Canfield Industries 5.0 bellhousing adapter

[caroth]

I recently installed the 5.0 to 2.3 bellhousing adapter to run a 5.0 clutch behind my SVO. I took lots of pictures of the install and posted them on my website:

http://rothfam.com/svo/belladapter/

I used the Ford Motorsport King Cobra clutch and the pedal feel is the same as stock.

A few gotchas...
You need to purchase a 5.0 clutch cable, but it was only $30
Obviously you need the 5.0 bell housing, front plate and clutch lever, but you also need the starter bolts for the 5.0 bell, they are SAE. Also needed is the two bolts for the bottom of the bell that attach the front plate to the housing.

I purchased a 5.0 starter but then compared the 2.3 starter and ended up using the 2.3 starter. The one extra tab on the 2.3 starter does not interfere with anything and the starter works fine.

The adapter is available at:

http://cididit.com/products.htm

[Kendal Coker]

wow, that is some really good information.

[SVORob]

Way too cool!
thanks for all the work in putting this together

That's what Jim needs for the autoX next year

[caroth]

My engine will always power thru the stock turbo clutches. I have tried center force clutches, gold star pucks and have never had much luck. I prefer to keep the pedal feel stock so that my wife can drive the car if needed.

The adapter is for any small block Ford, so it works for the V8 automatic transmissions too.

[Eyelawdoc]

Cool!

[phdntc]

very informative, thanks...........paul

[Raven855]

Excellent info. I got files from David Godfrey back a couple of years ago and made an adapter. This is cheaper that Stingers adapter. I went w/ the later 5.0l model starter and saved a few pounds. How well did the starter position line up in relation to the flywheel? I ended up milling the housing 1/4" for it to mesh w/ the ring gear properly.

[caroth]

Tony, What thickness plate did you use? When we checked depth it was very close to the 2.3 flywheel depth. I haven't experienced any starter issues.

Chris

[Raven855]

I used 1/4" for my adapter. I will dig up the measurements. I remember Neil milling the housing also.

[Mustang Matt]

NICE work! That is really cool. I am heading in that direction soon, thanks for the info and resource.

[caroth]

I used 1/4" for my adapter. I will dig up the measurements. I remember Neil milling the housing also.

What flywheel did you use? I suspect the Spec flywheel I used is the difference. I will attempt to pull the starter out of my SVO and Ranger this weekend and measure the difference.

Chris

[Raven855]

Chris I have not found the measurements that I had but did have a chance to compare the starter mount between a 2.3 t5 and a t56 w/ a steeda custom made bell housing on it(circa 1992) and there was about .189" difference less on the t56. The shaft of the t56 was .274 longer from the surface than the 2.3 t5. It may be that I was using measurements of this custom bell that is causing the difference. I don't have a 5.0 trans to compare it to. Is there a difference in the block plates? Are they all the same? What is the thrust bearing tolerance on the 2.3? It can't be much. Are there different 5.0/2.3 flywheels available from Spec?

[caroth]

Tony,

Do you remember the overall T56 input shaft length? It is my understanding that if you used a T56 bell housing with the T56 transmission, it should be the same depth as using a V8 T5 bell housing and V8 T5. The T56 is a bolt in deal on the 5.0 crowd with the correct bell housing.

That being said when we measured the difference with a stock 4cyl bell housing and V8 bellhousing with adapter plate, the difference was around 0.050" (I think it was 0.050" closer on the 4cyl bell housing).

Reference:

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2000/09/t5swap/index2.shtml

So the 4cyl T5 input shaft is 7.41" and the pre 94 V8 T5 is 7.18". This means if you installed the V8 T5 the input shaft would be 0.23" under engaged in the thrust bearing. When I looked at the wear marks on a 4cyl T5, there is around 1/4" of input shaft inserted past the pilot bearing meaning the V8 T5 would still have full engagement in the pilot bearing.

As a side note, the V8 T5 and 4cyl T5 input shafts are a different diameter. I think Rapido sells a bronze bushing for the V8 T5, but it is a better idea to pull the input shaft on the V8 T5 and have it machined down to 4cyl T5 spec and continue to use the roller bearing pilot bearing.

I hope this made sense, there is a lot of number thrown around in this post.

Chris

[Raven855]

Chris, I measured the 5.0 and the T56 and indeed the input shafts measured the same. I also got an answer that Spec only has 1 flywheel w/ the 5.0/2.3 boltpattern. That being the case we should have the same dimensions happening. I will double check the flywheel and the starter engagement and the starter mount surface.

I got my flywheel from Arts performance parts for $320. I just saw yesterday that forced4 is carring spec now, wonder what their price is?

Motion carries the bushing for the 5.0 input shaft

[8T6 SVO]

My experiences with the "bushing" type pilot bearings is that they don't work very well.

Do what Chris says and use a properly sized shaft and needle pilot bearing.