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Hi Everyone,
Yes, I have a T5 behind my alpine motor. The combo to use is a 85-89 T5 with a 94-95 input shaft. I am running a .73 5th gear. This combo puts the shifter in the perfect spot and does not require the input shaft to be turned down (IIRC). I did not use the T5 tail shaft mount, rather made a plate that bolts to the T5 tail housing bolts, which are mostly in the same plane as the alpine tranny mounts. I just made a bracket to adapt to the Alpine tranny mounts.
To make the T5 mount to the Alpine bell housing, I made an adapter plate with a concentric ring on it to ensure the tranny aligns coaxially with the bell housing and crank. The bell housing was machined down a bit, it was bored out so the adapter plate slips into it, and in my case, holes were drilled into the bell housing for mounting a Tilton PN 61-401 linear clutch release bearing. Most important after making all these parts, is to bolt the bell housing to the motor with a dial indicator on the crank then slowly turn the crank and measure the inner bore of the adapter plate. Move the bell housing around until there is essentially zero runout. Then pin the bell housing to the engine block to maintain this position. If the input shaft is not coaxial with the crank, hard shifts and decreased life of your tranny and associated parts will result.
On a side note, ensuring there are no more than 3 degrees of pinion - driveshaft angle is also crucial. I was constantly grinding into second gear for years, then I rebuilt my rear suspension and found my pinion angle was way off. Once fixed, my shifts are as crisp as can be.
This is probably more info than you were looking for, but I figured since I had it, I might as well put it out there.
View attachment 25271
View attachment 25270
By the way, my website is now www.turbosunbeamalpine.com. I haven't updated it in 11 years so unfortunately none of the rear end work, brakes, or new dyno sheet are there, but there is still a lot of info and pictures.
Hope every one is doing well,
Brian
Unfortunately Brian, we cannot read the dimensionsHi Everyone,
Yes, I have a T5 behind my alpine motor. The combo to use is a 85-89 T5 with a 94-95 input shaft. I am running a .73 5th gear. This combo puts the shifter in the perfect spot and does not require the input shaft to be turned down (IIRC). I did not use the T5 tail shaft mount, rather made a plate that bolts to the T5 tail housing bolts, which are mostly in the same plane as the alpine tranny mounts. I just made a bracket to adapt to the Alpine tranny mounts.
To make the T5 mount to the Alpine bell housing, I made an adapter plate with a concentric ring on it to ensure the tranny aligns coaxially with the bell housing and crank. The bell housing was machined down a bit, it was bored out so the adapter plate slips into it, and in my case, holes were drilled into the bell housing for mounting a Tilton PN 61-401 linear clutch release bearing. Most important after making all these parts, is to bolt the bell housing to the motor with a dial indicator on the crank then slowly turn the crank and measure the inner bore of the adapter plate. Move the bell housing around until there is essentially zero runout. Then pin the bell housing to the engine block to maintain this position. If the input shaft is not coaxial with the crank, hard shifts and decreased life of your tranny and associated parts will result.
On a side note, ensuring there are no more than 3 degrees of pinion - driveshaft angle is also crucial. I was constantly grinding into second gear for years, then I rebuilt my rear suspension and found my pinion angle was way off. Once fixed, my shifts are as crisp as can be.
This is probably more info than you were looking for, but I figured since I had it, I might as well put it out there.
View attachment 25271
View attachment 25270
By the way, my website is now www.turbosunbeamalpine.com. I haven't updated it in 11 years so unfortunately none of the rear end work, brakes, or new dyno sheet are there, but there is still a lot of info and pictures.
Hope every one is doing well,
Brian
My take on the above is that the stock 8 1/2" clutch assembly is compatible with the Ford T 5 . No modifications required. Is that correct?I just went back and re-read all the posts about this swap. There is still the flywheel / clutch question I left unanswered.....until now! I used a 8.5" Alpine flywheel which I then significantly lightened (pictures at http://turbosunbeamalpine.com/mysunbeamalpine/Parts.html). I had the pressure plate rebuilt and then had a kevlar 8.5" clutch disk made. The kevlar is great for applications where oil may be present (and well, that describes an Alpine). The only time I ever have clutch grip issues is if I am launching and I slip the clutch too much. Once it gets hot there is a perceivable delay in grip, but it still grabs and won't slip when my foot hits the floor. This is with 182 WHP.
A few minutes later I could sidestep the clutch and it would grab up as normal. The kevlar is pretty impressive.
https://www.moderndriveline.com/ are the T5 and clutch gods. I worked extensively with them (Bruce Couture-owner) to design my T5 and clutch package. I highly recommend utilizing their expertise.
Brian
Yes, I think that 3.2 is very close to optimum, depending on the individual circumstances. What is evident is that a 3.89 combined with .73 O.D. results in 2.8 O.A. Very iffy. A 4.22 giving a 3.14 O.A. would probably be fine. You certainly would not be shopping for tall tires!As for stock motors pulling tall gears.. My 1494 ( admittedly slightly warmed up) runs with a factory OD box, 3.889 rwar amd i run 195/65/14 tyres on the rear.. Its very tall geared and manages fine on a long highway run, now a steep incline might require a change back to direct top .. But for me i think an effective final drive of around 3.2 is acceptable with a rootes engine
If I put a T5 in an Alpine, it WILL be a short input box.