Jersey

Ken - I haven't heard any definitive proof that the T5 is any stronger than the na trans either. I have not tried the na trans behind my '73ZXT or my cousins '78ZXT but we both managed to blow the T5's 3rd gear. My opinion , the na tranny does have better ratios than the T5 so, i would think the 280b trans would be the one to beef up, if so inclined. What the weak link in that trans is, i have no idea. Wish i could help more because i need to strong trans's installed within the next 2 months! lol. Randy - I understand what you mean about shock-loading and the drag racing/blown trans notion but as far as the T5 goes, both my cousin and I blew 3rd gear while just rolling the throttle on heavy while in third, boosting around 16-18psi then, WHAMO, 3rd gear is toothless. I'm not sure if the na 3rd gear is tougher but, i'm hoping so for your sake. What year ford 5.0 WC-T5 was it that you tried bolting the ZXT T5 Bell too?

Not to hijack but, Doug, are you saying you can bolt the FS5R30A up to the L28? Are you also saying it's stronger than the FS5R90A? I need to make a decision on a tranny soon and i know the FS5R90A isn't strong enough since i've blown through them. Just hard to part with $1600 for the G-Force when i really dont need a 600ft/lb+ torque capacity tranny. Thanks for any info you can share.

I think my Act kit (240mm, HD presure Plate, Street Disk) costs about $350 and it's held up great for about 50 strip runs and a bunch of hard street driving. I'm able to pull 12's, chirping into 4th with street tires or launching hard with the DR's so, i've got to give it to Act for that. What i didn't like from the beginning was the majorly increased pedal pressure, but then again, i'm sure thats why it grabs as well as it does. And oh yeah, the wife says that there's no way she can drive it now. DARN

My Z here in NJ sits waiting for the snow and salt to disappear as well. Seems like the longest winter, with more to come this week. Still need a trans, a windshield and some new rubber. Just received a good tax return and i think the wife is letting 2k go into the Z It's a start anyway. When you log in a little time in with those seals, let me know how they hold up if you would.

Looks and sounds great violacleff! Nice work. I'm with Clifton - we need some wide-open blast type vids when she's broken-in of couse. So... maybe tomorrow??? lol.

Nice job cygnusx1. I must have missed a previous post of your concerning these "Ford Capri, Viton seals" Are they something special? My cousins Z now has some puffs of smoke coming through the valve cover breather which may be seal blolw-by, so i may have to change his again. We replaced his worn out stock ones last year with just standard seals, just wondering if they're shot again.

Compress the valves, slide the rockers arms to one side (with the tool i made, it was easier to slide the lifter side) and remove the rocker arms, force air into the cylinder, compress valve again...this time just the spring to remove keepers, remove keeper-spring-spacer, pop old seals off and slide new one one. Just make sure the new seals are all the way down. Mine kind of "popped" when they were fully seated. Good luck.

Joe - i have know idea of the input shaft lengths. I think i'm going to have to pick up a WC T5 and do some comparisons. Both Nick and I have blown non-WC T5's sitting in our Z's. Sam - i'm thinking of going with the WC T5 that came in the '90-93 5.0L stang because they were rated @ 300ft/lbs, they increased the nickel content making it stronger gearset and the 3rd & 4th synchro linings were carbon fiber rather then the weaker brass like you mentioned. All the Ford WC T5's from '85 on had the output shafts riding on bearings instead of solid shafts and the counter gears used tapered bearings. Sounds to me like the Ford T5 would be a good deal stronger than the Nissan T5, but i'm just guessing. I'm not sure what the tourque rating on the T5 was that was in the svo's but like you said, they were behind the 4cyl turbo. Now i need to hunt one of these trannies down. I'm surprised nobody else has tried this? Might be a "cheap" solution for us "budgeted"

Thanks for the reply Randy. Ok, so a minor adjustment to the non-WC bell and it will connect to the WC center section. I have a few non-WC T5's lying around so, i have the parts to do it, just wondering if it's do-able Did you ever do a side by side comparison of the two, to see where the shifter location would end up? Also curious if the input shaft lenghts between the two are any different.

Ok, maybe i'll explain more. Has anyone used a Ford WC T5 with a Nissan T5 bell bolted to it, custom pilot bearing to accept the WC T5 input shaft, a 240mm clutch made to match the WC splines and a custom driveshaft that will connect the output splines of the WC to an R200? Does it fit in the tunnel? Will the shifter location line up? Is the 300lb torque rating of the 90-93 ford T5's strong enough? I know it's a bunch of questions but i'm just trying to weigh out all my options. Thanks in advance.

Sorry if i missed it in my searches but, has anyone tried using the WC T5 mated to the L28? Thanks for any info.

Very nice job Chris. Looks great.

I will now Jody. Thanks.

Hey guys. Just got off the phone w/Bubba @ G-Force, talking about building our T5's strong enough to what we're throwing at it. They would build the new tranny using our tailshafts, bells, lid/shiftfork and bearing retainers and bolting it up to a WC case supplied by them and their stronger gearset . All total would be approx $1600. I asked if i sent him 5 or maybe even 10 of these trans's to do for us, if he would discount the price but he said "maybe 5-6%" which works out to be around $80-90. IMHO, it's not really worth trying to get everyone together for that little bit of savings. I thought he would want to do something better for us but i guess not. Tell you the truth, it didn't even sound like he was enthusiastic about doing it to begin with so, i'll probably just contact Tim's guy or figure out something on my own. Just wanted to give all that are interested a heads up. I have a buddy that's been doing trans's for 18 years so, if i could figure out what year WC case to get and where to get the gearset they're using, i'd just have him do the 2 i have now that have stripped 3rd gears. Tim, if you're reading, would you or the guy that did your T5 share some info on what to use? If not, i'd understand.

American Eagle Alloys Series 028, 15x7, Zero Offset, 4 x 114.3(4.5") I'm ready to change wheels so, if you and anyone else is interested.. lol..

Sorry to hear that. Do you know who made those wheels? The centercap design looks real close to the ones i have. Just curious.

Good luck with the swap. I'm no expert but, 2 things i can pass off for advice: 1 - PATIENCE 2 - Have some extra $. The hidden costs add up. Keep us posted.

The Act PP's i've used are balanced from the factory. You can see the crude drill holes. Now, how balanced they are is another question

Thanks again.

Get this.... I just tried to call G-Force at - 717.867.4352 - says it's been disconnected. Probably not a good sign. lol.

Thanks Tim for the info. So you need use the WC gearcase mated to the NWC bellhousing and modified talshaft housing from the T5? Do you know which WC gearcases need to be used? I'm asuming that the NWC BW bell and tailshaft housing bolted right up to the WC case? Thanks for any more info you can supply Tim.

With the wheel combo i'm running right now - 215/15/50 - first gear on the G-Force would be great. First gear is way too short on the T5, for me anyway. I plan on going 225/16/45's which isn't much of a diameter change so i think it would work out real nice with the 2.94 first on the G tranny. The real stretch i feel is between the 2nd and 3rd shift on the T5 which looks a lot nicer with the G-Force. Just wish i had some cash right now to but it! Lol. Anyone running the G, let us know what you think of it.

Pro 5.0 on my cousins T5 and the stang shifter on mine. I don't think the shifter had much to do with stripping the teeth off of third gear on both trannys but, the Pro5 is nice because of it's stops which could prevent early synchro failure and the stang shifter definetely improves shifting smoothness. Both of our T5's blew just laying into the pedal in third gear, boosting and pulling pretty hard.

Sorry guys, i meant i hope to be going the G-Force route, not TKO. 3rd gear really seems to be the weak link in these NWC T5's. Thats exactly what i shredded yesterday and the same gear my cousin tore up including a few others on this board as well. If i decide to go with the G-Force tranny, i'm sure my cousin will also, so maybe i'll post a message here to see if anyone else is interested at the time to buy one and do some type of group buy from them and possibly get some sort of price break. With the holidays coming up quick, "extra" cash is hard to squeeze past the wife right now but hopefully by march/april will be ready to do something.

I think the beatings at the strip finally took it's toll. I wish i had $ right now to go the TKO route, which would be the way to go i think but, guess i'll see what can be saved over the winter. Funny, for the last month or so, i've been thinking that maybe i'd sell the Z and get an old mustang or camaro and build that up nice with a TT or something. Guess my Z heard me thinking. lol.