S-rod

Not familiar with the term S-rod. I assume it may stand for short rod, which might indicate the debored 255ci 4.2L V8 offered in the GT in '82. On the other hand, the 5.0L 302 offered in '82 didn't even make 160 HP, so neither of these engines are exactly spectacular. On the 302, chalk it up to very restrictive heads, 2bbl carb and an environmentalist butt kissing cam. The 4.2L isn't even worth discussing. Reading your post again, it sounds like you may be talking about the tranny though? If that's the case, all I know about it is that it only had to be strong enough to handle 160HP, and Ford didn't overbuild anything- especially in the '80's.

SROD = single rail overdrive transmission. These early Fox manual transmissions cannot handle much more than the torque offered by those early 80's V-8s, which is very little. If you are making any kind of power, you'll find out really quick why they are considered "crap".

On the flip side, if you put a Tremec 3550 or variant thereof in the car, you won't have to buy a new bellhousing - it's a bolt up.

But if you put in a T5, you'll need a different bellhousing.

I should have known that... at least my tranny based buess was close...

i took the 4 speed out of my 83 it was an rug model probably the same thing for all i know and i put a t-5 in it was the best thing i ever did