Drivetrain 3650 To Tko 600 Swap Questions......

jetmech807 · Jul 16, 2013

This is for my 03 GT. Getting ready to order my TKO and have a few questions. Searched this site and every other mustang site and there seems to be conflicting answers everywhere. Have bell housing and clutch so that's not an issue. Question one, drive shaft spacer, yes or no? Number two, reluctor ring for speedometer, will the one in the TKO be right or do I need something different, also, will speedo elect. plug fit the plug on the TKO? Three, how much modding does the cross member need, as in, output shaft height and crossmember location. Thought this was a pretty straight forward swap, but so sure now. Thanks...

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Mattstang04 · Jul 18, 2013

Im hoping if this thread hangs around a little longer, you'll find some answers. I'm kinda interested to hear what goes into the swap as well. 3650 won't last forever. bump

jetmech807 · Jul 18, 2013

Ordered the TKO tues morning. Will report back what is needed when I do this. Ordered a drive shaft spacer just in case. Emailed Tremec tonight about the speedo. Maybe they'll know, maybe not. Stay tuned. My 3650 grinds about 75% of the time going up or down into second.

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usaf_branham · Jul 18, 2013

ask d&d performance. they have been dealing with tko & t56 swaps on our cars for years.

jetmech807 · Dec 28, 2013

Finally got off my lazy butt.........and paid someone to do the swap. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't enjoy working on cars any more. I finished off second in my 3650 the wed before thanksgiving.
Everything went smooth. Only problem is the starter makes alot of noise with the new bell housing. Went with a steel blow proof piece. Nothing in the directions about adjusting the starter. It's gotten alot better but still noisy.
What I used:
Tremec TKO 600 with road race gearing
Quicktime Bellhousing
Steeda driveshaft spacer
Pauls High Performance cross member adaptor. Worked great, no cross member fab required.
Spec Stage 2 clutch
Ram B/S flywheel
MGW shifter
Motorsports pilot and TO bearings
New back up light plug from CJ's

The gearing in this thing kicks that 3650's ass in so many ways. No more falling on it's face when shifting to second. An overdrive I can use below 80mph.

Mattstang04 · Dec 28, 2013

So how did the speedometer conundrum play out?

jetmech807 · Dec 29, 2013

Pluged in and worked as advertised.

usaf_branham · Jan 4, 2014

nice... have you started working on installing the KB yet?

jetmech807 · Jan 4, 2014

No sc yet. Cash flow issues. It was the next thing I was gonna do, but I found a guy with an 04 Cobra that will swap IRS for SRA. Gonna do that, then the KB.

usaf_branham · Jan 24, 2014

I think I may have seen your car last night. Was it parked at the NDI lot?

jetmech807 · Jan 24, 2014

That's mine!

Mattstang04 · Oct 22, 2014

Going to resurrect this old thread.
Jetmech, do you have any update on the transmissions performance after having it in for a while? Also I'm curious about the Paul's trans mount adapter and Steeda DS spacer. Paul's site says that the trans mount adapter is for 96 to 98. Did you have a shorter than stock drive shaft that required the spacer or is that really necessary?

Might be saving up to do this swap myself. My 3650 is getting pretty slow between gears and grinds more often than it used to.

jetmech807 · Oct 22, 2014

Everything works good. The cross member adaptor didn't get installed. With out that, I believe the tailshaft is a bit low. Had a drive line vibe that didn't used to be there. I put the IRS in and that went away. Since the adaptor isn't in mine, I'd say you could skip that and just measure your before and after drive shaft angles. Shim the mount/cross member to get the angle right. Can't say I'm wild about MGW shifter. Liked the Steeda in my 3650 better. I've seen people talk a out gear clash when jamming it into third with a lot of RPM's on the tach. I've felt it once, and it was just barely there. Love love love the gear ratios though. I opted for the .82 overdrive. You may want the standard .62 or close to that whatever it is. Not sure of your use, but that .82 doesn't do a lot.
They did use the drive shaft spacer, forgot that part.

Mattstang04 · Oct 23, 2014

The .82 overdrive sounds more like another gear for acceleration. For my uses I probably would go with the higher gear OD. I have an aluminum drive shaft and wonder if that might counteract the drive line vibration you got after the install. But determining and accounting for the DS angle would be the correct was to go about it. I'm also using the Energy suspension mount and cross member on the transmission, so my alignment may be a little off as it is.

Best I could figure by just Googling the TKO versus the T56 swap, I would save about 800 bucks doing the TKO, using all new trans and parts.

Plus just eyeing the 3650, T56 and TKO the TKO appears to be smaller (possibly lighter) looking and I like the idea of taking the trans off the bellhousing to take it out of the car. The 3650 and T56 are heavy. When I changed my clutch it was a real back breaker. My buddies T5s are feather weights compared to the 3650. T5s come out and go back together much easier than wrestling the 3650.

I appreciate the feedback. Might start saving for this project. Like having the extra capable transmission in case I build a stronger engine in the future. Will have to buy a new 26 spline clutch disc and friction plate for my setup, though.

Drivetrain 3650 To Tko 600 Swap Questions......

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