I really don't want to move to a split bell---so thats out.
Why not? What's "wrong" with a two-piece bellhousing? Ford used it themselves in several applications. It's your car and your prerogative, just curious.
I played that silly game before where you take 3 different T5 trannys and machine work to build a suitable 5 speed for adaptation----I'm not doing that again(rediculously expensive).
Well, until Tremec makes a T5 for flatheads, that's really your only choice for a T5 that exactly does what you need/want. Everything else is a (reasonable) compromise because you are ADAPTING something to a new use/purpose.
I found 1 site on the Mustang forums where you can buy a mustang adapter and redrill your toploader bellhousing--this might be my only solution.
To do what, exactly? You mentioned S10 T5, this approach works best on Mustang T5. And your 49-53 transmission bolt pattern is NOT the same as the T&C Toploader found in early Mustangs and other muscle cars. It was used from '49-64. Most of the early T&C Toploaders DO have both bolt patterns, but not even all of them do. And most adapters fabricated for the early Mustang crowd will be set up for the 'later' 65-up T&C Toploader pattern because their bellhousings only have the later '65-up bolt pattern.
Be careful mixing and matching adapters, transmissions, and bellhousings - there is a dizzying array of variations out there...be sure you are on the same page as whomever you are dealing with. You've blurred several varieties in your post alone...
Again, I'm shocked. This seems like a simple no brainer.
It is, use a two-piece bellhousing and any one of several adapters. OR, you can modify a steel 49-53 bellhousing to take a Ford T5 (including Astro and late S10) and move your shifter by swapping the tailhousing/top cover.
Another question---excuse my ignorance----but I thought all borg warner t5's had the t5 bolt pattern. What's the difference. When I canniblize the three t5's before, I used a trans from a mustang, a an s10. and a nissan truck. I watched some of the action as my trans guy was swappin parts all over the place. I didnt notice any bolt pattern difference. Again, I'm not a transmission expert. There are some suttle internal machining differences that we had to deal with---which I would have never known.
When we talk about T5 bolt patterns, there are two main ones that I'm aware of - the GM pattern and the Ford pattern. This refers to the bolt pattern that mates the transmission to the bellhousing. The GM pattern is found on the S10 prior to '93 (although '93 was a transition year and some were GM pattern depending on application) and from '93 and up, GM used the Ford pattern. And the Ford pattern is found on most of the rest of them. I have been told there is another pattern, but never seen it, but considering the T5 was used in everything from Nissans to TVRs (which used Ford for sure), and Agricultural Sprayers, there's no telling for sure. Nothing surprises me anymore when dealing with T5s.
The overwhelming majority of the adapters out there are specifically for the GM pattern and were meant to put a GM Muncie or Saginaw 4-speed behind a flathead. The GM transmission pattern is nearly universal at GM, but the S10 does have a slightly longer input shaft than every other GM transmission - this poses it's own problems depending on the adapter and clutch plate used.
The Ford pattern, while pretty standardized, is plagued by a variety of input shaft lengths, diameters, and spline counts (GM has only two - regular & S10). The majority of Ford T5 are V8 Mustang, and this is the T5 most refer to when they speak about adapting a Ford T5 - bear this in mind when T5 hunting. If you get a Mustang T5 out of an SVO, you'll have a longer, thinner input shaft. If you get a Ford T5 out of a '94-95 Mustang, you'll have a longer input shaft. When looking for a Ford T5, you want an '83-93 V8/302/5.0 T5 - the later/newer the better. This is what all Ford adapters I'm aware of are made for.
Truly the best way is to do it like Richard did - build exactly what you need/want. That is more expensive and most can find a very agreeable compromise by adapting one of the stock ones, or at worst, swapping the tailhousing and top cover to move their shifter. However, if you consider that most of these T5s we're scrounging are over 20-30 years old, many will require a rebuild anyway, so there's a lot of sense in putting something together fresh exactly how you want it.
