87 Ram 50 SBC/T5 swap

[Mike P]

The next job I started on was the exhaust system. As I mentioned I’m using repop Corvette exhaust amnifolds. I used to put headers on everything, but over the years I’ve pretty much gone to factory performance manifolds wherever possible……they don’t have the gasket problems and for all intents and purposes usually flow as well as a lot of headers at normal driving RPMs.



An added plus on the Corvette manifolds is both sides have bracket bosses cast in, which makes building brackets for the alternator and AC compressor a snap…….especially nice as the early Power Pack heads don’t have accessory bolt holes in the ends!!!!

[Mike P]

Routing dual exhaust on this truck is not as straight forward as you would suspect. The problem is the driver’s side. There are 2 issues; the first is by running the 5 speed manual and cable clutch, there is no room to run the pipe by the bellhousing without melting the clutch cable (a problem I would not have to deal with if I had run an automatic transmission), the second problem is the location of the stock fuel tank which takes up all the room between the frame rail and drive shaft on the driver’s side.

I solved this problem by crossing the driver’s side exhaust under the oil pan and running both pipes down the passenger side. Space was tight so I down-sized the pipes from 2 ½” to 2 ¼” (not ideal, but still big enough to support up to a relatively stock 350 if I ever decide to up-size the engine). It got a little tight around the starter, so I changed the starter over from the standard early style to a much smaller one sourced for a 96 5.7 Camaro. Running booth pipes down the passenger side was the reason I enlarged the opening in the transmission crossmember. I still have to hang the mufflers and then I’ll cross one of the pipes back over to the driver’s side and run both out to the rear bumper.

[Mike P]

Hooking up the clutch was next. I had a couple of new 1977 Mustang II V8 4 Speed clutch cables sitting on the shelf. The bellhousing end happens to also fit the Chevrolet bellhousing and clutch fork and they are long enough to go from the pedal to the clutch, so I figured why not use one of those. I did have to fabricate a firewall mount/adjuster for it but that was not a big problem (I also made a backing plate for it that fits on the driver’s compartment side of the firewall to help prevent flexing the firewall).



That just left making a new arm to go on the clutch pedal cross shaft. The bracket was pretty simple. I’m reasonably happy with the end result. The pedal pressure is good, it releases nicely and there is good free play at the top (after I adjusted the pedal stop a little). It feels like a cable clutch, but there’s not much I can do about that. That being said, looking back if I were to redo it, next time I think I might go with a different bellhousing and a hydraulic setup.

[Mike P]

Screwed up on the second picture.......here's the arm I made for the clutch cross shaft.

[Mike P]

The Offenhauser dual port intake I’m using is really tall combined with how high the engine sits and I ended up having to use a drop base air cleaner and 2” filter to get the hood to close.

[Mike P]

Then there was the issue with the speedometer. The T5 transmission I came up with is set up for an electronic speedometer. The original plan was to dig up the pieces to convert it to cable and retain the original gauge cluster.



After a couple of months looking for parts we came up empty, so it was bite the bullet again and sprung for an electronic speedometer…….of course it never just ends there, I picked up a tach and of course I had to have the matching fuel, volt, temp and oil pressure gauges. I’ve got to admit, I do like it, and a big plus for this old man if being able to calibrate the speedometer by pushing a button on the dash rather than changing gears at the transmission.

[Mike P]

There was also an issue with the original fuel tank. You know…. I really wish I had drained the tank 10 years ago when I parked it. I ended up dropping it, and pulling the sender and fill pipe……..man was it ugly in there. I really didn’t know if I would be able to get it clean enough to use again. Additionally the sending unit was junk (and I couldn’t find a factory replacement, which resulted in having to use an aftermarket sender and gauge (and gave me another justification for the custom gauge cluster). I did finally get the tank clean, but it took about 2 weeks soaking the inside with acetone to do it.