Parts needed to adapt the T5 into the Ranger

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:41 am

Malcolm, I remember reading your site where you discussed modifying the bell housing to fit a bracket that holds the slave cylinder. Is that a standard slave that can be bought at an auto parts store or is that a special breed that you have to buy from an aftermarket manufacturer?

If it is standard OR if there's a standard slave that will work just as well, what make/model/year would I request a slave from AutoZone? Naturally, I'd rather use local parts store parts if at all possible simply because they have great warranties and are generally inexpensive.

If the slaves have to be custom to keep it simple, who sells them?

Also, you mention an aftermarket hose:

Where do you get this guy? Does it come with the slave cylinder? Is the hose reusing the factory Clutch Master?

Next, you mention in a different place on your site an adapter plate that can be used to prevent redrilling the frame to move the tranny crossmember (http://www.v8-ranger.com/transmission/tranny.html)...is this something that is easily fabricated or is there a funky design to it that makes it simpler just to either drill or buy the thing?

All-n-all, I'm not worried about having to drill. I'll do it if I have to, however if there's a <$50 solution, I'll take that route and save myself the hassle of drilling out rivits and relocating the anchors.

Finally, you mentioned in an email a while back that somebody makes a midshift kit for the T5 so I can reuse the factory shifter floorhole. The modification doesn't look too terrible as long as you have a hacksaw and a steady hand. Plus, I have a Supercab Ranger so the seat lets back plenty far enough that I wouldn't have to worry about replacing the seats. But again, if I can avoid the issue, it's worth the money assuming the midshift kit isn't too shafty in price.

Does anybody have experience using these T5 midshift kits? Are they worth it on a Ranger Conversion or do they cause more problems than they solve?

I'm starting to get a parts list together to begin heating up the CC. I'm having a hard time finding a Mustang computer locally. All the yards around here are telling me that they are hot items and don't stick around long.

I also need an 8.8" RE and the PowerTrax unit. From what I understand the 7.5 RE pinion flange and 8.8 RE flange are the same. If that's true, I could rip an 8.8" out of a Ranger, get the PowerTrax unit put in, and install it all in the truck while I'm still driving it as a POS 2.9L. Am I correct that the factory driveshaft would bolt directly to a Ranger 8.8" just like it does the existing 7.5"?

Any other comments of interest with regard to this adaptation? (i.e. don't use post '93 bells because of length issues and not place to mount the slave, etc etc)

Chris

MalcolmV8 · Post by **MalcolmV8** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:40 am

Chris,

Modifying the bell housing for the slave is nothing more than drilling holes to bolt it up. No big deal.
I purchased my slave cylinder and hose with adapter from Total Performance. I think it ran me around $170 which is just crazy. You should be able to pick up a slave from your local auto parts store. Some have mentioned the slave from the older Nissan 280Z cars as they had a variation of the T5 with a hydraulic slave.
The only part I don't know where you will find is the adapter that hooks up the hose to the factory clutch master cylinder. That's why I bought the kit. Maybe someone else can shed some light on that adapter and save you some money.

As for the transmission crossmember. I drilled out my rivets and tried to move it forward only to find I couldn't move it forward enough because it hit the parking brake assembly on the driver's side. So I just bolted it back up in the stock location and made a plate from 3/8 steel. It's about 6" x 6" with 4 holes drilled in it. This goes between the transmission and the transmission mount sitting on the crossmember.

The midshift kits are for the tremec, not the T5.

Look on ebay for a Mustang computer. I got mine for around $100. If you have a tweecer to flash them you can purchase a $10 speed density computer and just put a chip in it with the mass air code. I don't have a tweecer yet so I just purchased the correct computer.

As for the driveshaft on the rearend. My driveshaft bolted up perfectly to a 92 Ranger 7.5", 94 Ranger 8.8", and a 95 Explorer 8.8". Your mileage may vary depending on model years.

Malcolm

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:39 am

I don't know why I didn't think about Ebay...I get a lil stupid sometimes, Thanks for the reminder.

After a search on there, I've found 2 things I need.

I just put a bid in for a TFI Distributor for $15 or a buy-it-now option for $35. I was the only bid, but that doesn't mean anything 3 days out. I guess if I really want it, I should just Buy it out-right. $35 a decent price isn't it?

However while looking for a computer, I stumble across a Bell Housing for a T5.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 85175&rd=1

Any recommendations for a max bid? Anybody got a T5 bell they'd like to sell ('93 back)? This one only has a day left so I'd need some opinions pretty quickly...

MercuRanger · Post by **MercuRanger** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:06 am

Check out this link to my page. It has a pic and some info from Dave about using an S10 tailshaft on a T5 to get a mid-mounted shifter.

http://www.mercuranger.com/t5tremec.htm

Mike

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:45 pm

MercuRanger,
The S10 trick sounds cool, the only thing I find uneasy about it is the crossmember relocation. It relocates it considerably forward from where it is AND currently there's no easy adaptation of this. But, it's good stuff to know in case I ever decide to do another conversion and want to challenge myself to something a little different.

All others,
Any thoughts on a cheaper slave cylinder and line solution for integrating a standard auto part with the factory master? I'd like to avoid cutting into the line if at all possible.

Any other thoughts on a fair price for a T5 bell housing? What's a good price (junkyard going price)? What's too much?

Chris

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 10:03 am

Somehow a duplicate thread got created. Malcolm deleted the duplicate, so I'm pasting blk94xlt's comments in this thread:

blk94xlt wrote: I don't think that there is a mid shift kit for the T5 that you are talking about. The mid shift kit that I know of is for the Tremec 3550. They have three possible locations to place the shifter in the tranny. The T5 is not adjustable.

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 9:57 am

Back to the original question in this thread, what are the other options for a "cheaper" slave setup than using the slave cylinder kit that Malcolm used?

I know slaves will wear out over time and will need rebuilding/replacing. I'd prefer to have a more mainstream part that I can get at any parts store than be married to buying a part from a specialty company.

What have others done? Any pics? It can't be that difficult to adapt some existing clutch slave to work for the T5. Anyone already travelled that road and found what works well or at least found what worked, but didn't work well?

Chris

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:50 am

Chris,
Some have used the F-150 but don't remember who. Went back to Malcolm's old site and used the search feature that's still available and did a search for slave cylinders.
Found this cheaper alternative to an after market unit.

Posted by Lincs 93 Splash from cs162146-167.hot.rr.com (24.162.146.167) on Saturday, April 24, 2004 at 8:41PM :

In Reply to: manual transmission posted by michael rutter from nwtn-004-208.dialup.iowatelecom.net (69.66.37.208) on Friday, April 23, 2004 at 4:49AM :

Registered Ranger

I am using a 280ZX slave cyl on my tremec 3550. Provide an e-mail and I'll send pictures.

Later, Linc

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:16 am

Malcolm, looking back at the old forum, it appears you requested pics from Lincs. Did you ever get them? I'd be really interested in finding an OEM slave setup just so I'm not married to Total Performance when the slave needs to be replaced. I could probably rebuild it, but that's such a pain if I can just invest a little more in the setup now, and have a standard part.

Reading on TRS, I found a guy that claims he used the factory setup from an Fseries where the slave was for a T18. He said he paid about $60 for the slave at Napa. He didn't give details as to how he mated the slave piston to the fork. I assume it'd be the same method that mated the slave to the T18's fork. The difference here is that T18 fork was meant for a hydraulic slave. The T5 forks are all expecting a cable. I'd be very interested in seeing that setup.

From the slave to the Master, I'd assume the Fseries line would work. It'd obviously work in the slave. Since both Ranger Master and Fseries line are Ford, I'd hope the line would fit right into the Master the way the Ranger's did. Without pics of this setup, I'm just guessing...

Any other thoughts/ideas?

Chris

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:02 am

After doing some looking around and futile attempts to contact Total Performance and actually get a live person to answer the phone, I've about decided I don't wanna support a company that's this disorganized. It doesn't give me any confidence in their ability to warranty and support the product. So, I'm looking into the F-150 slave and hydraulic line option.

I found pics of a whole bunch of T18 stuff including a bell housing, clutch fork, and slave. Looking close, I realized that the F-150 slave is mounted backwards compared to the way we have to mount slaves for the T5. At first, I thought the slave was a "puller" until I got a good look at the clutch fork. The pivot point for the T18 is between the throwout bearing and the slave meaning to disengage the clutch, you have to push the fork backwards to get the throwout to move forward into the clutch plate fingers. Hence it is a pusher slave...

I've been looking on eBay for a while, and I found a guy selling a factory F-150 clutch line hose for a 87 F-150 "4-speed manual." However he doesn't know whether his 4-speed was a T18 or not. I know next to nothing about the T18 itself to know if it's a 4 or 5 speed tranny. So I wanted to tap the resources here before I went scavanging the Internet for more info.

Anybody out there with some F-150 knowledge?

MercuRanger · Post by **MercuRanger** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:11 am

Can't help you with the F-150 info, but has anyone looked into the third-gen Camaro ('82-'92) T-5 slave? My IROC had a hydraulic clutch setup that worked great, and I think you could get the master, slave, and hose new from GM for like $100.

Mike

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:44 am

I'd be most interested in the slave and hose. Worst case scenario, I cut the factory hose I already have and join the GM factory hose with my Ranger factory hose. I don't like doing that, but...

I seem to remember someone mentioning that you can heat the plastic line, insert a piece of metal tube slightly larger than the I.D., and when it cools, the plastic won't let go. Maybe that was fuel line they were talking about. I can't remember.

My goal with this is to get the cost of setting up this slave to be less than 1/2 of what I'd pay going through Total Performance. Someone on TRS indicated they had no more than $60 in their Slave setup. I priced the F-150 slave on AutoZone.com, and they are around $56. So he's doing good to be under $60 unless he bought the Slave and F-150 hydraulic line from the yard for about that.

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:39 am

I believe I've found a workable alternative to the Total Performance slave kit. The key componenet is the slave from a 83-84 Ranger 2.8L (the 4cyl all used a different slave).

I selected this slave mainly in hopes that it would accept the F-150 hydraulic line since I already have one. However when I got it home and started aligning it up, it appears to be a "near" perfect fit for the T5. It's almost as if Ford planned that the T5 may have a hydraulic slave application at some point (or maybe it does) and would've used this slave or some derivative of it on such an application.

Check it out. The black tube is the F-150 hydraulic line:

The plastic retainer is holding the slave compressed. There's a rather stout spring inside it that pushes that green rod out when the plastic retainer is removed.

Looking at it on the Bell, the long stroke of the slave matches perfectly with the T5 fork. As you can see, the fork is as far forward in the bell as possible, and the slave is capable of stroking every bit of that length and a little extra to make up for the thickness of the mounting plate. Anybody know how much movement (in inches) it actually takes to disengage the clutch?

Notice how the rounded end on the rod fits the T5 fork perfectly.

The only problem I invision having with this slave is getting the hydraulic line aligned and bleeding the thing. With the logical placement of the bolt holes of the slave top and bottom, the hydraulic fitting is either pointing down at an angle or up towards the tranny at an angle.

Pointing down isn't a big deal, except the bleeder hole is right next to where the input line is. you'd never get air out of the system with the slave's supply line and bleeder pointed down.

Pointing up may be the only option. It'll be more cumbersome to bleed but that may be the only way.

I'm afraid mounting the slave with the bolt holes horizontal will cause fitment issues in the tunnel. With the slave mounted with the bolt holes vertical, it will hug the side of the tranny nicely. However the plate to hold the slave with it mounted horizontal would protrude quite a distance from the bell. I don't know how much room there is to work with under there however those details I'll worry more about when I get close to getting everything installed.

Anybody see a potential problem I'm not seeing with this setup?

cgrey8 · Post by **cgrey8** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:53 am

Malcolm, you posted this pic a while back to show the dents you needed to make for the clutch slave AND for clearance to get the bell out without removing the passenger side L&L header.

I'm just looking at the larger dent you made to make room for the slave. With this dent in place, was there still minimal clearance or is there plenty of room around the slave to potentially mount this slave I have at an angle or completely horizontal?

MalcolmV8 · Post by **MalcolmV8** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:08 pm

I don't remember exactly but I can look tonight and post back. From memory I'd say I can stick my fingers between the slave and the cab but no more than that.