Looking to swap out my muncie 4 speed for a 5 speed with overdrive. This is going into a 1969 Camaro SS with a 383. I have found a T-5 that came out of a Cobra Kit Car that can be bought for $700.00.
Any one hve any experience with this swap? What are your thoughts on the T5? Thanks

A stock T5 is very weak and requires a different location for the shifter. (Good Bye console !) The World Class T5 are supposed to be somewhat stronger. There is also a T45 that is a much better T5. Simply the best are the Tremec TKO-500 or TKO-600. Do a search using T45 for info on the T5.

Tom is right. The stock T5, even the one's that came out of V8 cars were not very strong. I think that I've read that they were only good up to about 250 ft. lbs. of torque. The TKO-500 is good for 500hp/500 torque but pricy. The T45 is a great option and are about $1400.

$700 is too much for a stock T5. It could be one of the world class as mentioned earlier but I think that I've seen T5's on ebay for $400 or so. You might get the numbers off the trans and post here as there are a number of guys here that that tell what you're looking at.

I've not persued the idea yet but I was talking to an ebay vendor that dabbles in first gen Camaros and he mentioned that he thinks that you can mate the front half of a Camaro/Firebird T5 to the tail shaft of a T5 out of an S10 pickup and all you need to do is fabricate a bracket to off set the shifter to the left a few inches and it will match up with the 69 console. Any body out there heard of this???

I've not persued the idea yet but I was talking to an ebay vendor that dabbles in first gen Camaros and he mentioned that he thinks that you can mate the front half of a Camaro/Firebird T5 to the tail shaft of a T5 out of an S10 pickup and all you need to do is fabricate a bracket to off set the shifter to the left a few inches and it will match up with the 69 console. Any body out there heard of this???


I looked into this. It seems you can mate an S10 tailshaft to a Camaro/Frierbird T5 and that will get you a better shifter position, but still not correct for a first gen and a big headache for the speedo drive. I didn't try it, but that's the info I gathered.

go T56, better transmission

Little pricey but tremec perfect fit T56 is a nice setup.

I'm running a TKO from Keisler in my 68 and love it. Makes my 108 mile round trip commute to work on the freeway a dream at 70mph the whole way. A 6 speed would have been nice but way out of the price range I could afford and stay married.

Our T45RS is a great alternative to the weaker T5. The T45 is the last performance transmission produced in the USA by Borg-Warner.

Simply put, it`s a 5 speed version of the T56 6 speed sharing internal parts and design. We use the carbon fiber synchros from the T56 on all of our builds as well.

We can modify the shifter position to keep it EXACTLY in the factory position for your car. It`s a very strong box and the attached video proves it. Listen to what transmission the guy is running and look at his 1/4 mile time. These cars are heavier than than the older cars too.

YouTube- Pass Time - yellow E85 Mustang shocks all 3 contestants