I have a bone stock Comet 302 2door bought new in 71. I've had it forever. Now that I am retiring I am getting ready to restore the car. Would a T-5 from an 845 Mustang 2.3 hold up behind a stock 302 driven by an old man? Literally. The code is a 52-162. IT's complete and in a box in my garage. The 3 speed TL is fine. I at one time had a 4 speed TL in this car but sold that trans for a Cobra kit car project. I see TL'rs are very expensive now. Like a grand on up. So what you think? Putting around town. Freeway driving. Nothing more than that. Yeah that 302 is stock, but the car is awfully light in the rear. I am thinking considering the 3 speed is pretty light that I can scoot by with this trans without it breaking. Ideas?
UPDATE: I ran some tab numbers. The trans comes back to a 52-162. Which appears to be a 87 2.3 Mustang trans. OK, I am not a heavy footer. The input shaft is a 10 spline. I have no idea (it's only been 30 yrs) since I did a clutch. I am thinking a pilot bearing needs to be replaced also. So, any help in this swap? OR should I sell it on Ebay and stick with the 3 speed.
The four cylinder T-5 is the weakest of the bunch but I would think if you just drive it and don't hammer on it you should be OK.
Forgot to mention, I believe the pilot on the input id smaller so you would need a special pilot bushing/bearing.
I know a guy who put a 4cyl GM T5 in a '78 Chevy van with a 350, never had any issues... No he didn't beat on it... Isn't like they will incinerate if you step on it a little, don't power shift it and you'll be fine... Biggest problem is the stump puller 3.97 1st gear used with the half motors, 25 MPH and you're wound out... I believe it's a Probe pilot bearing that fits the end of 5.0 crank and is correct size for the 4cyl input...
Should be fine in your application. Things you will need for the swap are: Trans adapter plate, or t5 bell w/ 1" fork spacer Pilot bearing Steel input retainer Modified crossmember
[QUOTE Isn't like they will incinerate if you step on it a little, don't power shift it and you'll be fine... Biggest problem is the stump puller 3.97 1st gear used with the half motors, 25 MPH and you're wound out... [/QUOTE] I can shift my 2014 Focus 5 spd manual into 5th gear at 25 MPH!!! I was very surprised at the steep gearing Ford designed into this car. You really get used to it and it is very easy on the clutch when getting the car moving from a dead stop. Amazingly, it still gets over 36 MPG in all around driving.
THANKS! I'm an old geezer. Who for whatever reason kept this Comet in the fleet for all those years. I guess it was my life savings that bought in in Nov 1971....
Nope won't happen, even the cases are machined differently... The 4cyl has a huge input gear(more teeth required for the lower ratio) compared to the V8, opening in case is too large for the bearing retainer...
Plans have changed. Me being a purist, I will leave this Comet stock. With the 3 speed on the floor. I do need to pop out that differential (3.00?) that I put in a few years back, then return it to the 2.79 for the 3 speed. I do have a line on a t-10 circa 1964-5 out of a SBF Falcon. Maybe..... The car gets hauled out of the garage in a month or so. Then we dig into it for a freshen up. Paint. Maybe heads (valve guides and seals probably dried up), and get it back on the road. Pictures when it gets hauled out in sunlight.
You are about to open up a can of worms if you swap to a t-10...it's not a direct swap. The Borg-Warner t-10 uses a smaller bearing retainer than the Ford transmission. When I swapped from a t-10 to a toploader in my Falcon I had to machine the bearing retainer down about 1/4" to fit the bellhousing. The bearing retainer is what centers the transmission with the bellhousing. If it's not dead center things are not going to last long and you will be back to square one and your wallet will be lighter. The t-10's output shaft has fewer splines than a Ford transmission and a new yoke will be needed. I also had to bend my own shift rods to use my shifter. Have you priced the cost of shift rods? The reason for me ditching the t-10 is because the t-10 loves to jump out of 3rd gear.
Why I posted in this forum. To glean all the info I can from those who have gone this path before me.... While, I'd love to have a wide ratio TL 4 speed again in this car, the 1200 to 2000 bucks can be used, could be used for a really jazzy paint job instead....There is nothing wrong with the 3 speed that is in it. It is the factory one. So, daddy is back to keeping it stock.
It's true on the bearing retainer being a different size, but I'd bet there are(or at least were) thousands of of T-10 run with the Top Loader bell and no one knew the difference... Could be the reason those trans are somewhat rare these days??? As far as jumping out of 3rd, wasn't a problem when I was running the streets in the '60s, most likely now need a rebuild and the synchros and possibly gears replaced... I never saw a T-10 with less than 28 spline output, but there were some 25 used in Falcons... One other thing about the Falcon 4-speed trans, the shifter mounts farther forward than the other car lines, not sure what, if any difference it makes in a Mav.. On the gear, keep the 3.00... With the half motor T-5, possibly go back to the 2.79... OD on those trans are only 20%(V8 are 33%), which would give a 5th(highway) ratio of 2.23... Carbed 5.0 Stangs ran a 3.08 with the 33% O/D that gave a 2.09...
