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Mustang Tranny Swap
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When it comes to cars, I know alot of basics.
I've watched damned near every episode of Top Gear available. But when it comes to playing with physical bits to a car, price is something I don't understand.
A friend of mine has a Mustang, '94 I believe?
First year that they dropped the Fox body design.
It's a nice car, V8, but apparently it has a 3 speed auto? Not entirely sure on that but that's what people have told me.
My other neighbors drive older 80's stlyle Camaros and Trans Ams that are 5 speed and quick.
So we've been discussing throwing one in his.
Realistically how hard would it be for a tranny swap? We have plently of junk yards in our area.
I know it will drastically improve the speed of his car, but I know there will be alot of work involved.
But what are we looking at price and work wise? We certainly have tools and work space available.
Thanks in advance chaps.
I've watched damned near every episode of Top Gear available. But when it comes to playing with physical bits to a car, price is something I don't understand.
A friend of mine has a Mustang, '94 I believe?
First year that they dropped the Fox body design.
It's a nice car, V8, but apparently it has a 3 speed auto? Not entirely sure on that but that's what people have told me.
My other neighbors drive older 80's stlyle Camaros and Trans Ams that are 5 speed and quick.
So we've been discussing throwing one in his.
Realistically how hard would it be for a tranny swap? We have plently of junk yards in our area.
I know it will drastically improve the speed of his car, but I know there will be alot of work involved.
But what are we looking at price and work wise? We certainly have tools and work space available.
Thanks in advance chaps.
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Awesome I like hearing good news.
And yea, alot of these American muscle cars are big, simple, and easy to work with.
It really is one of the best things about them.
I'm more of a sporty guy, but fuck trying to do engine repairs to things like an MR2.
The only reason I mention them is just because those older cars still leave him at the light.
Which is why I mentioned the junk yards. We'd certainly get something that probably already came as an option (or well, maybe it was standard) for his car.
It's funny you mention Chevelle, the neighbor with a Camaro just built a '69 Chevelle 496 from scratch with his father. I like waking up when he starts it ha ha.
Edit:
Before I forget, you need the other stuff too, not just literally only the crossmember. Such as the pedals (clutch and brake), the cable to the clutch, clutch and flywheel, shifter and center console. I think that's it.
But newer cars can have alot of pains when switching up things like the tranny.
Things that may be such a pain in the dick that it might not be even worth looking into.
It's his daily driver. The five speed would really help his power and fuel economy and of course there ain't really anything better then rowing through the gears. From what I know on cars, it seems the 5 (or shit, 6 if its possible, I know some Focus's have 'em now) would really be what we're looking for.
However, we were all motorheads from motorhead families with older motorheads to consult if we fucked something up. I think it would be a fun project but make sure you're getting into it with the right idea.
Replacing the 4-speed auto for a 5 speed is not going to make that car faster. It's just not. The '94 Mustang GT has less power than most new V6 family cars. Forget about 6 speeds: In most you'll find 4th gear is 1:1, 5th is overdrive, 6th is more overdrive. It's not worth the cost. 5-speed swaps are very common. Go with tradition on this one.
For the cost it's not going to give you better gas mileage (you'd have to drive the thing for 2 million miles for the price of gas saved to equal the price of the swap).
It's going to cost more than the car is worth, most likely, and it won't add any value.
That said, it'll be a fun project. You'll feel pretty good about it once you're done.
You mentioned junk yards, but they aren't some magical land of nearly free parts. Dudes at junk yards know what stuff is worth. They know exactly what they have on their lots. "$50 all you can carry!" yards won't have a transmission you need. Your best bet is car shows, craigslist, and parts swaps. Any time you go to one of those places go with a particular part in mind. Get the serial numbers, bolt patterns. Hell, get measurements. Greasy old redneck would love nothing more than to sell a shitty transmission that won't work to some dumb kid who hasn't done his homework.
Look for a Tremec T-5. That's the transmission that came standard in the 5.0s. They make beefed up versions if the car has had some work done to the engine. Beware though, Tremec T-5s were put in all kinds of shit, and depending on the variant, it could be a Chevy, it could be rated for 200lbs-ft, it could be a boat anchor. Who knows. Do your homework. Or buy a new one from Jegs or something if money is no object. Don't expect to get a transmission out of a Focus and shove it in there. It will grenade.
You're likely going to need a higher gear ratio in the rear end, so figure that into the cost. The guy who owned the car I mentioned above said he put in a Ford 9-in. I don't know for sure, I wasn't there that day, but the gear ratio he went with was awful. Way, way too high. Especially for a daily driver. Later I think he swapped it for something around a 3.73. It's been a while so I'm not sure.
With a new transmission and a new differential it also means you're going to need a new driveshaft.
Also: bell housing, all the crap for the clutch, flywheel, bushings, all the crap for the shifter, new pedal assembly, new computer, new ECM harness, new MAP sensor. Luckily the crossmember is the same.
Last thing to consider: if this is his daily driver, make sure he can do without his daily driver for 2-3 weeks unless you're doing this with folks that really know what they're doing. The SN95 Mustang is a simple car, but 16 years of rust and frozen bolts and who the hell knows what else means you need to set aside way more time than you'd think.
If money is no object, if you've got the time, and you do your homework and find the parts you need, you should do this. You'll learn a lot, working cars won't seem so daunting anymore, and it'll be both fantastically fun and fantastically frustrating.
Last two pieces of advice: if you don't have the right tool, get it. Always. Using the wrong tool will always cause more problems than it's worth. Also, do an internet search for SN95 Manual Transmission Swap or some variation of that.
These swaps were really popular because of punk kids with too much time on their hands. As an aside, the '95 Stang we did this to in 2000 was sold from that friend to another with 120,000 miles on the odometer. Finally that friend sold it this year with 230,000 miles on it. Electronics were all shitted up, inside door panels fell off, seats were a mess, paint oxidizing, but that transmission was still in great condition and the car still ran.
Slow as balls, but it always was. Underpowered 3400lb barge. Sounded cool, though.
As has been mentioned, you won't notice much performance difference. It will be more fun to drive, though. If you're looking for performance, there's plenty of stuff to do the the motor that will likely cost less, be less work, and provide much more noticeable gains. You can also get a shift kit for the tranny that will adjust how and when it shifts, although you're probably looking at similar cost/trouble/performance as swapping a 5 speed in.
I don't think you'll need the gear swap that Muncie mentioned to keep things from falling apart, but I'm going to advocate it as the best way to increase the performance of that car. That car most likely has a 3.08:1 gear in the rear end, a lot of the 5-speeds had a 2.73:1 (LESS acceleration performance and a stupid decision by ford), although 3.27:1 gears were available from the factory as an option, I believe, but it's not at all likely that your friend has that option. Swapping that 3.08:1 for a 3.73:1 is going to be the biggest bang for the buck performance increase and definitely a MUCH bigger change than swapping a tranny. It's also a LOT cheaper at $100-$150 for parts and a couple of hours work by someone who knows what they are doing. At any Mustang shop that isn't trying to screw you, it'll run $300-$400. You will also need to adjust the speedometer - another $100 or so for the part (google Mustan speedcal), not sure on labor or difficulty to install yourself, but not hard from what I understand.
If you want to find some people knowledgeable in Mustangs specifically hit up svtperformance.com (mostly svt oriented, but plenty of knowledge about the non-svt mustangs) and corral.net (I haven't been there in a long time, but it used to be pretty good).
About the older cars leaving your friend's car in the dust, keep in mind that there's a very good chance a lot of them are not stock.
Indeed it isn't a 3 speed, doing some wiki searching on the car. So maybe doing some gear swaps will be easier at the the end of the day. Maybe it's just the auto gettin in all our heads every car lover that knows this guy drives stick. Just felt slow as fuck. Which really is why I think those older GM cars can leave him behind.
The older Trans Am has some faster gears (christ it screams on the highway though) and the Camaro isn't much older (87) with every option (TPI) really gives him some extra kick. Only thing that isn't stock is the wheels and intake/exhaust. Both cars didn't come with limiters either (not sure if that's stock either)so they can go that extra little bit when they want it.
We live out in a lot of back roads, being able to shift when you want to really gives any car some real extra feel for the speed (and god its fun).
I'll sign up for those forums and post those and see what's good and start with a modified version of my OP.
And as for our junk yards, they're very nice. I do have a friend who became a mechanic that uses them still actually. He works on Bentlys and some other nice names (not that he's buying those parts there ha).
So perhaps I'll give them a call about some of these parts for prices when we get those all lined up.
I knew PA would have some pointers. You guys are always great. :^:
Friend I grew up with turned 21 so it's been a hazy few days.
to be honest, I had my hopes up too.
Anyway, I second Jimmy King's advice. I noticed the biggest jump in performance, albeit in the opposite direction, when I changed out the rear end on my El Camino. I went from 7 MPG up to 16 and lost a bit of the off the line torque that I wasn't using.
Also, you're not likely to see that drastic of a change in gas mileage. Going from 3.27:1 to 4.10:1 in a 99-04 Mustang Cobra tends to drop highway gas mileage maybe 2-4mpg on average based on my own experience doing so and talking to others and actually increases the mileage with city driving by many accounts (not guaranteed to happen in all cases or all car models and will greatly vary based on driving habits).
I have the feeling that burning rubber was where most of my gas mileage was going, though.
It's actually pretty easy. There will be some PITA bolts to get to, but it's most certainly within the grasp of most amateur backyard-type mechanics. On a lift at the shop it's a 3 hour job or less. At home, on my back, 8 hours and a 12-pack ;P
I'll have to agree with above about performance though, it wont be huge or anything. However, superchargers can be gotten relatively cheap for that engine.... I'm just sayin'.
Your friend's Mustang is a slug because it's set up to be as fuel efficient as possible for everyday street use.
Changing the final drive like has been suggested is a good first step. I swapped out the 3.08:1 gear in my Camaro to a 3.42:1 back in the day and it really woke the car up. 3.73:1 would have been better, but I was still driving the car 40 miles a day. Even then, the 3.42 cost me about 5% of my MPG.
I would look into other modification first, though. The Mustang community is notorious for making parts list for modding on any budget that pretty much lay out what to buy and when to get to X result.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the 1994 V8 a 5.0L? IIRC, this engine was pretty simple to modify to get some decent power out of?
I'm going to agree with Wicked Uncle Earnie here (as usual) and say it'd be "easy" to do assuming you have experience with automotive work. Older cars (like late 80's and early 90's) are WAY easier to work on and parts for them are pretty easy to come by.
If it's not a daily driver I say find you a few guides on the interwebs, read through them and pick one, then get out there and do it.
I will third (or fourth, or whatever) the rear end. Swapping to a 3.73 at the least, 4.10 would be FUN. This is the easiest thing you can do to quicken that car. It has the 8.8 rear end, and if you guys wanted to go all out complete swapability (with pretty much anything Ford performance) you can upgrade it to a Ford 9". The 9" is the most prolific rear end Ford ever made, installed in nearly every RWD Ford product from god knows when to 1993. There are writeups for swapping the rear end on every Mustang forum you could find. It's stupid easy.
If that's not enough oomph for you guys once the rear end is done, start getting some SVT parts for that 5.0. They're everywhere, relatively cheap and can boost that old block to well over 400 hp. Start with air (intake, headers, free flowing exhaust, head porting if you really want) then start adding power (larger throttle body, intake manifold from Crown Vic Interceptor or maybe even supercharger, heftier fuel injectors, etc).
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It may be the high revving dohc 4.6L driver in me talking, but I'm still going to say go with the final gear swap first.
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It's only because i love volumetric efficiency, but poke around for a supercharger. The engine can take boost wonderfully. Forced induction loves tall gears. And you'll dust most anything on the road, basically just with the supercharger and a good set of tires.
No, you idiot, it's the horse he's trading with
Yea, I'd say a supercharger is preferable for this motor, it's got low end torque in spades.
Exhaust - cat back, with flowmasters and 2.5 inch pipes
Rear End - 9 inch rear end swap with aluminum housing and 4:10 gears if it's a track car (it's been a while, is 4:10 still the right number?)
Sub Frame Connectors - adds some amazing road grip
You could bypass the five speed and just get a shift kit for the automatic transmission, or you could swap it for the five speed or tremmec T56 six speed and get a new computer
Engine - supercharger, upgrade the air intake
There's no way that car wouldn't pull low 13's to mid 12's at the track. You could do all of it for about 8K, maybe less if you do most of the work.
Again, it's been a while, so some of my terminology might be a little off.
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I've been a mustang owner for quite awhile, and I've only just recently stepped out of the crowd due to military obligations (I'll get back into it again soon.) If you're inexperienced with the motor or are a beginning motorhead, you should focus on bolt-on parts. Start with the exhuast - Replace the headers first, and get yourself a good 2.5/3 inch exhuast system. Put in a good cold air intake (Becareful which you choose. Bad intakes can hurt performance.) Don't focus on putting in more fuel until much later. Afterwords, I suggest a good set of tires. It's good to have performance, but you need to apply it to the road as well.
Opening up the exhuast and intake will do quite a bit for the early mustangs. The next few steps should be weighed considerably. If you have money and the will to do it, Supercharge/Turbo (Doesn't matter which. It's all personal prefrence.) the car the right way. Tear out the motor and change the compression ratio (You'll need to lower it.) get the right rods/pistons/etc. Superchargers/Turbos put a ton of stress on a motor, and with high compression and the amount of pressure you'll be putting on the motor, you'll be looking at burnt out rings due to rich fuel mixture and detonation if you do it without changing the compression. Do it right and enjoy a motor that will last a long time.
If you're on a budget or uninterested in the more extreme performance - Change out the heads (And change the exahust again.) couple this with a completely new intake, you'll be looking at large gains. With all this new performance comes more problems, though. More fuel to compensate for the increased O2. Bigger injectors will be the way to go (And an aftermarket fuel flow regulator to control how much you'll be dumping in.) and guages to assist in tuning the vehicle. Change the timing (This is an easy mod for power in 5.0's.) and then start work on an all new suspension. Once you've got the power - Make sure the vehicle can apply it right.
You'll need a strong tranny to support the mustang at this point. You'll be pushing the limits of it (If you haven't burnt it out earlier.) so you should decide if a manual or a automatic is the way to go. Lots of people race with automatics (Don't let the movies fool you.) and the advantage here is that it's easier and much quicker to shift.
TL; DR
Bolt on performance for newbies - And Turbo/Super chargers for people that have money and dedication. -STOCK- automatic trannies are weak and break easy. Most stock parts are sufficent to withstand most bolt-on performance. This is only a brief overview and you will need to replace many more parts as you work on the vehicle. Don't street race.