All Small Six T5 Swap Build Diary

[motopsycha]

Nice job. I agree that wrestling the transmission under and up to mate with the engine is the trickiest part and it looks like you came up with a good solution. I llok forward to the reports from your first drives. I did mine over the winter and am working to get it back ont he road over the next couple of weeks.

 

[drag-200stang]

Hey bmbm40 and Andrew,

Thank you both very much.
I had plenty of time to prepare for the swap, learn from others, and I’ve had enough drama already — enough for two lifetimes.

To be honest, one of the toughest parts for me was removing and reinstalling the starter, mainly because I’m quite small. I’m even a bit sore today.

Now I’m about to get started on the brakes on my other car.

Cheers,
Chris

A 7 lb. mini starter would make that easier, the auto guys have that option, but the 9'' manual guys do not have that option yet, maybe one day someone will make one.

 

[fritschn]

Nice job. I agree that wrestling the transmission under and up to mate with the engine is the trickiest part and it looks like you came up with a good solution. I llok forward to the reports from your first drives. I did mine over the winter and am working to get it back ont he road over the next couple of weeks.

Hey Motopycha,

Thank you so much, I’m really glad everything worked out so well. I hope yours will be back on the road soon so you can drive it again. I absolutely love the feeling in that car — time somehow moves differently, and people are always smiling.

I still love thinking back to when I picked it up. I drove 600 km on its own wheels, the radiator was completely clogged with scale and there was dirt in the engine. I was driving at around 38 mph, going from parking spot to parking spot just to let it cool down again. That was a hot ride with the horse Luckily nothing happened, but I preferred to be a bit cautious. Back then it took me 12 hours for the 600 km. My butt didn’t even hurt, and the reactions from people on the highway were incredible.

The next day I immediately ordered a new 3-row aluminum radiator and a heater core, flushed the engine thoroughly a few times, and installed a filter in the hose. Since then, thankfully, I haven’t had any problems.

A 7 lb. mini starter would make that easier, the auto guys have that option, but the 9'' manual guys do not have that option yet, maybe one day someone will make one.

Hey drag-200stang,

I’m not entirely sure, but the mini starter works with the 8.5” (or 132) as well, right? Either way, if someone ever makes a mini starter for our 9-inch, I’m ordering one immediately.





Today I didn’t feel like crawling under the car again. I still need to check the handbrake — I think the adjuster isn’t working properly. Once that’s sorted, I’ll take it out for its first drive.

Cheers
Chris

 

[awasson]

Today I didn’t feel like crawling under the car again. I still need to check the handbrake — I think the adjuster isn’t working properly. Once that’s sorted, I’ll take it out for its first drive.

Yes, the handbrake will need some adjustment if you upgraded the transmission x-member. Mine was never too swift to begin with but after I redid the brakes and adjusted it, it seems adequate. If I'm parked on a hill I always leave it in gear as a safety precaution.

My method for applying the hand brake is to have the brakes engaged via the foot brake and then pull the handbrake on. That way you're not just depending on arm strength and the cable.

 

[DON]

https://fordsix.com/attachments/img_6061-jpeg.29973/

Looks like a bow on a present!!

 

[bmbm40]

Hey Motopycha,

Thank you so much, I’m really glad everything worked out so well. I hope yours will be back on the road soon so you can drive it again. I absolutely love the feeling in that car — time somehow moves differently, and people are always smiling.

I still love thinking back to when I picked it up. I drove 600 km on its own wheels, the radiator was completely clogged with scale and there was dirt in the engine. I was driving at around 38 mph, going from parking spot to parking spot just to let it cool down again. That was a hot ride with the horse Luckily nothing happened, but I preferred to be a bit cautious. Back then it took me 12 hours for the 600 km. My butt didn’t even hurt, and the reactions from people on the highway were incredible.

The next day I immediately ordered a new 3-row aluminum radiator and a heater core, flushed the engine thoroughly a few times, and installed a filter in the hose. Since then, thankfully, I haven’t had any problems.


Hey drag-200stang,

I’m not entirely sure, but the mini starter works with the 8.5” (or 132) as well, right? Either way, if someone ever makes a mini starter for our 9-inch, I’m ordering one immediately.





Today I didn’t feel like crawling under the car again. I still need to check the handbrake — I think the adjuster isn’t working properly. Once that’s sorted, I’ll take it out for its first drive.

Cheers
Chris

HAHA good story about getting it home sounds like you were fortunate to make it. And yeah driving a classic is an experience at least to me and you will see how good it can be with the T5. The T5 is a performance modification on it's own and a huge drivability upgrade as many have stated previously. Mine is not an identical experience but in about 2009 when I went from the old 3 speed tractor transmission in my Bronco to the NV3550 5 speed od the transformation was huge. Just being able to cruise comfortably with a little less racket at 65 made it feel like a different vehicle and made it much more useable. For full disclosure at the same time I did move up from the 200 to the 250 for the NV3550 to work out so a substantial torque increase also added to the experience.

 

[drag-200stang]

Hey drag-200stang,

I’m not entirely sure, but the mini starter works with the 8.5” (or 132) as well, right? Either way, if someone ever makes a mini starter for our 9-inch, I’m ordering one immediately.

I am not sure about the 8.5 flywheel but I know that the auto is doable, I am sure someone here knows.

 

[fritschn]

HAHA good story about getting it home sounds like you were fortunate to make it. And yeah driving a classic is an experience at least to me and you will see how good it can be with the T5. The T5 is a performance modification on it's own and a huge drivability upgrade as many have stated previously. Mine is not an identical experience but in about 2009 when I went from the old 3 speed tractor transmission in my Bronco to the NV3550 5 speed od the transformation was huge. Just being able to cruise comfortably with a little less racket at 65 made it feel like a different vehicle and made it much more useable. For full disclosure at the same time I did move up from the 200 to the 250 for the NV3550 to work out so a substantial torque increase also added to the experience.

Yeah, I’m also really glad nothing serious happened. Back then the seller obviously never mentioned that the car had problems — he only said that he didn’t like the transmission and that he had already had it repaired once. But luckily it won’t be needed anymore now.

Oh, a Bronco — also a very beautiful vehicle! What year is it?

A 250 would have been cool as well. I actually had one once, but unfortunately it doesn’t fit into a ’66 without some modifications, which is why I only kept the head and got rid of the rest.

Right now I’m thinking about possibly swapping the rear end to an 8-inch. That’s going to become its own project again because I want to build everything exactly the way I want it, with custom axles and so on. The hardest part is actually finding someone willing to ship the housing overseas, so we’ll probably be talking about this again next year.

 

[fritschn]

I am not sure about the 8.5 flywheel but I know that the auto is doable, I am sure someone here knows.

Like I said, I’m not sure — I think I remember reading something about it at some point, but since I don’t have an 8.5-inch clutch, I never looked further into it. Who would want a dog dish anyway?