Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train T-5 Overdrive

I have a T-5, 5 speed in my 1949 1/2 ton behind a 261. The overdrive is from a 1988 firebird and has a 0.63:1 overdrive ratio. On flat land this is great, 1800rpms delivers 70+ mph. in the hills it's a dog. I would like to convert this trans to a 0.73:1 overdrive ratio. Does anyone know of a place where I could get a gear set to make this change. I have already tried Gear Vendors and they don't have anything?

One thing to keep in mind is that world class and non-world class gears will not swap. You need to talk to a shop that deals alot with T5's, and there's many of them out there, just use google...

I would suggest calling Zumbrota bearing & gear. They have been good for me...

Have you considered changing the rearend instead?

I have used http://5speeds.com/ as an information source for quite some time. I have as yet to purchase anything from them so I don't know the quality of their product, but information I've gotten from them has yet to be wrong.

I would immagine there is a factory gear set that would get you that ratio or close so don't rule out recycled gears.

You probably already know this, but the OD gears are in the extension housing and are held on with snap rings.

The extension housing comes off easier with the trans out of the car (as you have to take the shift rail block off the rail, don't loose the roll pin, or the bal bearing and spring that hide under the block).

As gearhead mentioned, the WC and NWC gears don't interchange, neither do the Ford spec V/S the Chevy spec OD gears (from what I've seen they're 1 spline different on the shaft dont know if that's true for all years though).




Just out of curiosity, is it too big a split (for your setup) to shift out of 5th into 4th (1:1) when you are in the hills?

I know the WC I have in the Model A (.68 OD) isn't for the engine I have in there (off toppic cammed up bent 8) But I don't know how heavy your ride is either (guestimate, roughly 2800 empty for the A, probably close to 4K with Pops, I and all the crap we bring with).

Not throwing stones, just curious.

Standard Transmission in Fort Worth, Texas has a bunch of T-5 parts and trannies. They are also reps for Hurst shifters. You might try them.
http://www.standardtransmission.com/
Before I got into the transmission though, I would look at the rear end situation. It might be easier to work with than the tranny, like a pumpkin change.

Thank you for your replys. It's a 1949 1/2 ton pu. The rear-end gear ratio is 373:1. I have already done the tailshaft swap to move the shift tower forward. The real problem is that there is too much rpm drop between 4th and 5th. I will check the sources you guys gave me and hope they have a solution.
Thanks again for your help. Brad