06-22-2013, 05:00 PM
#179
(06-21-2013, 07:37 AM)maxypriest JB3 - bloody fantastic work!
thanks!
some more updates-
so pulled the T5, this was a huge PITA until i removed the heat shielding above and discovered a stud that was hanging up on the bell housing right at the top, after that worked out well, or at least came out with equal difficulty as any transmission, though not as easy as the super light MB manuals. This T5 is 2-3 times heavier
looking in from the side beforehand, it looked like I could solve this issue If I could just get a thicker release bearing. According to my research, there are apparently two common T5 family types of release bearing, a short and long version commonly found in older applications or fords. A long release bearing might work, but I decided to try a different route first. In this pic you can see that really there is no reason that the short release bearing should not work if I could just modify the mechanical linkage
I decided instead what I would do is modify the release bearing lever, and remove the bend.
(I have also ordered another one in case this does not work, these are pretty common and cheap it seems)
stock-
and modified-
this is the difference in how it now appears installed, original-
and straightened-
Here is a reference T5 picture from some other application, looks much closer to this distance on the pushrod now-
Have not had an opportunity to test yet, but soon
1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van