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.Iv always liked T5s in my foxbodys been reliable, never broke had one in my Notch 430 rwhp with ET streets for years,,this one is just a 5.3 L33 with a cam in a light car cant see why it wont hold up
I havnt talk to the tech line yet my buddy is going automatic in his LS1 project and dropped off his flywheel,clutch,pressure plate today.. I was just sizing things up on the floor (engine is on the stand)as far as diameter goes appears to be enough room,looks like i may need to shorten the threads on the ball the fork snaps over to allow more room so the throw out bearing isnt engaged wont mess with that till i have it fitted on the motor..the LS flywheel and pressure plate look to be in good shape thinking about getting this clutch https://www.summitracing.com/parts/c...0/applications.and rolling with that ,,picked up this bushing a few weeks ago supposed to be for a ford to chevy may be a bit long if so should be easy enough to turn down
I didn't have to do anything other than adjust the height of the ball stud. Mine is cable operated and that's all designed to keep a slight preload on the bearing. So my throwout bearing has been spinning since 1996 - well, the one I pulled out in 2016. Mine pulls the arm towards the front of the car to disengage the clutch disc.
We bought a new T5z from (then) Ford Motorsport back in 1999. 2.95/1.94/1.34/1.00/.625. It has been flawless behind a 335ish HP 5.0L and now behind the 430HP LS3 - 20 years old. Quiet, shifts beautifully, just a great tranny. I think they get a bad rap for 2 reasons. First - people put them behind combos putting out WAY more torque and revs than they were ever designed to deal with. Second, people buy them used - and they're either screwed up when they bought them or rebuilt by someone that doesn't know what they're doing. In both cases - the tranny breaks, and people conclude that the T5 is a piece of crap. I simply haven't had that experience.
Good luck!!
EDIT - occurs to me, maybe the diameter of the hole in the back of the LS1 crank is different from the one in the LS3 crank....these are the LS3 dimensions/T5 input -- .67" Inside Diameter, 1.70" Outside Diameter, .51" Overall Thickness
Last edited by Michael Yount; Jun 27, 2019 at 06:58 PM.
Its rare to find a good trans builder,I usually resort to new or if used a transplant out of some thing I was able to drive,I to bought a new T5Z back in around 98-99 also they were a bargain then I think i payed $1100 to the door there almost twice that now ,I liked the longer first gear..
A cable clutch setup would be my first choice is that a factory setup in the Volvo or did you fabricate a pedal assembly in out of a foxbody ? in this case its in an old ford has sort of a narrow dash so for esthetic reasons im running both masters under the floor using a wilwood pull slave..jumped the gun on ordering the parts If I were do it over it looks like I could of taken a couple of thousands off the ford bearing retainer and run a GM internal push style slave/throw out bearing Speedway carries,I hear that style has a pretty good feel.
Might say iv taken the long way but this conversion started with a GM big block bell housing and a 1/2 inch aluminum plate,I found a blue print on the specs and had it water jetted to make up an adapter then decided the engineering and safety that's built into the quicktime bell was worth it...1 step forward 2 steps back but il get it
Il have to recheck on the opening on the crank I know the id is .67 for the ford t5 and went with the wider bushing because of the original plan to compensate for the 1/2 inch adapter plate and the stock bell ,im assuming I woundnt the extra width now with the Quicktime.,,
Gonna make a change to the way I'm sending a vehicle speed to the ecu. I hand-cut a reluctor mounted to the pinion/diff and read it with a GM T56 tranny pickup/sender. Because it's hand cut, the signal isn't perfect -- I can see this when I hook up the 'dongle' to the diagnostic port and read "speed" with the phone app. It varies a bit. Pics of the reluctor/pickup on the first page of this thread.
Since I went to a GPS-based speedometer drive box, I no longer have a cable into the speedo port on the transmission. So I'm gonna install a Mustang VSS into the speedo port and input that signal into the ecu. Ordered the VSS from Rock Auto and the electric plug/pigtail from LMR. Should be here in a day or two. We'll see if it has any effect on - well, anything.
Last edited by Michael Yount; Jul 31, 2019 at 12:59 PM.
Thx. Was chatting with an acquaintance at a party the other night and he asked what else (besides Volvo) I was working on. My response was that my relationship with this car is a lot like my relationship with my wife - long term and monogamous. When you just have one for a long time, it kind of leads naturally to a focus on details as a way of evolving the build.
Installed and re-wired the new VSS today. Looking forward to testing it. Left the car up on jack stands. Fall car cruise/show season almost here, and I have "wiped down" the underside/suspension since, well, ever. Not very dirty, but it will be satisfying to clean things up a bit.
Success! Plugged dongle into diagnostic port and pulled up speed on my Dash Command app. Nice, steady speed signal to ECU. So coming to a stop doesn't (occasionally) throw the ECU into a state of confusion about resuming idle....I've had half a dozen stalls over the 3 years or so that the motor's been in the car. More importantly, about a quarter of the time it would act like it wanted to stall, but the ECU would catch it in time -- doesn't do any of that any more.
Family stuff today - Sat before Labor Day. Took the car for an early morning loop around Charlotte. Started/stopped at the same Shell station, same pump. 71 miles by gps (odo said 71.9) on 2.75 gallons. Right at 26 mpg. Not too shabby.
Family stuff today - Sat before Labor Day. Took the car for an early morning loop around Charlotte. Started/stopped at the same Shell station, same pump. 71 miles by gps (odo said 71.9) on 2.75 gallons. Right at 26 mpg. Not too shabby.
I call that downright respectful! I doubt the OEM Volvo engine did so well.
RPM @ 75 is about 2200 rpm. But I was making this run between 65-70 mph -- 68 mph rpm is 2000. Of course, with this stock LS3, it would be happy at 1200-1300 rpm at these speeds if I could gear it accordingly. But that will require a 6 speed or a MUCH longer rear gear, neither of which is an attractive option to me. The 6 speeds are a good 55-60 lbs heavier than mine, and most of it rotating. They suck up 15-20 rwhp at peak compared to the tranny in the car.
I had a 1990 760 Turbo wagon for about 3 months -- bought if for my daughter and cleaned it up/got it ready for its next 50,000 miles. Then she bought it from me. Turbocharged 2.3L with automatic tranny. It did good to get 16 mpg around town and 21 mpg on the highway. Her first car was a 76 242 -- very similar to mine, even beige with brown interior. 2.1L with 4 speed manual, no OD. It was 18-20 around town and 25 or so on the highway. If you drive sensibly, the LS3 gets the same mileage that the 4 banger did back in the late 80's/early 90's. The first fill up this morning was 118 miles around Charlotte - 6.00 gallons - 19.7 mpg. That's been consistent since I did the swap. Occasionally I'll have an around town tank in the high 18's or low 20's -- most of 'em are between 19.5 and 20. Remarkable when you think about the performance envelope.
This tank was really too few miles to make much noise about (so why did I post? LOL). Add or subtract a tenth or two of a gallon and the mileage number changes pretty significantly. I actually think I got better mileage than I calculated above. Despite using the same pump with the same auto cutoff -- I could tell by the gauge, the tank was more full AFTER I made the run than when I started the run. If I had to guess, I'd bet that I put .2-.4 more gallons in AFTER the run than I had when I filled up before. Subtract that from the numbers above -- 27-29 mpg. We'll see -- I need a few longer runs. And keep in mind -- this is purely interstate running - from station off the ramp to station off the ramp. So, I'm stacking the deck....but, it satisfies my inner geek.
After 10 years, the paper gasket in my rear diff cover began to give up the ghost. Small drip. Ordered a first rate unit from LubeLocker -- LLR-F880 for a Ford 8.8". Aluminum that's been rubber coated and has 3 concentric silicone sealing "ribs". Re-useable. Took great care to follow instructions -- fully drained/cleaned rearend. Scraped/scotchbrited/wire-brushed the housing surface (masked to keep debris out of housing). Lightly sanded the cover surface. Cleaned/repainted the cover and my Panhard rod (which has to come out for access). Put it all back together. Dry as a bone 2 days after filling. Daddy's happy.
