OK Guys,
I have engine in with T-5 tranny and late model bellhousing.
Here is how the driveshaft is lining up. If I have to shorten and
re-balance, How much should I go? 1/2", 1"? I don't know.
Or is she good to go?
NOT good to go,needs shortening.Remove the shaft from the rear,install it in the trans,(with a little bit of play) scribe or mark the yoke were it sits best. take it out.reinstall on the rear,then look at the same view you posted again and you will see it.
Get one the Ford Aluminum shafts I believe one of them is already the correct length you just need to swap u-joints. Dick Ginther over at .net has done it on his KC with no problems. And it would probably cost as much if not more to have the stock one shortened than to buy the aluminum. Plus you get the added benefit of the weight saving and rotating mass stuff.
I believe his is the earlier bellhousing. I have the same setup as you do, I used the bellhousing from a '95. I ordered a custom driveshaft from Denny's Driveshafts. I'm pretty sure it was 1" shorter. The original's length was 45.5" from U-joint to U-joint, which is the same as the Ford Racing aluminum shaft. If I feel man enough to fight the wasps tomorrow, I'll crawl under and get you a measurement for the shorter shaft.
It's a late model bell from an 88, below are the specifics on Dick's conversion from his website. Contact him dircetly if you need anything else he's pretty good at responding to questions. dick.ginther@vcom.com
OK, now I'm confused. I just measured my 'short' driveshaft and found it to be 45-1/4" long, not exactly as short as I thought. I measured the original and verified it's 45-1/2" long. There's exactly 1-1/2" from the end of the T-5's tailshaft housing to the neck of the yoke. I'm using a '95 bellhousing, which I just measured at 8" deep. I also just measured a MII bellhousing at 7-3/4" deep. I couldn't find a 83-93 T5 bellhousing laying around for comparison, but I know they're shorter. The T-5 is from a 93, with just the longer input shaft and bearing support swapped from a 95. I know all you guys running the T5 behind the MII housing are using a shorter shaft (http://www.mustangii.net/t5swap.asp). The 95 housing is even deeper than the II's. Who knows?
In any case, it's obvious from the pics that Andy's driveshaft needs to be shorter by about a half inch to an inch. COBRAIIW's method will tell for sure how much to shorten.
Thanks for the input. After reading some links and such, it appears
that an original driveshaft length of 45.5" is what I need. I am converting
from an automatic and my driveshaft length is 46.5". From the pics I posted you can see I need some room for movement and I am thinking 1" should do it. Maybe 1 1/4" just to be safe. Thanks again.