Test Drive

I had some final preparations to do before driving the car. Like installing the export brace and shock retainers. Then I checked that all fluid levels were correct and measured the ignition timing. That proved somewhat difficult.

At first I could not get the engine to idle at all. It started and would stay running at high RPM but if I let the speed drop, the engine died. I tried turning the distributor but soon ran out of room to go further. I had to pull it out and rotate the rotor a few teeth. Finally after many tries I got the engine to idle at about 1300 RPM and could jump out to try and find the correct timing.

I had removed the vacuum signal from the carburetor and checked the timing with my adjustable timing light. It showed about 25 degrees! I needed to turn the distributor a lot more and jumped a few more teeth to get the initial timing to about 10 degrees. Then I could start dropping the idle speed and finally got the timing to 8 degrees at 600 RPM.

I connected all the hoses back to the engine and dropped the air cleaner on the carb. The Mustang was a complete car again.

My first drive was only about 10 km to home and back. It did not reveal any problems. Engine temperature and oil pressure were normal and there were no weird noises. Except the driver side exhaust manifold which was blowing. The exhaust pipe lower bolt is so close to the block and the clutch equalizer bar that it is really difficult to turn. I'll have to find a way to torque it later.

I've been gradually lengthening my drives with the Mustang and last weekend I drove about 350 km with it. In total I've racked about 500 km with the new engine and it has been working flawlessly. As this is still part of the break in I've kept the engine speed below 3000 RPM. After driving another 500 km I'll replace the oil and see what the engine can really do.

My test drives so far have been concentrated on larger roads and I've been avoiding stop and go traffic. After a long drive, I've noticed the temperature rising slightly when stopping. I think I'll add a fan shroud to help cure that.

The T-5 transmission has also been an excellent addition. The shifter works well and the overdrive drops engine speeds really low. At 80 km/h (50 mph) the engine turns 1300 RPM and at 120 km/h (75 mph) only 2000 RPM. The new clutch and machined flywheel also work nicely. No more jumping and slipping when moving from standstill.

All in all, my plan to build an engine with good low-end torque and attach it with an overdrive transmission seems to be a success. The Mustang is fun and easy to drive in all situations and has been trouble free thus far. It is pretty noisy though as most of the interior is missing. I'll have to replace the floors and then address that issue...

Shortening The Driveshaft

The engine was now ready for a test drive but the rest of the car not quite. As I swapped in a T-5 transmission, I was not sure if the driveshaft would fit. I had bought a new yoke for the T-5 so I pushed it in. The original yoke could not be used as it was too long.

To measure the correct length for the driveshaft, I pushed the yoke all the way in and then back out about an inch. This gave it enough room to move without bottoming in the transmission. Then it was time to drop the car on the ground and dig out the tape measure. I crawled under the car and got a measurement of 127 cm (50 inches). Originally the driveshaft was 129 cm (50.8 inches) long so I would have to take 2 cm (0.8 inches) out of it. Not much but I was expecting that from what I had read from net discussions.

The machine shops I had used previously did not have the equipment to balance a driveshaft so I searched for a new one. I managed to find Komet OY in Helsinki and after a call their prices seemed reasonable and they promised the parts back in a week so I delivered everything to them. Another problem with the transmission swap was finding out the correct U-joints. Original joint could be used in the rear but the front one was a mystery.

I bought one joint based on net discussions but after comparing it to the driveshaft, I noticed that it was not even close. To get a correct one I took the shaft and yoke to the store to be measured. We defined that I needed Precision model 505 joint that they luckily had in store. With that, the driveshaft could be assembled. It spent a week in Komet and after getting it back I cleaned it and sprayed some paint on it.

Installing the driveshaft was simple. I pushed the yoke in the transmission and then attached the two u-bolts in the rear. This was a good time to finish some loose ends around the transmission too. First I swapped the gear at the end of the speedo cable and pushed it in the transmission. The cable hole was on the driver side of the T-5 but had been on the passenger side in the old T-10. Luckily the cable was long enough to reach around the transmission.

Then I used a pump to fill the transmission with Dextron 3 fluid and it was almost ready to drive. Final detail was the shifter. I wanted to retain the original look in the cabin so I bought an original appearing shift handle and knob with a 5 speed pattern. With them bolted in, the car was finally ready for a test drive!

Transmission Support

With the engine and transmission dropped in the car it was time to support them properly. As usual, any time there are changes, you usually get some annoying surprises. To install the transmission support, I started jacking the T-5 up. Unfortunately the shifter did not clear the hole in the tunnel. The shifter was about an inch or two too forward.

I did not want to cut the floor so I tried moving the engine backward. I loosened the motor mounts, jacked the engine up a bit and pushed. I did manage to move the engine about half an inch so I went back to the tranny. The shifter still would not clear so in the end I had no choice but to cut a small notch to the floor but then I got it to fit.

Now I could finally install the transmission support. But naturally it wasn't just a bolt in job. The T-5 support was shaped a bit differently compared to the original and ended up contacting the driver side exhaust pipe. It would probably cause problems when installing the exhaust manifolds but for now at least the engine and transmission were connected to the car.

Fixing The Brakes

The right front brake had been dragging after I swapped in new pads. This would have to be fixed before driving the car again so I got to work. I unbolted the caliper and took the hose off. With the parts on the table I disassembled the caliper to see what was wrong. This became apparent when pulling out the pistons. Two of them came out quite easily but two were badly stuck. I could not get them out myself but my friend welded a pipe to them and used it to twist them out.

Someone had used force to get them out before and there were large dents in the pistons. I decided to replace all four and naturally install new seals too. When the parts arrived, I also cleaned and painted the caliper.

I placed the new lip seals in the caliper bores and pushed the pistons in. I lubricated them a bit but still one of them was pretty tight. I could not find anything wrong so I pushed a bit harder. I really hope it will not be stuck again when using the brakes later... With the caliper assembled, I installed it back to the car.

I hope I'll be driving my Mustang quite a lot during summers so I also decided to upgrade the master cylinder to dual bowl model. With the original single bowl, if one of the hoses fails or one seal starts to leak, I could lose all brakes from the car. The dual bowl cylinder has separate fluid reservoirs for the front and rear so at least one should always work.

This is a really common upgrade so I could just order a new ready made pipe kit and cylinder for my car. Auto Resto Mod has also made a good video of the swap so I followed their instructions.

Installing the cylinder was simple but the pipes weren't even close. I guess they might have installed the parts in different places at the factory so I just bent the pipes until the ends were correct. Then I screwed everything in and hopefully I will have good brakes in the future. I still have to bleed them later though...

T5 Swap Part 2

It was time to push on with the transmission swap. I watched the CJ Pony Parts video and wrote a list how I should proceed with the project. So let's go through it.

1. Remove The Shifter

To remove the shifter, I simply lifted the rubber boot and unscrewed the two bolts under it. Seems that there should be four screws holding the rubber boot to the transmission tunnel but mine were missing.

2. Drain The Oil

I had done this already by unscrewing the drain plug with an adjustable wrench and letting the oil out to a container.

3. Remove The Drive Shaft

Again an easy job of unscrewing four nuts at the back of the drive shaft, removing the U bolts and then pulling the yoke out of the transmission. I will probably have to shorten the drive shaft before putting it back in but that needs to be measured when the T5 is in the car.

4. Remove the Starter Motor

The starter is held on to the bellhousing with two bolts. I removed those and left the starter hanging by the cable from the starter relay. Then I loosened the cable retainer bolt and removed the starter motor.

5. Separator Plate Bolts

While working with the starter, I also removed the two bolts from the front of the bellhousing that hold the bottom lip of the separator plate in place.

6. Clutch Linkage

Next I removed the clutch linkage. It was held on by a cotter pin and could then be pulled out.

7. Speedo cable

The speedometer cable goes to the back of the transmission and is held on with one bolt. Unscrew that and the gear can be pulled out.

8. Back Up Light Switch

My back up light switch wire came through the shifter opening. I separated the connector and left the switch itself connected to the transmission.

9. Disconnect The Transmission From The Bellhousing

It was time to move to the heavier stuff. I loosened the four bolts that hold the transmission to the bellhousing. I left the bottom two loosely in place so they support the transmission for now.

10. Disconnect The Crossmember

I removed the two nuts that hold the transmission to the crossmember. Surprisingly they were not completely rusted and came off quite easily.

11. Loosen The Transmission From The Engine

I wiggled the transmission a bit until it started to separate from the bellhousing. This is where the two bolts that I left there stopped it from coming out completely.

12. Support The Weight Of The Transmission

I places an extra cinder block under the transmission and used my floor jack to take the weight of the transmission off the crossmember.

13. Disconnect The Handbrake Cable

By loosening the handbrake adjuster nut I could remove the lever that was attached to the crossmember.

14. Remove The Crossmember

With the weight off, I hammered out the two bolts that held the crossmember to the frame. It was a pretty tight fit but I just managed to get the crossmember out from between the exhaust pipes. I had not removed them for the swap.

15. Drop The Old Transmission

This is where I got into some trouble. I did not dare to just lie under the transmission and try to lift it out. It would probably just fall on me and cause some injury. Nor did I have a lifter tool to use. The small floor jack didn't lift high enough and the transmission would just probably roll off it.

Finally I just decided to let the transmission drop down. Not straight to the floor though. I placed two cinder blocks under it and placed the old interior carpets on them for padding. Then I pulled the transmission out and carefully let it come down on the carpet. Next I added some steps and more carpets and gradually pulled the transmission down on the floor. It took a long time but finally the heaviest part was out of the car.

16. Take The Thrush Bearing Out

The thrust bearing is just placed in the groove of the clutch fork. It comes out by sliding it to the side.

17. Remove The Bellhousing

The bellhousing is attached to the engine with six bolts. I had to remove the two top ones through the hood and the other from below. Then the bellhousing should just drop down with a few slight taps.

18. Remove The Clutch

Next under the bellhousing is the clutch. It seemed that mine had been replaced at some point and was attached with six allen head bolts. Unscrew them and the clutch drops down.

19. Remove The Flywheel

The six bolts holding the flywheel were pretty tight. Turning them would just rotate the engine. So I screwed in two of the clutch bolts and placed the jack handle between them. It contacted with the exhaust pipe and prevented the engine from turning further. Then apply some force and the bolts come out.

20. Remove The Separator Plate

With the flywheel out, the separator plate under it is not held on with anything and should come out with some wiggling.

Assembly

Next I can start the assembly. I need to take the bellhousing and flywheel to a machine shop first though. To use the T5 adapter plate, two holes must be drilled to the bellhousing and I do not dare to do them by hand. They can sand the flywheel too. I'll have to ask them what they think about its condition first though. Seems that there are some small fractures in it.

T5 Swap Part 1

After the plan to fix the rust damage failed, I decided it was about time to start the bigger projects. And what better was there to start with than the transmission swap. Now I just had a problem of how to get the Mustang high enough to get the transmission out. I've been thinking about it for a while and finally figured that a good (and cheap) way to get the car up was to buy some cinder blocks and lift it on them.

I fetched ten blocks (a few extra just in case) from the nearest hardware store and got to work. I used my small floor jack to lift the front corners up and placed a block under the tires. Then I lifted the whole rear up from the axle housing and added more blocks. Finally I lifted the front again and placed another block on the first one. Now the Mustang was high enough so I placed some wedges on both sides of the tires so the car won't roll of the blocks while I'm under it.

Lifting the car took most of the evening so I had just enough time left to drain the transmission oil and remove the drive shaft. I think I'll watch through the excellent CJ Pony Parts video of the T5 swap once more before continuing.