197 chevy s10 tranny swap

[minitruckr28]

Hello I was curious on swapping a s10 5 speed in my 1979 chevy shorted with a 250 six banger. What do i need for the swap and what tranny would be best to use? is this swap diffcult? Any help would be awesome thanks

[greg64]

Howdy. I haven't performed the swap myself, but I have a good idea of what is involved. The T5 from the s10 won't quite work with a standard SBC bell housing. The input shaft is too long on the T5. There are spacers made (aluminum) which will take up the extra length. Of you can use a bellhousing from an early 80s Camaro, which used the T5 behind a SBC (305). But I think (pretty sure about this), that the Camaro bell cants the transmission over at an odd angle to improve ground clearance. Oh yeah, and another option is to change the input shaft on the T5 to the one the Camaro uses, I believe.

It may be that the bellhousing from an Astro van could work, but good luck finding one.

Do you already have the T5 transmission? If not, what I'd look for is a NV3500 from an early 90s 1/2 ton. These were used behind 350s, so no problem bolting it up to your 250 (I'm a six cylinder guy). The bellhousing is integral with the transmission, so no problem there either. The only downside (to some), is that you must use a hydraulic clutch.

The NV3500 is smooth, can handle the 250's power easily and is far cheaper then a NV4500. The output on it is the same as a TH400.

I have the NV3500 in my Suburban and really like it. I used to have an S10 with a T5, but to me, the T5 always looked too wimpy for a fullsized truck.

[lilpoindexter]

Forget about the S10 T5...the only thing you want from that is the tail housing and shift rod, so you can move the shift lever up, to keep your bench seat.
I used a trans from an '83 camaro, with the s10 tail shaft so I didnt have that goofy angle. The 305 F car T5 will bolt to your bellhousing with an adapter from Novak. I wanted to get jiggy with it, so I found an '85 C10 hydraulic bellhousing and used that...but If I had to do it again, I would keep the mechanical clutch and bellhousing. lots of info if you search.

[minitruckr28]

thanks gus lots of help! I have been toying around with a automatic swap but everyone tells me a auto tranny ( most likely turbo 350) with a six banger is a horrible idea. whats your thoughts on them. i love stick shifts but i planning on bagging it and body dropping it and want a good cruise that i can drive on highways so a manual would sorta suck. I would like to stay with stock chev parts because i am to poor for 1500 dollar trannysand dont have a crazy amount of tools or shop space

[minitruckr28]

I love the sound of the NV3500! and i was curious about the t5 because i have about 10 of them sitting around lol thanks thought fellows

[greg64]

I had a TH350 behind my 250 for a number of years. It worked okay. But I generally don't like automatic transmissions, so when the th350 started going, I switched to stick.

I will say that putting a th350 in is pretty simple. What do you have now? 3 speed manual?

[minitruckr28]

yep a three speed but its been blown apart some how ? bought it that way and do you know what it would take to put one in