five speed swap input needed?

[awesome79elky]

i have been working on converting my elky with a T5 camaro transmission. i currently have 308 gears in the rear end and was wondering if anyone in this forum had any experience with this situation. i have also performed a tailshaft swap with a T5 from a 93 s-10. so i was wondering if there would be any possible way the i could use the 373 rear end from the same truck. i know is uses leafs, but if there was a way maybe i could convert it to coils? any input would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
James

 

[Jman]

You will have to check the width of the other rear and see if its compareable. If it is and your good at fabricating and welding then you could convert it.

 

[ONE EYE]

the easiest way to convert your car into a 5 speed is to get a bellhousing from a '82-'83 camaro as they are linkage type clutch engagement. or you can convert it to a hydraulic clutch but theres more of a hassle.
the biggest problem you would have is the clutch fork is higher up in the bellhousing in a malibu bell (thats why the shifter fork has such a sharp bend in it. there may be a little ballpein persuation if you end up going the linkage way. the t5s are clocked on an angle compared to a muncie/sag/t10. i think its an 18deg angle.

for the rear end, you COULD use the s10 rear but you will need to install ladder bars or a 4 link setup cause theres no control arm ears on leaf spring rears. you are better off using the gear in your rear end. just make sure your axles are the same spline or you will have to change the whole carrier to match your axle spline (reuse yours).
good luck and i hope this helps.

 

[awesome79elky]

thanks for the input, it should give me a good start on this project.

 

[383Camino]

After I took a few teeth off the gears in my rearend, I searched for a GN or Monte SS rearend. No surprise, I never found one.

So, what I did was get a rearend out of a '92 S10 Blazer, posi with 3.42. It has the 7 5/8 ring gear compared to my stock 7.5 posi I blew up. We stuck in the whole operation, and used the Blazer axles (they're beefy) but we had to shorten the axles a lil bit. We measured and looked at where it had been ridning on the spline, and determined there was plenty of spline to just cut off 3/4" or so and remachine the C-clip groove.

Sounds a little back-woods scary, but I've driven it with my 400hp 383 for 4 years now with no trouble, including a trip to the track. The rearend set me back $200 and we did the cutting/machining in the garage with the chop saw. It took some thinking no doubt. Until this blows up, I am sticking with this, then if funds allow, I'll just buy new stuff.

 

[ONE EYE]

that was a good idea, i have an 8.5 out of a '73+ in my camino. my friend had it in his camino. he bought a malibu from T.O and it was in that car. the rear end is 3" wider and all i had to do is pry a little bit. the spring perches need to be moved, because i noticed that there was slag from them getting cut off before. other than that, i even used the no hop bars from my car on it. a little bit of grinding and POP! they're on.