[60Apache]

I want to replace my 3 speed with a t5 because im looking for a little more top speed than what i am getting with my stock 3 speed, has anybody done this and able to tell me how it turned out. Any info will be appreciated, Thanks

[chief36chevy]

I did it in my 36 Chevy pickup. Check out my Photo Journal I took a lot of pictures.
One problem you will find is that the input shaft is smaller. I used a small block big bell and a 11” clutch from an Astro van, they also used a version of the T5.
The next problem you will encounter is that the input shaft is about 5/8” longer. Summit sells an adapter bell kit. I choose to shim my bell back with a spacer. This allowed me to bolt my t5 directly to my bell and kept my input shaft in line.
The third problem is the t5 is a little longer than the standard 3 speed plus the 5/8” you will need to move your trans mount back.
Any questions just ask. I have more pictures than what are in my journal.
Chief

[AutoGear]

Nothin to add here other than Chief did a bang-up job with the description. Good luck with your project and please document it. We live for pictures here.

Oh something to add. A lot of this non 'world class' T5 stuff is being discontinued, so if you stumble into another core...you may want to scarf it up.

[chief36chevy]

I almost forgot, the S10 T5 is a non world class transmission. This is not a heavy duty transmission. I don’t know what your intent is for this vehicle, but if you are going to tow or haul heavy loads I would look in a different direction.
I have mine behind a 327 that I built to push about 300 HP from my research 300 HP is the limit for this transmission. I got most of the wildness out of my system a long time ago and drive my rod just for the pleasure of enjoying the ride. I don’t race or burn the tires just drive and have fun.

[AutoGear]

The hot ticket is to gut the T5 from the S10 and stuff camaro guts in there. This gives you much more comfortable ratios for street rodding around (Im gonna try and remember here: 2.95 1st, 1.94 2nd, 1.35 3rd, 1.00 4th and OD was .73 or .63) Compare that to the S10: (4.03, 2.37, 1.49, 1.00, .72 for the 4cyl and 3.76, 2.18, 1.42, 1.00 and .72 for the V6er)

The 4cyl S10 is okay if you understand that it has a granny 1st gear, the V6 S10 is a little more car friendly and the Camaro ratio is really where you would need to be if you had a 250-300hp car engine.

Camaro sourced units have a tailhousing that angles the shifter towards the driver at ~13 deg. An early S10 tailhousing has a perpendicular shifter mount and a cable driven speedo.

Hope this helps.

[chief36chevy]

Yes I overcame the granny gear by installing a 99 S10 4WD rear axle. They have a 3.43 ratio and disk brakes.
I thought that you needed to use the WC gear box with a S10 tail shaft. So the Camaro gears will fit in my S10 case?

[AutoGear]

I've heard it can be done, however the bearings are different and its probably more trouble than its worth. You can use a NWC mainshaft in a world class gearset if you get the proper one. Ive also heard of people using NWC clusters in a WC application