Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Mating a ar5(ma5) to a chevy small block

Hey guys, this is my first post so i'll try and make it a good one.

So i have a 64 nova 4 door with a 194 and powerglide in it. I am looking to convert it to a manual.

I am going to try and find a way to make a aisin ar5(known as ma5 to general motors). These are plentiful, strong, and more importantly they are cheap. These came in the chevy colorado, pontiac solstice and hummer h3.

These transmissions are a direct relative to the ax15 transmission from jeeps. SO the good news is there are adapters to allow them to bolt directly to a small block housing.

The problem i have found so far lies with the input shaft. The ax15 made to work with a small block has a 7-7/8 long input shaft. The colorado/h3 input shaft is 8-1/4 long and the pontiac solstice shaft is 7-1/2". So i gotta decide how i'm going to make it work.

I thought and i am hoping i can just swap in the input shaft from ax15 into the ar5. I think the solstice may be short to be usable, not sure if you could maybe use a special pilot bearing that reached out alittle further. I wonder how far i could through the pilot bearing into my crank, maybe the colorado will work fine.

If you guys have any info or advice that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Matt

IMO don't waste your time with those 5 cylinder engines pretty gutless can't even get a standard cab short bed Colorado to move out of it own way, if you are going through the trouble of an engine swap use the Trailblazer engine 4.2 much better choice.

Hank,
I think he is trying to mate it to the 194.

Will check with my local tranny shop and see what he says about these trans.

Yes I plan on mating the ar5 to my 194.

So if the solstice input shaft is 3/8 too short. Can I mill the bell housing 3/8 to make it work? I am planning on using the Novak adapter so I wonder if it's possible to mill some off of that too.

What about a pilot bushing like this?
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/CHEVY-EXTRA-LONG-PILOT-BUSHING,6974.html
Or this
http://www.tickperformance.com/gm-extended-pilot-bushing-swap-applications/

There are also some out there that are roller bearing style if the input shaft is hardened.

Something like that would certainly work I would think. Let me do some research and try and find the spec on the tip of the input shaft. Is there a standard diameter bore on chevy flywheels? I'd rather use the solstice ar5 anyway because the shifter is set further back than the Colorado version. But the Colorado version uses a standard 27 spline output shaft and solstice uses a flange. So it would make getting a custom driveshaft a little trickier.

Welp...the Colorado version is 8 1/4 and the ax15 is 7 7/8. So if my math is right that's 3/8". So if I just use a 3/8 bellhousing spacer that should be perfect. Did some more research and it appears also the shifter will end up damn near where a muncie shifter would sit. So I'm pretty sure that's the route I'm going to purse.

Not gonna do much but start gathering parts and tackle this project this winter. I just got my car and want to enjoy it this summer.

Thanks from the help guys I'll keep this posted on how things go.

Oh and I've seen some soltice guys making over 500 at the wheels so it appears to be a strong transmission.

Transmission got delivered today from LKQ for $300 with 81,000 miles on it. Ar5 has a 1-1/8 26 spline input so i put a call into mecleod and got a part number for a clutch that will work. I picked up my bell housing on saturday and will be able to use all the stock mechanical clutch linkage and what not. Stay tuned i think this just might work...lol.

Matt,
Good luck with your swap.
Q. What clutch linkage and bellhousing are you using?
Stock Nova manuals use the bell with the lower arm position, right? The AR5 uses a hydraulic throwout bearing I think.
Just wondering how you plan to handle that part of the install.

Thanks

Pete

Yep I have a 7 o'clock bellhousing and the adapter I'm using has a sleeve for a throw out bearing to be used. I just hope it's the right size. Here she is, she's smaller than I thought so I hoping I don't have to hack up my tunnel. When I get home I'll Google dimensions of a muncie and compare.

Here are some pics with some measurements I started pulling yesterday.

Matt

Which bellhousing are you going to use?

Hey sorry for the delay but i'm using a 3849309. Its a "small" bellhousing for 153 tooth flywheels made for 62-67 novas. clutch fork goes in at a lower position than a normal bell housing.

Got some progress made. Got my adapter and bell housing on. Waiting for alittle more funds before i pull the powerglide and get started on installing it. I am probably going to be using a hydraulic clutch setup with a pull type external slave cylinder.