scott

[Longhorn Man]

Interesting...the S-10 one is one of the weakest ones out there.
The camaro one is mounted on the bellhousing a little crooked too.

[gr8scott51]

Yeah longhorn, it was a trade-off. But I really wanted a true overdrive. The stronger T5's usually have a 0.83 5th gear, so I used the NWC. Of course it was rebuilt prior to installation with a few improvements, but I am not hard on my ride.

[Longhorn Man]

Cool.
there is a cat running around town with an S-10 T-5 (WC...NWC...I don't know) bolted to a 454. I couldn't believe it esp considering it has a 6-71 on top.
I started asking all kinds of questions about that when he pointed to his Ford Daulie on the other end of the parking lot wioth a trailer hooked to it. "That is as far as I ever drive the thing...it darn well better hold up to it."
Sad...real sad IMO.

[crazy longhorn]

the tremec 3550 or TKO would be a nice trans, & a little freindlier on the wallet than the 6 spds. I have the Richmond 6 spd.....not cheap, but the gear spacing is great(about like a M22, but with 1 lower & 1 higher gear). They have that nice gear whine the old rock crushers had also The old longhorn will run 100 mph in 4th gear, & goes there quick! She will also cruise @ 80mph in 6th @ 3000 on the 4.10 gears. I havent decided, a little more cam or slightly taller gears.......the bigger cam would probably be more fun tho... crazyL 40 something , but going on 17