Bob;
When I bought my T-5 (1986 S-10) the input shaft was shot. I could not find a replacement in a country wide search. The parts house I was working with told me that a slightly longer shaft was available so I had them order one in for me. Turns out it worked better than the original. Here is a comparison of the short and long shaft.
As you can see in this next picture the longer shaft worked well for me. By the way my engine is a 1953 Desoto 25 ½” block. My bell housing and flywheel are from a 1948 Plymouth.
I elected to not use a pilot bushing but instead fabricate a bearing mount and install a pilot bearing. This shows the position of new bearing
This next picture shows the bearing mount.
You questioned the bore of the bell housing hole where the transmission mates up. There is a very important step you don’t want to forget when it comes time to do this modification. Make sure your hole is dead nuts on center. To do this I used a magnetic base dial indicator affixed to the flywheel. I found that my factory hole was out as much as .012”. I made notes and sent the bell housing to the machine shop. They then bored my new hole on the true center.
I had my stock Plymouth pressure plate rebuilt and did not have to contend with drilling new holes in the flywheel to use the S-10 pressure plate. I purchased a new disc to fit the T-5 input shaft splines.
This is how the transmission looks bolted up in the car. Hope this information helps. Don Coatney
