Buy rebuilt T5 or repair current one?

[Mintsick]

Looking for opinions, I just recently purchased a 93 LX 95% stock with 78k original miles. Within the last week I had noticed a slight grinding shifting into 2nd gear upon cold start up, I would shift 2nd gear slowly when cold and by the time the car was up to operating temperature I could shift normally into 2nd again. All other gears shift perfectly fine and smooth. On Friday I drove the car about 40 miles and when downshifting about 25 minutes into the ride to merge onto another highway the trans grinded going into 2nd (even with a rev on the downshift). After this the car grinded into 2nd until I got to my destination and I ended up just skipping 1st-3rd the rest of the way. The next day I adjusted the clutch as it engaged really close to the floor in hopes that would solve the 2nd gear issue, unfortunately it did not and I am guessing I need to replace the 2nd gear synchro.

There is a guy that appears to specialize in mustang parts in my area that has a freshly rebuilt T5 including bellhousing for $400. While I have never torn into a transmission before specifically I am pretty confident in my mechanical abilities that I could get the job done, my thought however is that if I am tearing it apart it seems almost foolish to not do a full rebuild which will end up costing almost 3/4 of what this already rebuilt trans will. Should I spring for the rebuilt tranny and rebuild my current one down the road to keep and/or sell or just fix the 2nd gear issue and not worry about a full rebuild?

 

[1987LXragtop]

Get the rebuilt and use the one you have to practice a rebuild on. You can take your time and when you get it youll then have a spare.

 

[Mintsick]

Thanks for the input, I definitely want to give the rebuild a try as it is interesting to me anyways and having a spare around isn't such a bad thing. The only thing I am weary of is if the trans does not come with any sort of guarantee which I will have to check on.

 

[Mustang5L5]

$400 is a decent price for a rebuilt T-5.

However, you could prob rebuild your own for half that.

A standard rebuild kit is around $100...that's for the one without the bearings. In my experience, bearings rarely fail, but the bearings used are standard bearings you can get at Autozone or rockauto.com or any bearing wholesaler for $5 or so. So i just inspect bearings

Now, the gear may be damaged from grinding 2nd, so you'll need to inspect the 2nd gear dog teeth and the 1/2 slider inner teeth for damage and replace. Both can be picked up from Ebay new for ~ 40 from aftermarket suppliers. The actual blocker ring is a $20 part, so if you wanted to be cheap, you could technically fix your grind for ~ 100 + shipping costs. However, i'd rebuild everything while you are in there.

So i'd estimate $250 to rebuild with new 2nd gear parts. Of course, you could find other damage when you open it up.

Might be a good idea to buy the $400 trans...and then rebuild yours at your own pace. It's easy to do.

Ask the guy what year trans he has. There are two main gearsets. 85 to very early 90 and late 90+ which is stronger. You'd want to try to get that setup

 

[NIKwoaC]

^^ Listen to Mike. Good info there.

 

[Mintsick]

Good point on the year of the trans thanks for reminding me of that, definitely don't want to go backwards in that regard. It does seem like going with a rebuilt one for now while I take my time with the first rebuild is the route to take, I'd like to be driving the car and don't want to rush the rebuild so I will check on the year of the $400 T5.

 

[njoliver]

I agree get the rebuilt one. I thought this t5 i just rebuilt was going to be pretty cheap and I ended up having to get a main shaft, shift fork, 2nd gear and complete overhual kit was about 400 to rebuild.

 

[Mintsick]

Well instead of buying the rebuilt trans for $400 I took a chance on a used T5 that I picked up for $150...started taking it apart last night and found that the input shaft and counter shaft gears are completely trashed! The rest of it looks fine so now I am looking at rebuilding this trans while still having a functional car in the meantime. Now the questions I have are:

1. Where is a good place to get a new input shaft with gear?
2. Do I have to replace the entire countershaft or can I just replace the gear that is constantly engaged with the input shaft?
3. Anything else I am missing?

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

buy a 3550

 

[tannerc91gt]

T5s suck on every level. If you're planning on keeping it stock then a t5 will be fine (if you drive gently).
But if you drive with any kind of enthusiasm, you're just building another one to destroy.

 

[90lxcoupe]

T5s suck on every level. If you're planning on keeping it stock then a t5 will be fine (if you drive gently).
But if you drive with any kind of enthusiasm, you're just building another one to destroy.

I agree. If you plan to never do anything to the car and arent gonna race it stick with the t-5, but if your going to be making it faster and powershifting then upgrade it now

 

[Mintsick]

While a 3550 would certainly be nice I am not really looking to spend that kind of money to back an essentially stock 5.0 powered car that is dedicated to the street. It seems to me that a properly rebuilt T5 should be able to live just fine behind a mild/moderate H/C/I 302, someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[tannerc91gt]

T5s have a hard time handing stock power honestly.if you're planning to keep it stock and enjoy it, then you'll be fine. But an HCI swap, gears etc will be a quick way to grenade one if you plan on doing any spirited driving.

 

[Mintsick]

So how much could I expect to spend on a 3550 swap realistically?

 

[91foxbod50]

Idk about you all, but my t-5 has lasted me no problem. All that i do is pulls, and it holds up fine.

 

[tannerc91gt]

Idk about you all, but my t-5 has lasted me no problem. All that i do is pulls, and it holds up fine.

what mods do you have? and what do you mean by "all i do is pulls?"

 

[91foxbod50]

306, gt40 p heads, cobra tubular u/l, stock cam, Novi 1000 6 psi 42 pound inj.

I step on it after its in gear, i dont power shift.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Send it off to Liberty and have it pro shifted. You'll never worry about breaking it again.

 

[tannerc91gt]

I step on it after its in gear, i dont power shift.

this is in no way a bash on you but, with a decent trans, you wouldnt have to do that.
if you're just granny shifting around town then theyre perfectly fine but theres just no slamming gears or shifting with any sort of speed with a t5 for a long period of time.

 

[Mintsick]

Ha so far I've got the following opinions:

1. Any T5 is trash, go to a TKO 500/600
2. T5 is fine behind a supercharged 306, just don't powershift
3. T5 with a Liberty "pro-shift" modification is a strong unit

Now I know for a fact there are people on here with substantial engine modifications and T5's that seem to not be breaking their trans every few months. I am not willing to spend $2k+ on an upgrade to a TKO at this point as the engine is stock and will be for a while, not to mention bodywork is high on my priority list. The one thought I have had through this is to upgrade the broken T5 I bought used to a 2.95 gear set with a rebuild kit and put it in the car down the road...realistically should I really expect to grenade that transmission driving it on the street?

I also noticed that "Pro-shifting" a T5 essentially makes it absolutely useless as a street transmission as it removes the synchros and requires banging gears 100% of the time...definitely not even close to what I am looking for.