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smoothys 242 Turbo Build

I'm using the biggest available slip yoke damper on mine, and it helped a fair bit. But I had to hack my tunnel to pieces to get it to fit.

I actually went to ShaftMasters where I had my ds made to have a look at that damper the other day. When I saw that thing I remember thinking there is no way to fit that thing in the trans tunnel.

Bravo for fitting that in a 140! Was it worth it?
 
I actually went to ShaftMasters where I had my ds made to have a look at that damper the other day. When I saw that thing I remember thinking there is no way to fit that thing in the trans tunnel.

Bravo for fitting that in a 140! Was it worth it?

I'd say yes. I wish I had tried to get more scientific in the before/after comparison, but it made a substantial improvement to what was a pretty unbearable issue.
 
I'd say yes. I wish I had tried to get more scientific in the before/after comparison, but it made a substantial improvement to what was a pretty unbearable issue.

Perhaps I may go that route in the summer but for now I think I will swap over to the Aerostar slope yoke. I noticed you had one of those as well, does that slip yoke utilize a 1310 u joint or a 1330?
 
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Cant leave well enough alone

One of the nice things about the T5 is it sure is quick to remove one from a 240.

I wanted to check my bellhousing alignment, to make sure I am with the 5 thou requirement.

Fortunately I was able to dig up a mag base and a dial indicator in 1/2 a thou gradations.

I am actually surprised how well they turned out.

Forgive the orientation of the photo but I didn't see any more then 2 thou from the zero, which is ridiculous. I almost don't believe the numbers.

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I did notice that two of the bolts holding the top cover on the T5 stick out enough to make small divots in the adapter plate. I don't think this will be a concern but I am going to file them down.

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I also noticed this verbiage from tremecs T5 installation tips about crossmember.

"Crossmember
It is important to have the crossmember located properly to the rear mount location on the transmission.
Modifications that result in an ?overhang? or cantilevered mount will result in a vibration and potential to cause
severe damage to the transmission. Proper mount height and crossmember location are very important to
maintain correct driveline angle."


The crossmemebr I am using definitely has a cantilevered mounting geometry. I am curious if anyone installed one of these with a crossmember that doesn't.
 
One of the nice things about the T5 is it sure is quick to remove one from a 240.

I wanted to check my bellhousing alignment, to make sure I am with the 5 thou requirement.

Fortunately I was able to dig up a mag base and a dial indicator in 1/2 a thou gradations.

I am actually surprised how well they turned out.

Forgive the orientation of the photo but I didn't see any more then 2 thou from the zero, which is ridiculous. I almost don't believe the numbers.

picture.php


I did notice that two of the bolts holding the top cover on the T5 stick out enough to make small divots in the adapter plate. I don't think this will be a concern but I am going to file them down.

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I also noticed this verbiage from tremecs T5 installation tips about crossmember.

"Crossmember
It is important to have the crossmember located properly to the rear mount location on the transmission.
Modifications that result in an ?overhang? or cantilevered mount will result in a vibration and potential to cause
severe damage to the transmission. Proper mount height and crossmember location are very important to
maintain correct driveline angle."


The crossmemebr I am using definitely has a cantilevered mounting geometry. I am curious if anyone installed one of these with a crossmember that doesn't.

That bit about the cantilevered mount is interesting. I don't really know how you'd avoid that without eating up a ton of ground clearance. I have had two home made crossmembers of different designs and there was zero change in vibration between them.

Also, if I remember correctly, the Aerostar yoke uses a 1310 u-joint.
 
That bit about the cantilevered mount is interesting. I don't really know how you'd avoid that without eating up a ton of ground clearance. I have had two home made crossmembers of different designs and there was zero change in vibration between them.

Also, if I remember correctly, the Aerostar yoke uses a 1310 u-joint.


I was able to source an Aerostar slip yoke and and get that swapped over as well.

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comparison between the two

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and the end result

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With all the snow (and salt) we have had lately I probably wont be able to test out the car until march at the earliest. I may try jacking it up on stands to see if the coast down noise is still there. I suspect it will be.

I am curious if lubing the slip yoke spline will also help. Perhaps the same stuff used to lube the input shaft spline to clutch interface? (Sachs 42000890050 Clutch Disk Spline Grease)
 
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That bit about the cantilevered mount is interesting. I don't really know how you'd avoid that without eating up a ton of ground clearance. I have had two home made crossmembers of different designs and there was zero change in vibration between them.

Agreed...I'd say most (if not all) T5 swaps here have a cantilevered trans mount / crossmember.

Here is what Dave Barton (dbarton) did:
http://www.forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5598052&postcount=8

@Tfrasca I found that link in your thread...looks like you followed a similar path, but still ended up with vibrations/rattles before the mega damper.
https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=316868&page=14
 
Agreed...I'd say most (if not all) T5 swaps here have a cantilevered trans mount / crossmember.

Here is what Dave Barton (dbarton) did:
http://www.forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5598052&postcount=8

@Tfrasca I found that link in your thread...looks like you followed a similar path, but still ended up with vibrations/rattles before the mega damper.
https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=316868&page=14

I just want to cover all my bases before I go the big ass damper route.

Like today for instance I decided to confirm what the end play was.

There was zero but I recall when installing the adapter plate I used the caliper method as opposed to the dial indicator method to determine end play so I peeled off the bearing retainer and removed the the shim then I measured the end play and shim thickness.

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I then measured the shim thickness

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So yeah I was running a 9 thou preload. I will set this to the correct value of zero or possible 1 thou preload with a the correct shim.

more to come.
 
Agreed...I'd say most (if not all) T5 swaps here have a cantilevered trans mount / crossmember.

Here is what Dave Barton (dbarton) did:
http://www.forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5598052&postcount=8

@Tfrasca I found that link in your thread...looks like you followed a similar path, but still ended up with vibrations/rattles before the mega damper.
https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=316868&page=14

Yeah, I ended up changing the crossmember to take a stock t5 rubber mount, so now it's cantilevered like everyone else's. There was no change in vibration.
 
Bye Bye Saginaw Slinger

I am not sure if I had seen anyone run the old style b21/23 accessory bracket on a b230 block and a GM type II power steering pump but I have made the switch.

A little history.

My car has a working air conditioning system powered by a York compressor. The AC system is sealed, and has worked when needed for the last 6 years.

When I swapped over the motor to a B230FT I wanted to keep my known working AC system intact. I was able to power the compressor from the crank pulley just like the B21FT and I originally used the Saginaw PS pump for ease and convenience.

Over the years I must of swapped out 4 saginaw pumps all with rebuilt ones (under warranty) as I wasn't able to source a new one. The last pump still worked it just seems to have a lot of axial play on the shaft and this would cause an annoying vibration.

So I decided I would try to adapt a GM type II ps pump onto my engine as these are plentiful and you can get the new.

I was able to source a tuff stuff ps pump along with a nice aluminium pulley and some brackets to make it work.

I decided to go with a remote reservoir and in my true tbricks style the mock up was done with washers and zip ties.

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The other week my reservoir bracket finally came in and I made some spacers from stainless steel and I am pleased with the result.

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Back to the t5
 
Inside we go

I've decided to check the T5 counter shaft end play and while I am there I am going to install one of these beefier bearing retainers.


If anyone has any tips before I dive into this it would be appreciated.

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T5 Reassembled

So tearing down a T5 for the first time can be a little intimidating considering I have never done anything like this before.

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I used Paul's peel-able shims to get the counter-shaft preload to about 4 in-lbs of drag torque.

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This image is a little blurry but it is hard to take a picture while rotating a torque wrench. But 4 in-lbs of preload was the target

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I was able to reinstall the gearbox the other day but the snow and salt has kept me off of the roads.

Somethings I was able to do during install of the trans this time
  • I used peel-able shims to set the preload of the counter shaft to 4 in-lbs and the main shaft preload was set to about 2 thou.
  • I used a new clutch fork from an m90, replacing the used one I had from a 740.
  • Shimmed the pivot bolt for the clutch fork as opposed to using a socket head bolt attached to the 740 clutch fork.
  • Thoroughly cleaned the mating surfaces between the engine and the trans bell housing
  • Re-torqued the flywheel / clutch and bell housing bolts in stages and in cross patterns.
  • I ditched the Hurst short throw shifter as it limits how far I can center the trans in the tunnel due to a higher profile then the stock T5 shifter.
  • Installed Aerostar slip yoke.

Hopefully we get another thaw and I'll be able to try this out an report back on the effects (if any) of these changes.
 
PSA on that slip yoke...mine seems to weep fluid from the freeze plug in the center of the yoke (u-joint side). Maybe just mine, but might be worth putting some RTV over the freeze plug to be safe. YMMV. :e-shrug:
 
PSA on that slip yoke...mine seems to weep fluid from the freeze plug in the center of the yoke (u-joint side). Maybe just mine, but might be worth putting some RTV over the freeze plug to be safe. YMMV. :e-shrug:

I may pull it and have a look.

Right now I haven't had a chance (weather wise) to drive it.
 
Z28 Spoiler

I few weeks ago a buddy asked me to go to a local Pick n pull to grab a head for his neon track car. I haven't been to a pick n pull since I was a kid so I decided to help him out.

There was really nothing of note there except I cam across a mid 80's Z28 and I remember reading on the forums that the spoiler off this car is a pretty good fit for the decklid

This is what it looked like after I clipped off the ends.

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and after a lot of sanding and a few coats of primer and some flat black I got this

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and the end result.

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Needless to say this was a simple cosmetic change but i dig the look.
 
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