Dumping the Slushbox
How to convert your 94-95 5.0 to a T-5.
How to convert your 94-95 5.0 to a T-5.
Well, just so you know until my conversion is totally finished this is a work in progress. So here it comes the obligitory disclaimer: If you (you being the person READING or USING this) destroy, mutilate, burn, or otherwise render your vehicle inoperable; its not my problem or fault. I would say this whole operation requires a moderate level of auto mechanics. Its really a bolt-out/bolt-in proceedure when you get down to it. I decided to write this up because the MM&FF article "Doing the T-5 Shuffle" was fairly vauge if you ask me.. also it contained some inaccurate information, which we'll get into later.
I decided to do this swap after my AOD-E failed on me AGAIN (I dont want any e-Mail saying how great the AOD-E is if I bought a Lentech or other such tranny). Bottom line: I drive this car for fun, and an automatic is: A. Not very fun to me, B. Relativly expensive to repair, and C. ... i cant think of a third reason right now... oh yah I know now.. without a stall converter a CIVIC can holeshot better than an AOD-E Mustang.
WHY didn't I buy a gearbanger in the first place you ask? Well the manuals tend to sell for more in the used market and I got such a good deal on this car I couldn't pass it up. It actually had its AOD-E rebuilt by "Powered by Ford" in Orlando, FL about 16k miles before failure including a B&M shift kit. The grand total for that was about $1,500. Considering this is the 3rd AOD/AOD-E I've had fail on me... I refused to fix it.
Parts List:
I guess the best place to start is the PARTS LIST. Once again this is work in progress.. when I'm done I'll be putting this into a Word or Excel checklist for you to follow along. Some people go with "conversion" kits from places like Stangparts.com etc. I'm sure their kits and the like are very complete... however they are WAY overpriced (like 1900 dollars not including shipping). I just knew i could piece this together for a whole lot less than 1900+shipping. So heres what I've got so far in the used/new/ebay market including price I paid in 2002. I will also explain the 94-95 specific parts and interchangability in the next paragraph.
So far the grand total is (for the basic big parts): $864.00. $1234.00 if you count the optional driveshaft/shifter I opted to get. Since my 1995 GT is essentially stock I didnt feel I needed anything better then stock 10.5" clutch. Thats all up to you as well but impacts the price of course.
Let's Talk Turk... Tranny:
You may have noticed above that I'm using a Fox3 transmission.. "HOW CAN THIS BE" so many people ask! In 1994 Ford decided to move the drivetrain FORWARD about an inch. Lots of speculation of why they did it... I'm sure it was in preparation for modular power (since the T-45 has the integrated bellhousing) and some people have said it was due to Explorer changes.. who knows. The end result is the 94-95 Mustang had an input shaft that is about 5/8" longer than a Fox3 input shaft. Bottom line is you either A. choke up the dough for an SN95 specific transmission (which I wasn't about to do), B. Convert a 85+ T-5 to SN95 inputshaft/bearing retainer (assuming its NOT a 2.95 ratio tranny), or C. run a Fox3 bellhousing and clutch fork. Now... lets discuss these 3 options.
A.) Choke up the dough... hmm not MY style. Some people are very skiddish about transmission tinkering... if this is you I reccomend you take this route. Expect to pay 700+ for a SN95 specific transmission.
B.) Okay I said 85+ T-5. What this means is in 1985 the T-5 went to "World Class" which was a major upgrade in power handing capability. NOW in 1990 the T-5 got an added bit of beefyness to allow it to tackle close to 300 ft. lbs of torque. I got lucky and the guy who I bought my T-5 from had it rebuilt with carbon blocker rings etc... so even though it is a 1989 tranny it's pretty stout. Basically you can swap the input shaft of any T-5 with a 23tooth spline (which means 3.35 first gear ratio). If it has 24 teeth that means shes a 2.95 ratio tranny and you have to either scrap that tranny (read: sell) or use option C below. Don't even bother with a 2.3L tranny.. you can get them dirt cheap trust me I know. You COULD rig one in with option C ... but talk about a KLUDGE! Swapping the input shaft on a 2.3L tranny is also not an option.. they have really lame ratios anyway which is the reason they are so weak to begin with. If you think this option is for you read "Getting More Shaft" below. One last word of advice.. dont get suckered into buying a 93 Cobra tranny. The input shaft on those and 94-95 cobra transmissions have a pocket roller bearing (set 1 type) instead of needle bearings. Its just not worth the extra money in my opinion for 10-15 extra ft. lbs of torque capacity. If you really want that extra strength you need to look into a 3550 or TKO transmission.
C.) Use a Fox3 bellhousing, and clutch lever (fork). This is the way around swapping input shafts and/or using a 2.95 ratio tranny. What this does however is make the transmission roughly 1" forward than it should be. This means the shifter is 1" forward than stock (which means cutting extra metal out of the shifter hole in the tunnel). More importantly the driveshaft yoke will NOT fully enguage in the output shaft! Some people dont care about that and have had excellent luck with this scenario. Since this is not the way I went, I choose to not discuss this option anymore.
Getting More Shaft:
You know one thing I love about mechanics is so much can be made into an ennuendo. With that said lets get some more shaft on that Borg-Warner unit!
Well I guess first of all lets look at the input shafts side by side. The one on the left is obviously the SN95 specific shaft. As you can see its NOTABLY bigger (click the thumbnail for the larger image).
The first thing to do with your Fox3 transmission is remove the input shaft. Follow the steps below.
Let's talk EEC-IV:
Here is where we talk about the MM&FF (and other publications) incorrect information. The MM&FF article says you don't have to swap the EEC-IV. If this was a Fox3 that would be TRUE. However in 1994 the Mustang switched to the AOD-E. This transmission is computer controlled (lock up torque converter, shiftpoints, etc). I figure'd I'd try but my stock EEC-IV unit (W4H0) would NOT stop bucking and generally running like ass. Another thing is the auto's had a lower redline set than the manuals. The reason the stock auto EEC bucks is its pulling timing when its time to shift the AOD-E. I assume Ford did this to make the AOD-E last longer and not get beat on so hard. I even tried setting all the shiftpoints to 0000-0000 in my EEC-Tuner but that sucker still kept yanking timing. By stoke of luck I found a manual computer (T4M0) on eBay and got it for $65.00
If anyone from MM&FF (god forbid) read this I'm not saying your article sucked!!! I know you guys can't fit every detail into the articles. It's just that this has caused a lot of confusion in the scene.
Removing the AOD-E:
I'm really not going to get into this. You should have an offical Ford service manual. Follow the instructions in it for removing the AOD-E.
 Bastard AOD-E Out! 64.40 Kb |
Post AOD-E Removal:
Well now is the best time to inspect your rear main seal (mine was leaking), and oil pan gasket (mine was leaking). The oil pan gasket is a real pain in the ass with the engine in the car.. but not as bad as it would be if the transmission was still in there!
 Leaky Block 69.60 Kb |
 Cramped Work Space 86.70 Kb |
 New Rear Main Seal 62.70 Kb |
 The Original Shifter Hole 80.04 Kb |
 Enlarged Shifter Hole 72.70 Kb |
 Tranny In Shot #1 62.70 Kb |
 Tranny In Shot #2 77.40 Kb |
 Peddles Installed 75.80 Kb |