COM Sports Car Club

Do you have a really big doorstop? Does it say Ford or 5.0 on it? You might be a redneck.

Before I build a motor for my car project it makes sense to get hold of a motor and transmission to make sure the final tubes in the engine compartment actually allow the motor to be in the car. If it's a motor that runs then I get to use it while I figure out exactly what parts I should get and how much motor I should try to build.

So I'm looking for a 5.0 from a Mustang, Explorer or whatever else had them. Also a T5. Advice appreciated on good sources or yards for these things.

Give me a call some night, I have a bunch of 5.0 stuff including a long block I can part with & a t-5 that is toast ( you could borrow it for mock up, I have it set aside to build a dog box just haven't had time yet ) or may have an 86 T-5 that we could sell ( this one belongs to Dad ) ...... Pat # 603-247-3706 after 5pm

Hi Pat, thanks for responding. I kept checking my other thread and forgot to check here. It might take a day or two but I'll get back to you. I was hoping someone would have this stuff, it used to be everywhere...

Good T-5's are getting very hard to come by these days, most are torn up or going to the FFR/AI Drag guys ( ASTRO, Liberty, etc. are building them & using up the old surplus ) as they seem to be lighter & shift better than the TKO boxes ...... when you have time.

Maybe we can talk pushrod motors in this thread and no one will notice. What do you think of the new Ford Mustang with the flat plane ( 180 degree ) crank? Sounds like a Ferrari in the ad. I wonder if this means someone will make one for our motors, it would work better with the much shorter stroke.

I think you can still buy a new T-5 from Ford Motorsports, but last I heard they were over $1200, maybe more now.

Go old school and use a toploader.

OK, I need schooling on the older transmissions. I remember something from the seventies called "munchies" are they the same thing?

So I assume all the older traditional boxes are 4 speed, they can take a lot of torque and I think they are also what fits parts like Tilton rear starter mount bell housings. I think I have also seen that some oval track transmission places support them.

I worry about their weight and I guess I thought they would be even less obtainable. The T5 weighs about 75, the newer heavier duty TK type units weigh 105 and up. I'm trying hard to make sure my car comes in under 1500 lbs. So a 30 lb. difference might be a big deal. Does anyone have an idea what a "toploader" weighs?

Is a toploader what came in a Pinto or is it a bigger unit?

I think you mean Muncie.

'munchies'- that's some funny shit


The toploader was the gold standard in heavy duty transmissions from the sixties until maybe the 90s, when tremec finally got their 5 speeds strong enough to live in a drag car. Still plenty of them in use, Cast iron everything. weighs about a 100 lbs. Strong aftermarket. A good working one is about $ 800, a fresh rebuilt $ 1500 and up

dan williams toploadertransmissions.com

david kee 4speedtoploaders.com

A new or good re-built T-5 will be fine in a lightweight car, there's no way you'll hook up hard enough to break it

Keep in mind:

NEW T-5;'s are available and have far better ratings @ about 330ft lbs --- $ 1600 +/-
Used T-5's are all over the place and getting harder to find ( AI guys @ 3000 lbs abuse them pretty good )
T-5's get modded to handle up too about 600 ftlbs
T-5's in Mustangs or heavier cars get torn up shifting hard typically into 3rd
T-5's in light cars ( Dad's @ 2300 lbs & 415 crank hp and the FFR Cobra's ) shifted cleanly seem to survive quite well ( ran an 86 WC T-5 for yrs. w/o issues until the bump coming out on the straight finally too it's toll )
A good rebuild on a WC class box 280 - 300 ftlbs @ 1500 lbs chassis, not slamming gears should be just fine

I read up on the toploaders and they seem like nice units. They weigh twice as much or more than a T5, soI think I will go with the lighter unit. A T5 weighs about 75 lbs. and you can get heavy duty cases for them that are lighter ( magnesium ).

They are not rated for a lot of torque but I won't be drag racing this car and with the light weight my hope is it won't see too much torque. I'm glad you folks mentioned that so someone agrees with me. If we are still measuring the torque in our power to weight numbers, I will try to build the motor for top end power. It has a short stroke so the job will be to figure out how to get the valvetrain to behave.

Thanks for giving me a call today Pat, look forward to meeting you.