Mustang T5 Shifter

I had a HORRIBLE time rebuilding the OEM 5 speed shifter. The pin simply would NOT press out. We finally won using a 30 ton hydraulic press and heat, but there was much “carnage”. Anyway, while I was trying to repair the carnage on the OEM shifter, I thought, “Hmmmm. That setup really looks like a T5 setup in a Mustang.”

Sooooo, since I had a cheap eBay shifter for a mustang laying around I decided to play. Below are photos of what I ended up with. It was surprisingly easy. Some drilling/facing and some turning on a lathe (which could probably be done by hand). Add some sanding for clearance, fabricating a gasket, and a few parts.

The only thing is you have to “reassemble” the shifter in the car since the holes to bolt to the transmission are under the top part of the shifter. Hardest part is not dropping the tension springs and bushings. Other than that it was real simple. I used the shifter base as a pattern for the bolt holes.

Sadly, the OEM shift boot won’t fit over the large T5 shifter, so I’ll have to fabricate something for the shift boot (probably sew up a leather shift boot for both shift levers). And I need to fabricate a shift lever still. The setup in the photos is simply for testing.

There’s a lot more that could be done like removing the excess from the shifter base, but everything fits as is without any modification to the truck.

I haven’t driven it yet (still no brakes), but it feels like it is going in each gear just fine.

Anyway, just my solution.

Cost:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25767&stc=1

T5 Shifter bushing installed:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25768&stc=1

OEM Shifter bottom installed:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25769&stc=1

Bolt hole pattern transfer from OEM shifter bottom:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25770&stc=1

Bolt holes faced and sanding for clearance to the 4wd shifter:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25771&stc=1

Shifter base installed:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25772&stc=1

Shifter Upper part installed:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25773&stc=1

Finished with the dust cover/seal installed:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=25774&stc=1

Interesting job you did there. How do you like the final result?

Now someone is thinking outside of the box - nice work :thumbup: This looks like a weapons grade fix with the added bonus of them being readily available. It's a little out of reach of the DIY guy in their garage if they want that quality of finish, but if someone was willing to accept shifter top plates through the mail and machine them :)

I had looked at that shifter for the 2wd, but taking it apart, or modding a plate to make it work. Good job!

LOL I always think outside the box.... That is what makes tinkering on cars so much fun!! This really wasn't that hard to do. I did take it to a machine shop (You know, because I "have a guy" LOL) and he did it on a Bridgeport, but a drill press would do fine. We used the OEM bottom plate to transfer the holes to the new bottom plate. Then we turned it over and used an end mill to do the facing (just gotta go slow). The clearance for the 4wd shifter I did by hand with a sanding disc on a grinder. We turned down the bronze bushing in a lathe, but since it isn't all that critical (it just needs to go in the shift rail hole) it could be done on a drill press or even by sanding. There isn't a lot of metal to remove.

B-Line: I don't have anything to compare it with since when I got the truck the shifter had absolutely no bushing left in it at all. So it was kind of lose. LOL. This feels like a 500% improvement!! I still need to do some final things, like fabricate the lever for the shift knob and figure out what I'm going to do for a shift boot.

Just more tinkering...

Im sure it feels much better. Kudos for a job well done!