Dumb Question...

[Wilma-Colorado]

Hi everyone,

Today's dumb question: Do any of the M5R2 R2 version transmissions have a mechanical clutch linkage ? And do any have a mechanical speedometer drive ? That's two dumb questions. We have our re-built original 302 going back in the F100 next week, bolted to the original 3-speed tree-shift gearbox for the time being. Lots of transmission choices out there. We've pretty much passed on an SROD after reading all the negatives on the forums... frequent failures in performance applications. A top loader 4-speed is just too expensive, as is a TKO. We have a friend with an '86 F150 / 300 inline 6 and he said his M5R2 was a bolt-in and a shortened driveshaft.

Wilma
1970 F100 longbox 4X2 / 302 / 3-speed

[SDFarmKid]

First off im repeatedly told there is no such thing as a dumb question as long as it is sincere, which is what yours is. To answer your question though as far as i know the M5R2 was only offered with the hydraulic clutch, and due to the integral bell housing it would be a challenge to adapt a mechanical clutch. It was offered with a mechanical speedometer drive but there were only a few years, so you'll have to be careful in your search for one. After putting one in my truck i would highly recommend it. Any other questions let me know.

[GIJoe4500]

Find an M5OD-r2 from a bricknose (87-91), and it will have the mechanical speedo. 92+ does not.

If you want both a mechanical clutch, and a mechanical speedo, you could give up O/D and get a T19 or NP435 from an early 80s truck. You'll have a granny gear first, and no O/D though.

[Wilma-Colorado]

Wow. Two good answers. Thanks SD and GI - I appreciate your responses. What we have talked about more than anything is having to install a hydraulic clutch master cylinder - and not having to do that was some of the appeal of the SROD. And we wondered how difficult it would be to install a Tremec T5 - until we saw what they cost. We just don't have that kind of money to put into our project. Agree that converting an M5 to a mechanical throwout bearing is not a good plan either. Better to install the pedal/master cyl. and do it right. The '87 - '91 units are what we'll search for for the mechanical speedo drive... hopefully there's a way to connect it up to our speedo. "Bricknose" is a new term for me, it fits.

Our F100 will be a street rod so we passed on the 4 and 5 speeds that have a granny first gear. And the M5's overdrive 5th gear will maybe let us keep our 3.50 axle ratio. I found a nice ratio chart somewhere on Fordification and copied it into an e-mail to save it. With the M5's 0.75 OD and the 3.50 axle, we'll have the same as a 2.62 final drive. And I measured the rear tire height (Cooper 295 X 50 X 15's) at 26.5 inches, so 65 mph is 2160 rpm. (I think. If I figured right. I hope.)

I've said this before and I want to say it again - this forum is invaluable for us on our F100 project. It's our first street rod and our first try at a car and not a motorcycle. The experienced replies we've gotten have already saved us from a lot of mistakes, dead ends, wasted money, and grief. Plus, the world of Ford has become pretty interesting. Thanks all...

Wilma

[sargentrs]

Don't know what the make/model is but would the.5 speed out of a fox body mustang be acceptable? My sons '85 5.0 would haul a$$ and there's a thread on here of a project converting the clutch mechanism to a quadrant style "pull" cable mechanism instead of our "push" style rod/z bar mechanism. Looked like a pretty straightforward conversion.

[SDFarmKid]

Ill agree with this forum being invaluable, while working on mine there were many instances when i have found the answer to my problem here. Ive been meaning to do a write up and i may have to get and do that so you have a good idea before you get started.

And sargentrs that is a t5. It would work, i had one installed and everything, but like she said they are pricey because of the demand from the 60s mustang crowd. The one i had I'm installing in my mustang, which i hopefully have done my the end of this week.

Any other questions let us know.

[sargentrs]

And sargentrs that is a t5. It would work, i had one installed and everything, but like she said they are pricey...

Should be able to get one from a salvage yard pretty cheap though.

[Wilma-Colorado]

We are just now getting familiar with the salvage yards. They have a network and so can find things from each other quickly. The only one here in town is truck-only which is good for F100 parts (just bought a good battery tray for $15 to replace our rusted out one) but not so good for a T5. They do get M5R2's out of F150 pickups regularly but don't happen to have one right now. What we'd like to find is a truck with both the transmission and the pedal and master cylinder assembly so we could get the whole system and know that it works.

There are T5's on eBay for under a thousand dollars from rebuilders, most want a core. And there are some from private sellers. I've noticed that most do not have shift levers. The back end of the T5 looks similar to the SROD with that tube on top of the tail shaft casting, and I wonder if it's a single rail system too. The race-built T5's are more money (about 1500, 1600 dollars) and I'm sure they're worth it. Do I understand correctly that a T5 would bolt up to our original cast iron bell housing ? And the input shaft length is correct ? That might make the extra expense of the gearbox itself worth it - no clutch linkage changeout.

Lots of choices and decisions to make.

Wilma

[fmartin_gila1]

Do some searches for info on the T5 trans as there were different configurations depending on application. There were different input shaft lengths/diameters and spline count as well as different pilot bearing sizes. The later World Class T5's work well and will take quite a bit of torque. Do your homework.

Fred