[stook36]

hey all im new here, looking to get a mid 80's carbureted 5.0 mustang to swap the engine and drivetrain into my 72 ford courier... some questions i have on the this is the tranny, are the automatic trannys computer operated or are they jusst a bolt up and go type deal..... and wut about the stanard tranny... does it have a hydraulic clutch or is it just straight linkage???? trying to keep this as simple as possible.. i plan on swapping over the engine, tranny, drive shaft (shortened if i have to), differential, and cooling system.... are these carbureted mustangs complicated or... simple??? my real concern is the tranny. i have access to a 1985 5.0 mustang with a 5 speed that i can get for 1200 bucks... so im considering it for the swap

thx brandon

[Racinjason81]

pre 93 aods are not computer controlled so you should have no problem with that . t5s are cable operated but easily converted to hydraulic.either with a hydraulic TO bearing or you could use the stock clutch fork and with a little fab you could use a wilwood slave cylinder(part#wil-260-1333)
anb save some money over the hydraulic TO bearing.carbed mustangs are pretty simple.the only thing is the duraspark ignition system isnt that reliable but that is something easily changed and shouldnt discourage you from a carbed stang

[Racinjason81]

I never seen a courier.they look pretty cool!

[stook36]

thanks man most people havent, pretty unique trucks if u ask me... most rusted out and ended up in the crusher withing the first few years of there life... mine are from az so rust was never an issue . i orignally bought my yellow courier to do the v8 swap but it was all orignal and to nice to tear apart... then i got my white one for 50 bucks with a rod knock and it was a perfect canidate for the 302 swap

is there anything else i should know about the tranny??? how complicated is that cable sytem???? does it have a tranny cooler???? thx again brandon

[mikebert]

I think the AODs do. Not sure because they never interested me so I didn't learn. T5 is pretty simple though - I love the fact that mine doesn't have a hydraulic clutch.

[Racinjason81]

AODs are non computer controlled overdrives that pretty simple. 3rd and 4th are their weakness.a shift kit or a manual valvebody would help a lot
as well as a wider OD band. If you get a manual valvebody(less than 200 dollars) you would not need a throttle valve cable. if you go with the aod
with a auto valvebody you will need the cable adjusted with special tools.
get a large trans cooler because heat is the #1 killer of automatics.Either
an aod or T5 will be right around the same rpms in OD(5th for T5)BTW
a misadjusted TV cable will destroy an AOD in no time.

[stook36]

i would perfer the t5 how complicated is the cable for the clutch?

[stook36]

btw thx for the quick replys i tried stangnet.... and they are worthless... not one reply.

[mikebert]

For T5, you'd need the pedal assembly (right? Do you have a manual now, I don't remember / can't find you saying that).

Whether or not you need the assembly, the cable isn't hard. I'm assuming it'd be double easy in your car because it was made before cars were designed by inbred cavemen. Translation, you have a lot less shit crammed underneath your dash and the underneath is probably more accessible than mine. I have put a new clutch cable in just feeling around blindly, so it isn't too hard. Maybe it's because I was 21 and nimble, but with even more room you should have no problem.

Then you just run it into the fork. What you should keep in mind is the cable placement. Get an idea of how the cable is routed in your Mustang; try to recreate that curve / placement of the cable to minimize the potential of kinking the cable. I haven't messed with an 85 or whatever it was that you have, but I imagine if it's a T5 it has the same cable as I do, and the cable will have a single bracket on it that bolts somewhere on the frame. You may have to drill out a hole or rig up something so that you can secure the cable in a proper place. Make sure you put that in securely, because you're going to have a manual clutch and there's quite a bit of force going through it.

[Racinjason81]

If you cant use a cable clutch or dont want to,you could go hydraulic. Maybe get a pedal assy. from a ranger or F150 since they are hydraulic
already, and use the above mentioned slave cylinder with a stock t5 clutch
fork.you would just need a line from the clutch master to the slave.maybe
you know somebody or a junkyard that you could get a pedal and clutch master from cheap.your local parts store should be able to make a custom
hydraulic line if you need it

[mikebert]

Originally Posted by Racinjason81 If you cant use a cable clutch or dont want to,you could go hydraulic. Maybe get a pedal assy. from a ranger or F150 since they are hydraulic already, and use the above mentioned slave cylinder with a stock t5 clutch fork.you would just need a line from the clutch master to the slave.maybe you know somebody or a junkyard that you could get a pedal and clutch master from cheap.your local parts store should be able to make a custom hydraulic line if you need it

Interesting; if I may steal the topic for one sec, thanks.

So how would you convert that to non-hydraulic? I'm curious because I want to buy a ranger or f150 for cheap; must be 2.3L and hopefully auto, but I am not stuck on trans type.

[Racinjason81]

you would be stuck using a cable with a t5 if you wanna go the non hydraulic route because you have to pull the fork forward to disengage clutch. the only cars that i know that use a cable are mustangs and volvos
you could just make the mustang pedals fit.Volvos use a plastic clutch pedal.you would have to drill the clutch cable hole dead on though.It would be way easier to stick with hyd. on a ranger or f series and either
fab up mounts for an external slave or buy a hi buck hyd. TOB