built67

im looking into a 5 speed swap for my 67 coupe. its a c4 right now. im looking at t-5s but im not sure if they can hold a good amount of power. that lead me to look at tko500's but was told that i need to cut the trans tunnel for it to fit. is there any other option? i really don't want to cut the original sheet metal.

Thanks,

Chris

Mustangdemon67

just use an air hammer to massage the tunnel. no cutting required

kalli

i don't know about the TKO500, but the T5 will fit and can withstand 300HP/TQ.
For this you only have to take maybe one inch on the right hand side of the square shifter hole.

Silverblade

adjustable motor mounts will lower the engine to avoid having to cut your tunnel

4reboy

the T5 can only handle 300hp/tq? I was thinking of doing the T5 swap somewhere in the future, but my almost stock 351w is already pushing 300hp and definitely over 300 ft/lbs tq. That's dissapointing, I would probably have to rebuild a T5 with heavy duty parts or something

1slow67

I had to cut my tunnel around where the shifter goes into the car. When I started it up the shifter would vibrate up against the tunnel. Cut 2 small strips out of it and now it is fine.

FoMoJoe

4Reboy, you can get the 7003Z T5 which is a heavier duty trans, 330 torque, I forget the hp. Specs are online. Not too much different though but better synchros and gears.

cprstreetmachines

It's not the tunnel you have to cut, it's the brace that is above the tranny, unde the floor. Never done a TKO500, only T56's and TKO600;s. But you could possibly get away without cutting, but it's a bad idea. It puts your u joints in a pretty good bind. And if they don't just wear out really fast, the driveshaft could vibrate like a son of a....

built67

thanks for all the helpful info guys...cprstreetmachines, i don't actually have to cut the trans tunnel at all then? what do you guys think about silverblade's idea saying that i could go with lower motor mounts?

JMD

We put a TKO 600 in my son's 66, to make it fit without altering the tunnel, we dropped the rear of the tranny less than an inch, the effect on driveline angle is negligible, there is absolutely NO vibration and absolutely no kind of a bind at all.

If I think about it tomorrow I will throw it on the lift and get a few pictures.

There are plenty of OPINIONS regarding this issue, but having posted on this issue before I know that few will agree with what I know to be fact at least with regard to how everything fit in this specific car.

The issue is that the top square edge of the case barely touches the tunnel in the transmissions "stock location", due to the angle of the tunnel in this location a very small adjustment will clearance the tranny.