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- Sep 23, 2007
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- Vehicle Year
- 1983
- Make / Model
- Ford
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- Manual
Here's an overview of my almost-completed T5 swap into a Gen 1 2wd Longbed Ranger. While not a particularly difficult swap, it's not as easy as it's made out to be in some of the posts/FAQ's either, at least in my early truck with the Toyo Kogyo tranny.
Truck: '83 2wd 2.3L - was stock with with TK4 4-speed tranny and 7.5" rear end
T5 Tranny: From '87 Thunderbird TC, I pulled it in the boneyard with mounts and wiring
The swap of the transmission itself and mounting of it to the 2.3 motor is quite straightforward, it's the details that create excitement. I had one of my spare flywheels machined for $20, and bought a stock replacement clutch for the '87 TC at Autozone for $92 (the T5 clutch disk has fewer splines than the TK4/TK5 disc). After removing the stock tranny, I mounted the new flywheel to the crank and torqued the bolts properly, then mounted the new clutch disk and pressure plate using the centering tool. Nothing special here. The pilot bearing looked fine so I left it in place. There is about a .020 difference in the diameter of the bearing surface of the input shafts of the TK4/TK5 and the T5 (I don't remember which is bigger now). The same pilot bearing is listed as a replacement part for both the 2.3 '83 Ranger and 2.3T '87 Turbo Coupe so I didn't sweat it.
I used the metal gasket between the motor and tranny from an '87 2.3 Ranger with M5R1 tranny since my bottom end is from that truck and has the cast aluminum oil pan. This gasket is flatter than the one from the T5 as has to be used with the aluminum pan. If you're running a steel pan, the T5 gasket from the TC should work fine.
The hydraulic clutch slave cylinder from the '83 Ranger is specified as the same part number as the one from the '87 Turbo Coupe. The stock slave fits fine in the bellhousing. The clutch fork does bottom on the opening in the bellhousing when the clutch pedal is fully depressed, this does not seem to be an issue. Clutch pedal action seems to be a good bit lighter than it was with the stock clutch and plate from the TK4/TK5.
The stock reverse switch on the T5 has a connected wiring harness that plugs right into the '83 Ranger harness for this function. Truly plug and play, it just works. My truck does not have a neutral safety switch (or somebody bypassed it) so that was not a concern.
I used the speedometer gear from the TC. It has to be removed from the electronic sender that the TC uses and mounted on the speedo cable from the truck. Since the TC had a 3.55 rear end, I will have to pick up a different gear for about $12 to work with my 3.73 gearing. For now, the TC gear is better than nothing. Simple swap with a small clip that can be removed with a straight screwdriver. Otherwise, it's a bolt-on.
The crossmember is a bit more challenging. There are a couple alternatives. I first thought that using the M5R1 crossmember mounted outside the frame rails would be easier than modifying the one from the TK4/TK5. It isn't.
Using the factory M5R1 piece requires relocation of the parking brake cable bracket, and I lost the frame brackets that attach to it at some point. These aren't exactly easy to cut off in a junkyard since each is attached with four large rivets. I have some large angle iron I thought of using, but more cutting and fabrication would have been required to do this than to modify the TK4/TK5 crossmember.
The best possible alternative would be to pick up a crossmember for the M5R1 that mounts inside the frame rails. I've seen these advertised in Truckin and similar mags marketed to the lowrider guys. They're about $60, but I didn't want to spend money or wait for it to arrive.
My solution took under two hours and cost some mig wire. I welded a piece of 1/4" steel plate to the bottom of my TK4/TK5 stock crossmember. I thought that this and simply cutting a hole in the top of the crossmember and drilling a hole in the plate for the mouting bolt would be enough. Luckily, I only tack welded it on until I checked for fitment. The stock TC tranny mount is a large round rubber part that will not fit inside the 'U' of the stock stamped TK4/TK5 crossmember. You'd have to cut so much of the crossmember away that there would be almost nothing left.
The rubber TC tranny mount is tapered so it gets smaller near the bottom - my solution was to create an elevated 'landing' for the mount to sit on so I could cut a smaller hole in the top of my stock TK4/TK5 crossmember.
I cut a piece of thick steel pipe so it was about 1/2 long. I welded a 1/4" flat plate to the top of it, and then welded that assembly to the larger plate. All of this was then welded to the bottom of the crossmember. After drilling a pilot hole for the tranny mount bolt, I used a 1-1/4" hole saw to open up the bottom plate for the tranny mount nut and a 1/2" twist drill in the landing for the actual bolt hole.
This arrangement allows the TC tranny mount to sit about 3/4" above the bottom of the stock TK4/TK5 crossmember. The pictures probably explain it better.
Two new holes have to be drilled in the frame rails to bolt the relocated crossmember in. This wasn't to difficult, I used 1/2" diameter bolts and washers out of the bolt bin.
The driveshaft was another source of challenges. The front slip yoke that fits the TK4/TK5 and M5R1 is too small to fit the output shaft on the T5. Since I wasn't sure if this was the case when I started the swap, I picked up a boneyard slip yoke from a 2.3L Mustang with a T5 before beginning. I only felt smart for a minute, until I pressed the U-Joint out of the Mustang slip yoke and realized it was bigger than the one from the Ranger.
The front Ranger driveshaft U-Joint is considered a 1310 type, and the one from the Mustang is a 1330. Both use 1-1/16" diameter bearing caps. Calling around town trying to find a Spicer conversion U-Joint, I learned NAPA stocks a 1310 to 1330 joint with a part number of P353. This cost $16 and saved me from buying a T5 1310 front slip yoke or having a new driveshaft made. Works like a charm.
The driveshaft is too long with the Mustang front slip yoke to fit over the pinion flange nut on the rear end. Pushed all the way into the T5 tailhousing, there is only about 3/16" clearance between the pinion flange and the rear driveshaft flange. Monday I'm having the driveshaft shortened an inch and re-balanced for $75.
You'll need to enlarge the hole in the floor pan. I cut more out than necessary, but it worked out fine. The T5 shifter sits about 3-1/2" further back than the TK4/TK5. I flanged the opening I cut with a pneumatic flanging tool, creating a lip for the new sheet metal plate. I applied Peel and Seal (aluminum faced asphalt roof repair material with adhesive on the back, $16 at Home Depot) to the bottom of the plate. The sheet metal itself came from a scrap computer server top, so it was free. I used the four stock bolts and added (8) 1/2" long 8-32 machine screws with clip nuts to secure the back half of the plate.
The Ranger shifter boot is a much better fit to the T5 shifter than the one from the turbo coupe. I plan to re-use it. I did have to trim the very top of it slightly with a utility knife blade since the T5 handle is larger in diameter then the one from the TK4/TK5.
The T5 sits at a 15 degree angle to the driver's seat, and the stock TC shifter handle is bent and rotated even more towards the driver. It nearly hits my racing bucket side bolster in 2nd gear. I'm still thinking about whether I want to try and bend the stock handle or to fabricate another one.
That's it! Total cost with the tranny was about $350.
Truck: '83 2wd 2.3L - was stock with with TK4 4-speed tranny and 7.5" rear end
T5 Tranny: From '87 Thunderbird TC, I pulled it in the boneyard with mounts and wiring
The swap of the transmission itself and mounting of it to the 2.3 motor is quite straightforward, it's the details that create excitement. I had one of my spare flywheels machined for $20, and bought a stock replacement clutch for the '87 TC at Autozone for $92 (the T5 clutch disk has fewer splines than the TK4/TK5 disc). After removing the stock tranny, I mounted the new flywheel to the crank and torqued the bolts properly, then mounted the new clutch disk and pressure plate using the centering tool. Nothing special here. The pilot bearing looked fine so I left it in place. There is about a .020 difference in the diameter of the bearing surface of the input shafts of the TK4/TK5 and the T5 (I don't remember which is bigger now). The same pilot bearing is listed as a replacement part for both the 2.3 '83 Ranger and 2.3T '87 Turbo Coupe so I didn't sweat it.
I used the metal gasket between the motor and tranny from an '87 2.3 Ranger with M5R1 tranny since my bottom end is from that truck and has the cast aluminum oil pan. This gasket is flatter than the one from the T5 as has to be used with the aluminum pan. If you're running a steel pan, the T5 gasket from the TC should work fine.
The hydraulic clutch slave cylinder from the '83 Ranger is specified as the same part number as the one from the '87 Turbo Coupe. The stock slave fits fine in the bellhousing. The clutch fork does bottom on the opening in the bellhousing when the clutch pedal is fully depressed, this does not seem to be an issue. Clutch pedal action seems to be a good bit lighter than it was with the stock clutch and plate from the TK4/TK5.
The stock reverse switch on the T5 has a connected wiring harness that plugs right into the '83 Ranger harness for this function. Truly plug and play, it just works. My truck does not have a neutral safety switch (or somebody bypassed it) so that was not a concern.
I used the speedometer gear from the TC. It has to be removed from the electronic sender that the TC uses and mounted on the speedo cable from the truck. Since the TC had a 3.55 rear end, I will have to pick up a different gear for about $12 to work with my 3.73 gearing. For now, the TC gear is better than nothing. Simple swap with a small clip that can be removed with a straight screwdriver. Otherwise, it's a bolt-on.
The crossmember is a bit more challenging. There are a couple alternatives. I first thought that using the M5R1 crossmember mounted outside the frame rails would be easier than modifying the one from the TK4/TK5. It isn't.
Using the factory M5R1 piece requires relocation of the parking brake cable bracket, and I lost the frame brackets that attach to it at some point. These aren't exactly easy to cut off in a junkyard since each is attached with four large rivets. I have some large angle iron I thought of using, but more cutting and fabrication would have been required to do this than to modify the TK4/TK5 crossmember.
The best possible alternative would be to pick up a crossmember for the M5R1 that mounts inside the frame rails. I've seen these advertised in Truckin and similar mags marketed to the lowrider guys. They're about $60, but I didn't want to spend money or wait for it to arrive.
My solution took under two hours and cost some mig wire. I welded a piece of 1/4" steel plate to the bottom of my TK4/TK5 stock crossmember. I thought that this and simply cutting a hole in the top of the crossmember and drilling a hole in the plate for the mouting bolt would be enough. Luckily, I only tack welded it on until I checked for fitment. The stock TC tranny mount is a large round rubber part that will not fit inside the 'U' of the stock stamped TK4/TK5 crossmember. You'd have to cut so much of the crossmember away that there would be almost nothing left.
The rubber TC tranny mount is tapered so it gets smaller near the bottom - my solution was to create an elevated 'landing' for the mount to sit on so I could cut a smaller hole in the top of my stock TK4/TK5 crossmember.
I cut a piece of thick steel pipe so it was about 1/2 long. I welded a 1/4" flat plate to the top of it, and then welded that assembly to the larger plate. All of this was then welded to the bottom of the crossmember. After drilling a pilot hole for the tranny mount bolt, I used a 1-1/4" hole saw to open up the bottom plate for the tranny mount nut and a 1/2" twist drill in the landing for the actual bolt hole.
This arrangement allows the TC tranny mount to sit about 3/4" above the bottom of the stock TK4/TK5 crossmember. The pictures probably explain it better.
Two new holes have to be drilled in the frame rails to bolt the relocated crossmember in. This wasn't to difficult, I used 1/2" diameter bolts and washers out of the bolt bin.
The driveshaft was another source of challenges. The front slip yoke that fits the TK4/TK5 and M5R1 is too small to fit the output shaft on the T5. Since I wasn't sure if this was the case when I started the swap, I picked up a boneyard slip yoke from a 2.3L Mustang with a T5 before beginning. I only felt smart for a minute, until I pressed the U-Joint out of the Mustang slip yoke and realized it was bigger than the one from the Ranger.
The front Ranger driveshaft U-Joint is considered a 1310 type, and the one from the Mustang is a 1330. Both use 1-1/16" diameter bearing caps. Calling around town trying to find a Spicer conversion U-Joint, I learned NAPA stocks a 1310 to 1330 joint with a part number of P353. This cost $16 and saved me from buying a T5 1310 front slip yoke or having a new driveshaft made. Works like a charm.
The driveshaft is too long with the Mustang front slip yoke to fit over the pinion flange nut on the rear end. Pushed all the way into the T5 tailhousing, there is only about 3/16" clearance between the pinion flange and the rear driveshaft flange. Monday I'm having the driveshaft shortened an inch and re-balanced for $75.
You'll need to enlarge the hole in the floor pan. I cut more out than necessary, but it worked out fine. The T5 shifter sits about 3-1/2" further back than the TK4/TK5. I flanged the opening I cut with a pneumatic flanging tool, creating a lip for the new sheet metal plate. I applied Peel and Seal (aluminum faced asphalt roof repair material with adhesive on the back, $16 at Home Depot) to the bottom of the plate. The sheet metal itself came from a scrap computer server top, so it was free. I used the four stock bolts and added (8) 1/2" long 8-32 machine screws with clip nuts to secure the back half of the plate.
The Ranger shifter boot is a much better fit to the T5 shifter than the one from the turbo coupe. I plan to re-use it. I did have to trim the very top of it slightly with a utility knife blade since the T5 handle is larger in diameter then the one from the TK4/TK5.
The T5 sits at a 15 degree angle to the driver's seat, and the stock TC shifter handle is bent and rotated even more towards the driver. It nearly hits my racing bucket side bolster in 2nd gear. I'm still thinking about whether I want to try and bend the stock handle or to fabricate another one.
That's it! Total cost with the tranny was about $350.
