BoonZ Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I have 4 cylinder, a 6 cylinder, and a V8 now it's time for a V12. I purchased a 750i awhile back for $500 running driving. when I puled the engine out, I found the bell housing very large. There is also the oil pump and sump to be move to the rear. Recently I have found 3 MB V12 in the self serve junk yards and 2 more BMW's. A MB V12 was purchased for $400 complete. The MB V12 oil sump look's like a better fit, and the bell housing is small. Problems are over all hight, rear exhaust manifolds and no flywheel for manual. The auto flex plate has a bolt on ring gear with the cut out windows for the crank sensor's and a thick clamp ring on the crank. So the stock ring gear and fly wheel bolt's will work for a custom FW. Clutch size is 10.5". The bell housing is cut off the front of the auto trans just behine the ring for the pump. One side of a plate was turned down to fit tight in the pump ring bore, With the same set up on the lathe the hole for the T5 was bored.The bolt pattern for the pump was transfered to the plate, drilled and counter sunk for Flat head scoket screws. The plate is mounted to the bell housing and machined parallel to the engine side. Factors that make up the lenght of the bell housing are ring gear clutch and piolit bearing. This means a long input shaft lenght. Looked for a ZXt T5 never found one to check out. If you have a ZX with a T5 and rear steering this swap might be a winter project. Found a T45 (the 5 speed version of a T56) it is big and 125 Lbs. Ended up with a T5 at 75 Lbs. from a Mustang 3.8 V6. A Hyd. cluch release bearing from a Camero T5. A Mustang clutch. I am starting work on the cross member now. Clearnce for the Miata Power steering at the side of the oil pan has to be worked out before I can finnish it. Next will be shorting the oil sump, moving the left throdle body foward and the exhaust. Last is finding a EFI to run it. When all the Junk Yards are in alinement with the Swap Meets I will have a Rat Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Good work, a lot of excellent info here . I'm excited to see where you take this. The Merc V12 is a little used motor (in any car) you seem to be working out a lot of the kinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 You *do* realize that the T5 is rated for 294ft-lbs of input torque, right? And that you're going to break it pretty much as soon as you crank the engine over? WHY????? Don't say "well they run 500HP through T5's in mustangs!", because they just don't hold up. In a street car, they might last a year at that level. I watch several a year break, every year. The only real solution is an aftermarket internal kit, which will run 600-800$ plus fitting. It's well worth the weight of a 125lb gearbox to not have to take it out every other week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 You *do* realize that the T5 is rated for 294ft-lbs of input torque, right? And that you're going to break it pretty much as soon as you crank the engine over? WHY????? Don't say "well they run 500HP through T5's in mustangs!", because they just don't hold up. In a street car, they might last a year at that level. I watch several a year break, every year. The only real solution is an aftermarket internal kit, which will run 600-800$ plus fitting. It's well worth the weight of a 125lb gearbox to not have to take it out every other week... I was thinking the same thing - there are aftermarket gearsets (the gForce kit is quite a bit more than $800) that would work, but due to the reasons that Xnke has already laid out I doubt that anybody is going to make a t5 adapter for that engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoonZ Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 I dought it will brake right away. I think the input bearing will start winning after 20,000 miles. That gives me 4-5 years. A T56 was my first thought with a bell housing cut from billit. In searching for one I found a T45 and started the project. I cut 240 hull in sections to use for mock-up and found th T45 a tight fit. All ready thinking of the extra weight the motor added. I started looking for a 280ZX T5 thinking the tail housing mount, shifter and driveshaft might be a bolt in. The T5 I am using was puchesed for the input shaft and gear set to be instaled with a 280ZX tail housing and mainshaft. I never found a ZX T5 or info about the parts swap between the two. So at this point the Mustang T5 is what I am working with. If I brake it I will go back to the drawing board. The T45 is in storage with a just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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