FINALLY…T5 WITH Torque Tube in a ‘35-’40 Ford...The WHOLE STORY!

[V8COOPMAN]

5 Surgery Begins

Now, to make it fit. Again, Heard is going to use an 8BA, but an early engine will constitute the same length. He started by mounting the empty, dummy block onto the stock mounts at the front. Then, a cast truck-type bell housing goes into the mix, with a WILCAP Flathead-to-Chevy engine adapter which has the inclusive clutch throwout cross-shaft coming next. Bolted to this beautiful WILCAP adapter, the Camaro T5 main case bolts-up easy as pie. Then of course, the Jeep 4X4 extension housing is bolted to the rear of that. Then comes the aluminum adapter plate, and finally the stock Ford BEARING RETAINER, to which the Ford clamshell parts will eventually bolt. I’ve included a picture of the stock Ford rear transmission mount with the torque tube bolted-up so that you can visualize the original position of the rear of the original 3-speed. Anyway, the additional pictures show the initial interference between the black Jeep housing and the center frame CROSSMEMBER box assembly. We’ve also included a picture of one of these ’35 Ford center CROSSMEMBER box assemblies which has been removed from a frame, so that it is easier to see how it is built, and exactly what it is that needs the majority of the surgery. It would be easy to remove this BOX entirely, but we concluded that a lot of rigidity and integrity would be retained if we left as much of this center structure in place as possible. One important thing to remember about this center box is that it contains the mount for the wishbone ball at the bottom front. We tried every way possible to keep that ball socket, but the very rear, bottom surface on the Jeep housing would not quite go low enough with it remaining in place. You can see the interference in one of the pictures below. By lowering the rear of the WISHBONE the way we did, I believe my calculations showed that it only increased the front axle CASTER by about 1.5 degrees positive. Anyway, Heard just started rough-trimming the box until the entire Jeep housing would fit down low enough that the Jeep output shaft ended-up level with the original drive shaft and torque tube level. He determined the centerline of that level, as seen marked on the wooden stick in the picture. He aimed a laser through from the front of the engine’s main bearing caps thru the rear of the empty, mock-up trans and focused on the mark on the stick to get the final rear elevation for the Jeep housing.















Of course, a rear mount needed to be designed and created. You’ll note the rubber mounting pads that are seen in the pics, that the bolts pass through to secure the rear of the Jeep housing via bolt holes threaded into the housing’s bottom surface for some alternative mounting purpose. In addition, the wishbone also needed a new mounting mechanism. Heard carefully trimmed and saved pieces of the original ball socket, also seen in pics. He milled a receiver block to hold the socket in the proper position on the bottom of the new rear mounting plate, but a similar block could be carved-out appropriately with hacksaw and drill press if necessary. The pictured transmission / wishbone mounting plate could be built in many different, yet similar forms, but the way he decided to go is both strong as hell, and simple. Note that the surfaces of the four tabs that bolt to the bottom of the frame are not level with each other, as the bottom surface of the frame rails at that point curves ever so slightly. The mount plate is fairly self-explanatory via the pictures.

[V8COOPMAN]

6 Let’s Cut ‘n Glue Both Ends Together

OK, the engine, trans and wishbone ball are now bolted-into their final resting places. And we actually didn’t hack-up the frame very seriously at all. Now, we need to tie it all together by shortening the torque tube and drive shaft. If any of ya have been wondering up until now, the torque tube had “SOMETHING NEAR 8” taken out”. WARNING….WARNING!!! As Heard pointed-out……make measurements INDIVIDUALLY when measuring for shortening the D-shaft, and then for shortening the T-tube. DO NOT assume that one will be shortened the SAME amount as the other!!!!! But we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. BEFORE things are ever taken apart initially, you need to determine EXACTLY where the rear end is supposed to sit, fore and aft. Note the two pieces of conduit in the picture, bolted between the banjo housing and the frame rails to keep that distance constant. Anyway, at first, we had to think about what exactly needed to be measured, so as to determine D-shaft and T-tube lengths. After a false start or two, and keeping in mind that the hemispherical bell on the north end of the T-tube has no definitive position on the clamshell area, we finally realized that the way to start is by measuring the distance from the hole for the pin in the pinion shaft at the rear, to the center of the speedometer gear as mounted on the driveshaft. When the speedo gear is properly mounted on the d-shaft with the snap ring in place, and with the front of the d-shaft slipped into the U-joint, the center of the gear’s position is accurately determined on the front end of the d-shaft. Measuring from that gear’s definite center point in space, to the pin hole in the pinion shaft gives you the information necessary to be able to compute the exact measurement for shortening your d-shaft. The rest just falls into place for the d-shaft’s OVERALL length. NOTE….’35 and ‘36 drive shafts are tubular, and tapered at both front AND rear. When shortening one of these, remove the un-wanted portion from the REAR end of shaft. If you take it out of the front end of the shaft, the remaining FAT portion will not clear the inside of the tapered front end of the T-Tube.
Determining the length of the new T-Tube is easy with the d-shaft now shortened. Simply insert the front end of the drive shaft into the T-tube. Assemble the bearing, washer, speedo gear and snap ring onto the D-shaft to position it at it’s NORMAL position in the T-tube. Assemble the FRONT of the D-shaft / T-tube into the U-joint and clamshell assembly on rear of transmission. With the REAR end of the T-tube positioned adjacent to the flat face on the front of the banjo housing where the T-tube flange bolts-on, mark the T-tube for what will NOW represent the OVERALL length of the SHORTENED T-tube AND it’s 6-hole bolt-flange. Compare the difference in length between the NEW mark, and the original OVERALL length. The DIFFERENCE should be what is removed, just forward of the 6-bolt flange (see pictures). Measure SEVERAL times…but cut only ONCE!

Heard got lucky and found an OLD guy at an old, local d-shaft shop by the name of “Pops”! It gets no better!! Pops has obviously done this a couple of times before. He shortened the d-shaft first. Heard then pinned the shortened shaft in position between rear end and the U-joint. He had already gotten Pops to part the T-tube in a lathe, and to remove the pre-measured, un-necessary section from the stock torque-tube. Heard had again assembled the front of the NOW two-piece T-tube around the D-shaft and into the front clamshell. He then bolted the rear T-tube flange into position on the banjo. Pops had machined a sleeve to slip inside the rear-most T-tube end, and welded a beautiful bead to permanently hold it in. This sleeve is to keep the two tube halves lined-up, as well as for substance to weld to. With the front and rear portions of the T-tube in place, Heard tacked the two tubes together (see pic), and then took it back for Pops to finish putting his magic weld on it. TOTAL bill at Pops’ shop…$120! Some folks may also note that the speedometer turtle now sits level on top of the T-tube. The original position angled downward, and was going to require hacking-out some more of the frame to route the speedo cable. This position will allow the cable to be routed over the top of the frame rail, under the floor. One additional note…the REAR radius rods have NOT been shortened. However, the tab which allows the rods to be bolted to the bottom of the T-tube has been moved forward and re-welded in the proper location.



Un-cut D-shaft



Shortened d-shaft



Torque Tube Ready to Weld-up

[V8COOPMAN]

7 At Last…The Whole Enchilada In One Place!

So, there you have it. It took a little time to do, but now, all of the BASIC unknowns have been addressed. Of course, it all gets blown-apart again and Heard will final-finish any cut and crafted pieces to make it all look polished and presentable. However, it should be fairly simple to visualize the end product in your car. This was pretty easy to do without a body in place, but I would venture to say that younger, more-nimble folks than myself could probably carefully and slowly trim the center X-member box with a cut-off wheel from under the car with a body still in place. I hope we’ve presented this in such a way as to be interesting and helpful to many, and that it will answer some questions that many old Ford folks have kicked-around for a while now.
Please be aware that neither Heard nor myself sell or supply any kits, parts, or services related to this project. We’ve only presented this info in an effort to address some questions that continue to appear from time to time. We did this deed to serve our own purposes, mostly ’cuz it was past-due that someone come-up with one basic method to get it done. Hell, there sure ain’t no rocket science involved here. We’re only sharing some hard-earned, yet hard-to-find info with those that may have similar interests. What we can do is attempt to answer any additional questions that any of you might come-up with. Post ’em up! Viva the T5!


And a couple o' extra pics since Heard put the cab back on the chassis, to give an idea as to shifter location. DD