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Back with another redblock

Did and oil.and filter change today as mine was gas fouled. Also pulled the trigger on the t5 adapter plate and bell housing machining service, so that is one less piece I need to order now! Slowly getting there still lol. Have a cruise night today in Barling AR, so well see how she holds up!!
 
https://imgur.com/a/0IutgZ5

Car did good at cruise night, got a little bit of attention. Swapped the input shaft and retainer for the foxbody style ones. I'd just reused the original input shaft bearing shim. No noticeable play, and spins smooth by hand, all a sent it will be. For anyone who's ever done this swap, I surprisingly had the easiest time installing the new input shaft into the transmission with the transmission just how it is in the picture. I couldn't get the synchro ring (or whatever it's called) to play nicely while trying to install the shaft upwards with the transmission tilted. I just used regular gear oil to help hold the little roller bearings in place. Admittedly it's a little tricky to get them all in their oriented correctly, but once they are all in place they kind of sit snug with each other. The entire swap took only about an hour working pretty leisurely. Just one more step in the right direction
 
Got my bell housing shipped off to BNE this morning to get machined. Also decided to swap my brake pedal for a manual one to clear the clutch pedal. Id considered cutting the stock auto one down to size, but I had the manual one already. I just unbolted the pedal from the bracket and left the bracket bolted to the car. I'm doing this I believe I banged on my brake light switch, because now no brake lights. I've verified the wires are still hooked to it and the pedal is contacting the switch. I have a spare that bench tests good, and will be swapping it out as well. I've also reached out to clutch
 
Just placed an order on eBay. 6003-2rsh bearing for the pilot bearing, and a clutch kit that is supposed to have the correct pressure plate that seems very hard to find here in the states for a reasonable price. Looking at the listing pictures and asking chat gpt for the pressure plate and disc part numbers, I can confirm that the disc number matches what AI told me, though I couldn't see the number on the pressure plate in the pictures. I will post back here once it arrives
 
I've been away from home for about 2 weeks now, but my wallet and mind has been busy with this t5 swap.

My viggen clutch kit is at home waiting for me and the pilot bearing should be delivered today.

I went ahead and bought a countershaft bearing support plate for the t5. Apparently this is one of (if not THE) best upgrade you can do to make a t5 last. It's supposed to hold the shaft and gears tighter to prevent them from walking apart, which is usually what kills these t5s. In doing this upgrade you must remove the shifter. I figured since I'll be in there, might as well get a short shifter...

So I bought a used short shifter off eBay. I've heard awesome reviews for the MGW shifter, so bought it, although it was admittedly too hasty. My shifter relocation idea has been thrown out the window.

The stock t5 shifter attaches the handle on a flat of the shifter stub, that has 2 bolts holding it. Search the MGW shifter, and you'll see this unit the shifter.is a post, and the handle attaches via a pinch joint, like a shaft collar. I have an idea on how to make this work and get it extended rearwards though.

remybattery.com

SAE Post to JIS Pencil Post Conversion Adapter Negative

Convert any standard SAE automotive battery post to JIS Japanese Pencil Post with our SAE to JIS conversion adapters. 850250 - Negative.
remybattery.com remybattery.com

Same to jis battery adapter. I am unsure if the opening and post are the same size as the MGW one, but I can get creative here. I'm sure I can use bushings in between to get to the correct width. I will have to take some measurements once I get back home and have some of the parts in hand, but my goal is to come up with a clean shifter solution for 7xx/9xx series that anybody can do. I'm sure the adapter linked above can be cut and an extension added to get the correct length, but again I'll know once I get parts and everything in my hands

Next week Im scheduled to go to the other side of the country to PA and than NC. Probably going to be stopping by BNEs shop with my flywheel in hand so I can have him do the machining on it for me. Might pick up the throw out bearing and adapters while I'm there.

I still have to iron out details with California Clutch, but that hook is just about set for the clutch disc too.

I am going to try and get pictures of everything during the swap. It seems like there are so many gaps in 7xx/9xx t5 swap write-ups. Id like to be able to make this as easy as possible, as I'm sure there are plenty of people with these cars that would love for it to be manual and not worry about the transmission lasting
 
After doing more research on the above, DO NOT use the adapter I linked above. It is tin plated brass, not very stout for a shifter extension. Might be better off getting a piece of aluminum that I can drill a hole thru, cut a slot, and drill and tap thru the slot for the pinch bolt. At that point a threaded hole can go on the other end, a section of all thread screwed into it, and a shift knob on top. Again, all speculation rn. Open to some ideas
 
Ok, bit more progress

The eBay clutch kit I ordered did in fact come with the sachs pressure plate that aligns with the saab viggen unit. From all that I could find, this is the cheapest way to get one of these pressure plates new here in the US. For some reason I couldn't find any for sale other than in this kit, but it came out cheaper buying the whole kit in the US than just the pressure plate from overseas. The part number on the pressure plate is 3082 302 731. Someone, somewhere ought to find this useful!

ebay.us

Sachs Clutch Kit 2 Piece Viggen 3000951203 | eBay

3000951203 - Sachs - Transmission Clutch Kit. Include the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Provide photos of the defect (if possible) along with an explanation of its nature. Normal wear and tear or incorrect installation are not covered under warranty.
ebay.us

Link to clutch kit

Tomorrow I will take pictures along the way of the following...
I'd got my MGW short shifter, and rear countershaft bearing plate. The plate is supposed to really help make the t5 transmission happy, and from my research should be considered a must have upgrade. It's cheap, easy to do with the trans on the bench, and just makes sense to do when to start digging into it. I will be swapping the plates tomorrow, along with installing the MGW shifter in the stock location. I've got a solid plan lined out for the remote shifter idea that I will be getting pics of and start working on it tomorrow. Obviously I will only be able to do so much until I get my bell housing and adapter plate back, take some measurements, and possibly mock up the trans in the car to tweak some things. I've done a lot of head scratching and truly believe I came up with a really good remote shifter, that will be adaptable enough for anyone to copy, and have the correct shift geometry and all that good stuff. Excited to continue on with this.

I did go out today and buy a mattress that the store was awfully proud of. I might be slow rolling on the project car for a month or two, but mama needs to be spoiled too lol
 
I am beginning to work on replacing the rear countershaft plate right now. There are plenty of write ups online on how to do that, as well as replacing the shifter itself. I will not be documenting that part of this. This will be more of a remote shifter fabrication. I will be taking pics and posting here along the way, so it will all be broken up, not one big post. Anyway...

https://imgur.com/a/nPAgn0Y

https://imgur.com/a/ff4MW2R

https://imgur.com/a/OAtM13X

This rear plug shown in these pics will be used as my linkage pass thru. I am thinking I could use a cv boot to reseal this hole once the linkage is installed. I would not recommend leaving this open, as transmission fluid does find its way into here
 
https://imgur.com/a/RRXV16p

Here is the first rail in place. 3/4" angle iron is not the best choice. 1" would be better. I am having to notch out where the shifter base is under the rubber boot. The front bolt hole here is still a hole, but the rear one is just a slot. Id used a grinder to smooth out the big notch for the shifter, but the other side will be deeper so I will use a cut off wheel on that side
 
https://imgur.com/a/CzP3Mui

Here is a picture of what I am envisioning. A few holes and notches and this side will be good to go. I am leaving the rails long for now because I don't have the measurements or anything yet on exactly how far back the shifter should be. Based on everything I've read though, I think I can get away with just butting the shifter plates up together. Ive read that roughly 4" is all the rearward relocation we need. I don't think both shifters orientated the same way would work, but the rear shifter and be mounted backwards so the two shifter handles are on the inside, and the bigger lip of the shifter base is on the outside


https://imgur.com/a/mjCntI1

Something like this maybe. I am not too concerned over this detail right now. Without getting measurements it's pure speculation anyway
 
https://imgur.com/a/FDur59I

Here shows the clearance of the shifter stub poking out above the output shaft. Clearance should be an issue here

The one final piece of this puzzle left is to figure out how I will attach both shifters together. I am thinking I could just weld up heim mounts to the shift block, and the rear stub. I'll think more on it. But from this point, you should be able to tweak it to match your exact setup. If the rear hole passing linkage thru doesn't work, I can still connect the shifters up at the handle area. I would just like it beneath everything, because I can imagine clearance isn't too great between the shifters and trans tunnel
 
Tip for anyone doing the countershaft support plate swap in the future, figure out a way to do it with the input shaft facing straight down. I did the swap with everything sitting horizontal instead of vertical, and although it wasn't too bad, I can definitely see how it would be easier with it standing upright.

Also I think I forgot to mention, get longer bolts to hold the shifter to the transmission. I'm using a used MGW which when bought new, comes with longer bolts. Add in the rails and it's good for maybe 4 threads of engagement. I am strongly considering using studs with nuts on them. Just seems like an easier way to do this from now on with so many parts in there.

I have a solid plan, just need to get some hardware tomorrow to finish up what I can. Studs and nuts for the shifter mounting, and some heim mounts. I am probably going to just end up welding a heim mount to the shifter block. Unfortunately the way the shifter stub engages the block, there just isn't enough meat to bolt anything onto the block, unless you used long brackets to extend more towards the front of the block. I originally thought it was brass, but it is in fact hardened steel. Probably easier to weld to than drill thru.

Also for anyone doing this in the future, make sure your shift block is ready to be installed and install it at the same time as the tail housing cover. The block can be finagled onto the shift rail with the tail housing installed, but I don't see it being possible to get the spring and ball installed too. I found this out the hard way, and will have to unbolt the tail housing again to install the block, after the heim mount is welded on.

Nothing worth really getting pics of at this point. I can get one with both the rails mounted for the remote shifter, but without the second shifter mounted to it I don't see the point. If someone wants pictures I can post it here
 
Apparently my imgur account has been banned. I'm not sure why lmao.

I redid my shifter rails in 1 1/4" l channel instead of the 3/4'. Much better this way. I also disassembled the stock shifter, and spun the shifter 180 degrees, and reassembled. This way the shifter handle is angled the correct way, since I will be mounting the whole shifter opposite of stock
 
Major change of plans, much cleaner approach...

I went to the junkyard and found a 2000 firebird with the t5 in it, so I grabbed the tail housing and shift rail. Swapped it all over to the mustang t5, and it gained about an inch for the shifter position. I compared the stock firebird shifter to the mustang shifter and decided to modify the mustang one, and it might be the perfect set up

My MGW handle had the biggest pivot pin out of all the ones I had, and also has the best design (2 stockers and an eBay shifter). I decided to do some disecting because the MGW shifter design makes it kind of difficult to modify the handle position. What I did was take the handle piece with the shifter ball on the end and drive out it's pivot pin. I then did the same with the MGW handle. I drilled out the hole in the eBay unit so I can press the bigger MGW roll pin thru it, and than reassembled it in the MGW shifter. Basically I modified the handle from the eBay unit so I can use that handle with the rest of the MGW unit. It's back together, and it works.

I have to go get some grease before putting the shifter actually back together, but test runs show all good. I had to redrill the base plate of the MGW to fit the GM tail housing. Much easier said than done. You have to make sure the shifter handle is centered when you bolt it down. Small imperfections lead to a uneven handle.

I did do some measuring as well. All my measurements are from the face of the trans to the center of the shift knob (eyeballing here)

M47-25"
Ford t5, gm tail housing, gm shifter-23"
Ford t5, GM tail housing, stock mustang shifter loosely in place, but handle dimensions are similar to my MGW Frankenstein-25"

It seems like this can all be done without hacking up the car, or building an extension of any kind. I've not heard of anyone trying the gm tail housing with the Ford shifter, but this could possibly be THE best solution. A stock mustang shifter can be used with just 2 new holes drilled into the shifter base, and the 2 rearward holes opened up a bit
 
Been a little while. Between holidays and half the country being under snow/ice, things have been slow.

I got my hands on a set of BNE adjustable torque rods. I have the needed spacers coming in the mail. While doing these, I am probably going to swap my rear end. I've got 3.73 g80 in my car, but found a junkyard 940 with a 4.10 g80. I pulled the whole rear and will just be swapping the whole thing. Coming from an NA car, and no noticeable wear inside, it's just going to get sent as is.

I also picked up a stock airbox. The open cone filter is cool when popping the hood, but really is just a hot air sucker. I'll have to find a way to make it accept my 3" 012 amm, but that won't be hard at all. Will definitely be happy to have a better intake tract

I also managed to nab the fuel filter, associated fuel lines, and fuel filter bracket so I can cleanly and OEM-like bypass my main fuel pump. It's been screaming lately, and I already have a walbro installed in the tank. I will be keeping the wiring close by in case I ever want to revert to a 2 pump system, but don't really foresee that happening

Still need to get on the ball with ordering the rest of the t5 swap, but junkyards will always be more of a priority, since I'm always traveling I have to go to the yards im close to that have good inventory
 
In my exp the stock main pump doesn't like having a beefy walbro 255 feeding it, and starts to make serious noise pretty quick when thats the setup. I popped the soft line from tank to main pump while having dual "mains."

Current setup is a 255 in tank to stock filter in stock location, zip tied down. Credit to @MKUltra for the setup, his ol red wagon from youtube set me on this fueling path.
 
Crustacean Wagon said:
In my exp the stock main pump doesn't like having a beefy walbro 255 feeding it, and starts to make serious noise pretty quick when thats the setup. I popped the soft line from tank to main pump while having dual "mains."

Current setup is a 255 in tank to stock filter in stock location, zip tied down. Credit to @MKUltra for the setup, his ol red wagon from youtube set me on this fueling path.
Click to expand...
Love to hear this! I'd also heard that upgrading the intank pump usually makes the main one fail. It's used to a low pressure lifter pump feeding it.

I was surprised at the fact that the bracket that holds the fuel filter was different. I figured it was purely hose routing differences when Volvo deleted the main pump. I'll be happy to be getting rid of the main pump. As mentioned, mines been screaming lately. I also enjoy simplicity so having just 1 fuel pump, and not having it rely on the stock relay and wiring is plenty fine for me for now. It seems like lately my parts stash has been growing rapidly lol. The rear end and BNE torque rods will be getting done very soon though
 
Got my rear end removed, and the new torque rods installed loosely on the body side of things. Either tonight or tomorrow I will get that all finished up. After that I'll probably tackle the motor mounts, along with the fuel pump delete (I have a new fuel filter ready to go). Once that's done I will work on installing a stock air box. I think I might have figured out the easiest way to mate the 012 to the stock airbox lid.

I took the lid and went to a parts store. This is what I ended up concocting, assuming it all works out...

I found that a 3"id exhaust coupling will fit very snugly over top of the stock air box outlet. I will trim the lid outlet back far enough so the 012 can sit exactly in the same spot as the stock AMM. Coat exhaust coupling inside with some kind of sealant and slide.it over the stock outlet and allow to cure. Than you can use a 3" silicone coupling to clamp onto the exhaust coupling and the 012AMM. I am hoping that at least one of the bolts that hold the AMM to the lid will line up, and voila. The only potential issue is if the 012 is too big and ends up hitting the lid itself, but with all the rubber/silicone involved, I'm hoping there's enough play to make it work. I've gutted the air box and removed the restrictor on the intake of the box, and also plan on running ductwork from the front bumper into where the preheat hose goes. My box I got has the preheat hole plugged right now
 
Well definitely made some more progress. The new rear end is in place, about halfway completed. I've got the trailing arm mounts, torque rods, and panhard started but not tightened down. I also got the passenger side e brake reassembled after loosing one little pin that holds the mechanism that moves the pads, and luckily finding it again lol. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish up on the rest of the brakes, get the driveshaft bolted together, and get everything good and torqued down.

I tried to install the air box. It's not gonna happen with the way I've got my NPR intercooler setup. The cone lives to see another day! I did route that ductwork still from the front bumper. It isn't anything huge, maybe 2" diameter. Id bent the metal slightly just behind the headlights and routed it thru there

Finally I went ahead and swapped to the single fuel pump setup. The clips that hold the fuel line running to the rail weren't the most fun thing in the world, but I got them apart and reinstalled with the new hose without breaking any. Unfortunately I did not grab the hard line from the donor car, so the feed line from the tank wouldn't work. It isn't pretty, but for now I've got the rubber hose clamped on the threads on the stock fitting. I will have to address that at another time
 
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