Due to Maines regression to the Ice Age I am a week behind on the mail.
I have a T-5 in the '67 from a Camaro. It does tilt left at 18 degrees in
the OEM configuration to clear floor pans in "F" body GM slugs. It is not a
"world class" but uses brass synchros. Since I'm not a world class driver
it seems adequate. The hot tip is the GM synchromesh fluid at $6.25 a qt.
It is the snake oil of the '90s. Great stuff.
Downside of T-5 and 6 is that they are wider than the Rover box and just as
tall so the top of tunnel needs trimming. The upside is that they are a
B-W tranny, tough and so shiftable. Second even whines a little like a
Muncie, way cool.
Anyway, drive out the rollpin and rip the rear housing off the T-5. Place
in mill inverted and level rear mount. Weld on a 1 1/2 by 5 inch slab of
5/8 aluminum then drill and tap for rear mount. Assembly is reverse of
....use heavy grease to hold detent ball in place. While apart saw off
threaded shifter stub, chuck in lathe and rethread 1/2-13. Take MG shift
lever and saw.....weld MG lever into 1/2 threaded rod coupling nut. This
makes stock appearing MG shift lever stir cogs in T-5, mount lever with loctite.
What is really cool is that by pulling off shift boot and unscrewing lever
you can slide under car and in 15 minutes have tranny laying in floor.
Clutch change in an hour. At only 80 pounds that little sucker is ALMOST
fun to change. If you have ever changed a clutch in a MOPAR with a 440 you
will weep with joy.
Speedos for B-W T-5's and such is done by taking an MG or TR angle drive and
changing the square stub from .125 to .100. Then you just replace the
mounting nut with one sourced from a GM speedo cable. Not a tough job and
now you use the stock MG speedo cable. Now for the fun. Find the small 4
digit number on speedo face such as 1020 or 1280 that tells the turns per
mile. Now calculate the rpm's in 4th at 60mph for your tire size and gear
ratio. The rpms divided by the speedo number gives you the ratio of the
plastic gears in the tranny that drives the speedo. Race down to the Chevy
dealer and buy the correct pair or more likely just the driven gear. Retail
for the pair is about $15. Cheap, easy and you get to play with tools. If
there are any more questions about this fire away. We do convert angle
drives for the squemish but it isn't that difficult to do if you can get
access to a small lathe.
Jack Emery
Glenburn Maine
'67 MGB V-8
'68 TR250
'57 MGA
others
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