Putting a turbo coupe T-5 in 2.3 Lx

jpstucky · Jul 20, 2022

Hey guys, Bought an 89 LX 2.3 for my son and I to fix up. Son wanted to change it over to a manual transmission so we went searching but all I could find was a T5 from an 87 Thunderbird T-coupe. I checked then numbers on the tag on the tranny and confirmed this is where it was from. From what I had read it should bolt up to the 2.3L without trouble. However, it appears that the splined output shaft on the T-bird T-5 is larger than the driveline connection on the LX. Does this sound correct? Did the T-bird T5 have a larger output shaft? If so, could I just change the coupler at the u-joint over to the T-bird? I'd appreciate any help you could give. Thanks.

91TwighlightGT · Jul 20, 2022

You are swapping an automatic transmission over to a manual, correct?

In this case, the 2.3L Automatic is the only fox body that has a different driveshaft than the rest. You need a driveshaft from a manual transmission mustang. V8 or 2.3L.

EDIT: A 5.0L mustang with an Automatic also would work.

evintho · Jul 20, 2022

What he said^^^

jpstucky · Jul 21, 2022

91TwighlightGT said:
You are swapping an automatic transmission over to a manual, correct?

In this case, the 2.3L Automatic is the only fox body that has a different driveshaft than the rest. You need a driveshaft from a manual transmission mustang. V8 or 2.3L.

EDIT: A 5.0L mustang with an Automatic also would work.

Thanks for the reply. . Yes we are swapping auto to manual in a 2.3. So to confirm we will need the entire driveline from a manual foxbody to match up with the T5?

evintho · Jul 21, 2022

Yep, you'll need the driveshaft from a 2.3/T5 Mustang.

91TwighlightGT · Jul 21, 2022

jpstucky said:
Thanks for the reply. . Yes we are swapping auto to manual in a 2.3. So to confirm we will need the entire driveline from a manual foxbody to match up with the T5?

Yeah. Depending on what the plans are for the car you can consider swapping an aluminum one in, but steel driveshafts used to be a dime a dozen because so many people changed them out.

jpstucky · Jul 22, 2022

Thanks all! I really appreciate it. Guess we’ll look for a driveshaft.

junkyardwarrior · Jul 24, 2022

And one more thought, for whatever it may be worth

the 4 cylinder engine has a tendency to "vibrate" at low rpm while driving in gear. It has to do with the frequency of the cylinder firing events, 2 events per engine rotation (720 degrees per full cycle divided by 4= 180 degrees per cylinder, 2 pulses per revolution).

so with that, below about 1500 rpm they vibrate terrible if you're still in gear. With a performance aluminum or even steel driveshaft, they do not have the dampener ring on them. That ring does 2 things. One, it reduces the shock loading on the rear end and also the transmission (to an extent) when lugging the engine below about 1400-1500 rpm and two it helps to reduce the "felt" vibration in the car at those lower speeds.

So if you can find a fox body specific 2.3L 5 speed driveshaft assembly, grab it-and look closely at the dampener. If the dampener is falling apart, like mine did, you'll have a fun time finding a new one. If you find one and it ain't tore up, you're good to go.

keep in mind that I drove mine for 8 or 9 years as a cheap daily driver, both N/A and turbo. I did my best to make it get good MPG, with the N/A engine I was seeing an average of 31 mpg, and in doing so I learned quickly that keeping the RPM down helps MPG quite a bit--that's how I discovered the dampener ring issue. By the way the turbo engine averaged 27 mpg, which shocked me! 250% more power and only 3-4 mpg less.

jpstucky · Jul 25, 2022

junkyardwarrior said:
And one more thought, for whatever it may be worth

the 4 cylinder engine has a tendency to "vibrate" at low rpm while driving in gear. It has to do with the frequency of the cylinder firing events, 2 events per engine rotation (720 degrees per full cycle divided by 4= 180 degrees per cylinder, 2 pulses per revolution).

so with that, below about 1500 rpm they vibrate terrible if you're still in gear. With a performance aluminum or even steel driveshaft, they do not have the dampener ring on them. That ring does 2 things. One, it reduces the shock loading on the rear end and also the transmission (to an extent) when lugging the engine below about 1400-1500 rpm and two it helps to reduce the "felt" vibration in the car at those lower speeds.

So if you can find a fox body specific 2.3L 5 speed driveshaft assembly, grab it-and look closely at the dampener. If the dampener is falling apart, like mine did, you'll have a fun time finding a new one. If you find one and it ain't tore up, you're good to go.

keep in mind that I drove mine for 8 or 9 years as a cheap daily driver, both N/A and turbo. I did my best to make it get good MPG, with the N/A engine I was seeing an average of 31 mpg, and in doing so I learned quickly that keeping the RPM down helps MPG quite a bit--that's how I discovered the dampener ring issue. By the way the turbo engine averaged 27 mpg, which shocked me! 250% more power and only 3-4 mpg less.

I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately it looks like finding a factory drive shaft with a dampener that is still in good shape cold prove difficult. I don't suppose anyone knows of someone making the dampener end of the driveshaft that can be purchased new?

91TwighlightGT · Jul 25, 2022

I wouldn't bother doing that.

If you have any luck, you can find the aerostar aluminum driveshaft and swap it in.

Copy/paste from Corral.net

You need an aluminum AWD aerostar driveshaft from 90 up.The best shafts are F7 tagged that are recall,they are supposedly heavier wall.It will measure 45.5" from center of u-joints.You have to swap your yolks to the shaft,use a quality u-joint press and remove the front yolk first so as to not nick the shaft,then remove the front u-joint.Remove rear yolk,you only have to bother with the shaft u-joint.Get 353 Napa/precision U-joints to convert your yolks to the aerostar shaft.Make sure to clean the u-joint clip grooves and press in new joints and your yolks.Install and enjoy a smoother drivetrain,especially at higher speeds.

jpstucky · Jul 26, 2022

91TwighlightGT said:
I wouldn't bother doing that.

If you have any luck, you can find the aerostar aluminum driveshaft and swap it in.

Copy/paste from Corral.net

Thanks. This sounds like a good option but not sure it will work for me. As I understand it, using the Aerostar shaft I would have to already have the correct ujoint ends to put on it. My current driveshaft end does not fit onto the T5 so I will need a driveline that has the correct end. Am I thinking about that correctly?

After reading some more online I am now wondering if I am also going to need a different transmission mount crossmember as well?

To recap:

We have an 1989 LX with the 140 and AT.
We are converting it to a T-5 that was taken from an 87 T-Bird turbo coupe.

I had found this article from a number of years ago that where they are doing this exact swap but they never mentioned needing a different driveshaft: https://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2001/03/t5swap/index.php

Parts we have:
T-5 and clutch housing
clutch components and cable
pedal stack
updated speedometer gear

Parts we need:
Driveshaft from 140 MT foxbody or 302 MT/AT foxbody
Transmission crossmember mount?
Anything else?

Thanks again everyone.

91TwighlightGT · Jul 26, 2022

As I recall, the Auto Crossmember may be able to be modified to fit, but if you can easily get the manual one it probably be a good idea just in case.

You can replace both U-joints on the driveshaft - and honestly it's probably not a bad idea to do it anyway given the age of the vehicles, regardless of whether or not you go with an aerostar aluminum shaft or a steel shaft from a foxbody.

This guide also exists...

Auto to 5 Speed Tranny Swap

which you may find helpful.

EDIT: Although it doesn't mention the driveshaft and crossmember, you do need them.

EDIT2: https://www.corral.net/threads/swap-auto-to-manual-on-2-3.2146530/post-16942881

I finally got to this job this past weekend. To re-use the auto crossmember would actually take quite a lot of rigging because it normally mounts aft of the 5-speed crossmember which means moving it forward into those mounts but those mounts are too wide for it. I think you still might have to do some drilling on the crossmember to make it work in that spot. Another issue I ran into is the clutch cable for the 2.3L car is different than the 5.0L and all three of the cables I had turned out to be for 5.0L cars.

So I am close to done, just having to order new bushings for the 5-speed crossmember I found this past weekend. Then I need to address the neutral safety switch(which I need to read up more on) and if I can find the harness cheap enough then hook up my reverse lights as well.

manicmechanic007 · Jul 26, 2022

Those rings used to come loose and we would throw them out
New drivelines were about 700 at the time and every customer just wanted the bad noise gone and no new driveline
You just need the right 5 speed yoke for your driveline
Go back to the junkyard
Grab the yoke, the harness and the crossmember

jpstucky · Aug 9, 2022

Thanks everyone!

Rcdgl · Dec 6, 2022

I did the A4LD to T5 swap with a 91 Mustang four cyl T5 into my 89 auto car. Iirc, the trans and crossmember bolted in easily. Dont remember if I had to slide the crossmember backwards or forwards, but thats no too hard. Dont remember exactly, but either I had the right driveshaft or a collection of parts to fit, but no issues there.

Putting a turbo coupe T-5 in 2.3 Lx

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