Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train 1965 Chevelle 5-Speed swap

I just completed a trans swap in my 65 Chevelle. I just put in the rebuilt 230 I6 and had the powerglide behind it. I grew so tired of it that i went on Craigslist and found a Borg Warner T50 with a fresh rebuild for $250. It came with a running 194 which i promptly tore apart. It took 2 days and about $600, but the swap went off without a hitch and it runs like a champ!

Are you going to drive it over the hill to the convention?

convention? do tell. its in pieces at the moment for welding on the dash and a new carpet

Nolando,
got any pics of the T50 trans?

I installed 2 different T50s form Chevy Monzas that both blew up.

Did it have a square shifter rod?

MBHD

it does have the square shifter. i have had a big problem with the ATF coming out of the shifter. and i cant find out how full to make the trans either. theres no info for those damn transmmissions

I thought they have a side fill plug?
It's been a long time so I am not sure.

As long as you do not try to speed shift those trannys & down shift hard into 2nd gear it should be OK for a while, just do not try to be too rough with it.

Also, if you start off in first gear let the engine turn some high RPMs in 1st & then let off the throttle & let the engine do the braking, those transmissions do not like that either.



MBHD

yeah i found that out after a while haha

I put a T50 behind a pretty good running 250 in my Nova and beat the snot out of it for years, speed shifting at WOT. Never had a problem.

Not sure we are talking about the same trans.

The trans did not feel like it is a fully synchronized trans, not sure though.

The T50 is not a user friendly speed shifting trans, it really not does like to speed shift that easily. You have to force it to shift that way.
A muncie or saganaw is really much easier to speed shift.

The T50's wear designed to run in 4 cyl cars A.F.A.I.K.

I would never recommend a T50 trans over a T5 for sure.

I just used 2 of them because I bought them pretty cheap @ a junk yard by making them look like a 3 speed for $75.00 each.

IIRC, they are a little bit longer than a saganaw or muncie 4 speed trans, I just happened to find a shorter drivshaft that fit perfect also.

Mine both blew up in a simular way, reved it up high in first gear & let off the throttle letting the engine do the braking via the T50 trans & they both seized up.

Other than that they worked OK & the OD was like .97 or .98 , not much of a OD. Going from memory.


MBHD

Apparently the T50 trannys must have a numerically high low gear, (3.0 or similar)if so that is why they wont shift too quick- too much ratio spread between gears- too much work for synchros. Old 2.54 and 2.20 four speeds shift easily because their ratio spreads aint too bad. Had a new Process 4 speed in a '95 dodge halfton that had a 4.06 (was not a 3/4 ton grandma low tranny) and even with a long shifter, it was not easy to pull in second quickly- second was like 2.20 or so. These were stout but probably impractical to swap into pass car since shifter is fixed into tranny. Like a lot of '55-'57 chevys used to have cutaways on front seat to accommidate the B-W T-10s in days of yore. Not many new big cars/trucks have sticks anymore. its tough to find good low milage sticks at the yards these days.

The T50 did have a numerically high first gear.

I forgot the ratio in first, I am thinking it was 3.20-3.50 range? Would have to look it up to be sure. It was low for sure.

I have 4.10 gears in the rear axle & w/the T50 trans I could only make it half way through a short intersection (RPM @ 6000) & had to shift into second gear.

MBHD

ala earlier '50s stock chevys with 2.94 lows and 4.11s/3.70s with rpms definitaly a little lower.

I remember my first V8, a '56 4 bbl. 265 chevy would go all the way thru the intersection without having to shift. Just like a 4200 could do today.

it does have a somewhat short 1st gear. i can get it to about 15 mph before i near my 4000 redline. 5th is a .8 to 1 overdrive.