T-5 Conversion complete

tony-muscle · Feb 1, 2016

Please take pictures of all....

1971 M-code Mach 1

rocket366 · Feb 1, 2016

Yep

I also got my clutch pedal from MDL today what a sweet looking

quality part!

Paul

73pony · Feb 3, 2016

Some pics of the parts so far.

More pics

More again

And more yet. It only lets me post one pic per reply from my phone.

And more

Also got the intake manifold cleaned up and coated.

73pony · May 17, 2016

OK. Update on this. The conversion is complete. I unfortunately did not take pics of the conversion. Sorry. But here is a narrative.

Installed the MDL clutch pedal and roller bearing assembly. Remove the seat to do this and turn yourself into a pretzel and have good snap ring pliers. I do not have a lift so I built some blocks from scrap 2x12's to get the car up in the air so I could work from the underside comfortably on a creeper. Started to disconnect all the linkage, vac lines, and cooler lines to the old FMX and removed the shifter from the top. Disconnected and removed the driveshaft. Removed bolts from the torq converter. Removed the nuts from the trans mount to the trans and removed the nuts from the bolts holding the trans mount to the frame but left them in place. Next the exhaust, Disconnect at the headers and at the mufflers and removed the center section of the exhaust. loosened the parking brake cable adjustment so I could pull the cable out of the way. For safety I put a jack and block under the front of the trans and the oil pan. Removed the starter. Now time to remove the lump. Removed all bolts holding the bell to the engine. Got under the trans on the creeper and pulled the trans mount out while holding up the trans and pulled. And pulled, And pulled, damn didn't budge. Reinstall the trans mount cause damn that thing is heavy. Then a light shines and I have an idea! Take a ratchet strap and wrap it around the rear axel and to the trans tail. Start to slowly tighten the strap and BAM it worked. The trans is not loose. Get back under the pull it out onto my chest and down. Wow I am serious, if you have access to a lift and trans jack use it that FMX is heavy, but it is out! Remove the flex plate. Looks good and no oil coming from the real seal! BONUS! Clean it all up. Wire in the new reverse light switch as it is part of the trans now and not the shifter. Wire the Park/Neutral lock wires together. Tie up the lead for the lights on the shifter, might come up with a use for it later. Wrap all the wiring so it is clean sealed and looks good, and clean up the loose vac lines. Install the bearing in the block then the new flywheel. Grab the clutch disc, pressure plate, and alignment tool and get them mounted. Next up mount the bell housing to the engine. Be sure to Torq to spec in two steps. It is looking good and making forward progress. Next up the starter. The original would not work as it does not line up with the holes due to a 157 tooth flywheel in the T5 vs the 164 tooth for the FMX. Purchased a gear reduction starter from Amazon and installed and wired correctly. Now the trans. It is much lighter than the FMX. but still a PITA trying to get up there from your back on a creeper but it can be done. Be sure you have the new trans mount and bolts handy as once it is in you have to hold the tail up while you fit the mount in. It takes some work to get the trans pushed all the way home but keep at it trying different rotations and it will go. Bolt the trans to the bell and hook up the reverse lights. Next the clutch cable. I ended up using the MDL cable. Attached it to the pedal in the car and ran it out the rubber opening in the firewall just below the steering column. It routes back under the drivers floor and loops around to attach to the clutch release then on through to the bell, Backwards from what is normal. There was some question on preload or not on the clutch. After doing a lot of internet searching I was even more confused. Call MDL and was told that it should have just around 1/16 of preload to prevent chatter and premature bearing failure due to rapid acceleration of the bearing, OK so that's what I did. On to the drive shaft. Remove the old yoke and replace with the new one and new u-joint. Replaced the rear u-joint as well. Get it in and take some measurements. Sure enough needs to be shortened by about 3/4". Done and back home, got it done and balanced for $60! Deal! Mount it up and how about that fits perfect! Now to test everything. Using a jack and wood blocks and I jack the rear tires off the blocks I made to get them just in the air and place jack stands. Hop in the car and put it in neutral and start it up, hasn't been started in about 3 months. Surprisingly it starts no problem, another bonus. Sounds a bit loud as it is dumping from the headers though. Now to test my clutch adjustments and looks to be pretty good. grabs pretty early but it is a brand new clutch so I am going to go with it for now. Shut it down and drop it back onto the blocks. Reattach and set the tension on the parking brake cable. Reinstall the exhaust. I have not yet got my custom shift lever from my brother in-law as he is backed up at work but I am itching to take a spin. So I grab some scrap steel and cut out two pieces and weld them up to mimic the correct shape and angle. Weld on a cut off bold and drill some holes on the drill press and toss on a coat of black paint and it will work for now. I did find a couple of pics to attach. First test drive and wow! like a whole new car!!!! Even with keeping the 2.75 gears for now it is night and day difference. Wow that is a long post. Sorry.