Hey all! I recently came upon a 1968 XR7 with a 302. The previous owner was in the middle of some engine work, and what seems like a manual swap. It originally had a C4, but that is long gone…
So, I’m now on the hunt for a transmission. I’m not going to be pushing big power, I plan to keep things stock. I do want to be able to drive on the highway, though. As such, I’ve been eyeing a transmission and have the opportunity to purchase a rebuilt T5 that came out of an 89 5.0. From what I’ve researched, this should be a relatively easy swap. I plan on going with a cable clutch (I have a clutch pedal already), but I do not have a bellhousing, clutch, and flywheel.
However, the transmission will cost me $800. I am new to this, and from what I’ve seen online a rebuilt T5 seems to be atleast $1200 and up. Junkyards around me don’t have any foxbodies available, and there aren’t many people parting them out. Does this seem like a good price?
If so, are there any other catches that I should be aware of? Will I need to cut into the center to make room for the shifter?
I paid $500 for a good used unit, $800 sounds like a good deal to me. Same stock 302 you have. Modern Driveline is a pretty easy way to get the bellhousing and other accessories needed. You’re ahead of the game already having a clutch pedal installed. Do you have headers as they could be a problem with melting the cable clutch.
You may have to trim the shifter hole depending on what kind of shifter you get. Mine has a pro 5.0 shifter on it and I trimmed the front of the shifter opening minimally. Get a shifter with stops so ypu don’t power shift and break the shift forks.
I got a 28oz flywheel on summit as well as a stock mustang 10.5" clutch.
Also the T5 Swap was the second best upgrade I added to my car, right behind cupholders lol.
Thank you guys for all the help! This is my first dive into a classic, so I appreciate it. I’ll be going through with the transmission. @brazz_04 I do have some headers (which I do not know the brand of, don’t see any markings). With enough heatwrap and proper routing, will I be okay? Otherwise I’m assuming some shorty headers would be the way to go?
@CougarCJ For the rear-end, I see that quickperformance has a track-lok & ring/pinion for sale. With a 3.55:1 ratio I assume I should be good enough for highway driving?
Be careful. Not all t5s will work, some are too long, some are Gm, some are for v-6 mustangs with brittle gears. There’s a lot of resources online to decode the tag on the trans. Highly suggest you do that. I know you think it came out of an 89, but the tag doesn’t lie
I have had 2 clutch cables fail- make sure you have an easy straight shot into the clutch fork. Headers make that difficult. Heat wrap will help, but may not be the final solution. I put a hydraulic clutch in my 69, I like it better.
Hydraulic clutch all the way. Done a cable in a classic and I’ll never do it again after having hydraulic. Malwood makes a great under dash unit and modern driveline makes a great external mounted slave cylinder and you use the cable operated stock fork
