Learn me: 460 Machine driveshaft adapter (Merkur content)

Progress on the Merkur!

So I bought a V6, realized I was retarded, and stopped that nonsense. Building the 2.3 up as God intended.

I have a handfull of odd and ends for my T5 swap; I got a Turbo Coupe WC T5, 2.3 Mustang bellhousing and clutch fork, and the Rapido crossmember. Pretty much the only things I need now are a new pedal box, a clutch kit, the 2.3 clutch cable dogleg nonsense, and a driveshaft.

So, I called Rapido. They want $700 for their two-piece, which is supposedly the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I found this guy: Merkur Depot, but his $300-ish driveshaft is out of stock. Given the guy has a page listing current events for '07, I'm not holding out hope. (His intercooler setup is boss, though. Is this guy still in business?)

Then I looked through old GRM threads, and apparently 460 Machine makes a driveshaft adapter that lets you bolt up a 1 piece Fox Mustang shaft without any modification. This is convenient, as one of the local yards has a 4 cylinder Mustang that NOBODY has touched for months. Still had the full drivetrain a few weeks ago, including the T5.

I know some of you have the adapter, and I'm just curious how it does in the wild. Is vibration a problem? Will it hold up to the torques? Is it worth $120?

In reply to LordTurbonia:

I'm still running a T9, but Merkur Depot is still in business. I have ordered parts from him this month, and would recommend him. You my not like the 1st gear ratio in your TC T5, BTW, some consider it too short.

That is awesome news that I will be utilizing.

WOW, that's weird, I never thought I'd see this topic, but alas, we have a 460 Machine adapter on our XR4 with the T5 swap!

We have a WC T5 also from a Turbo Coupe, 1st is short, which is great for boosting our Holset off the line at AutoX!

We run a 1 piece driveshaft (there are two with different spline counts, and slightly different lengths, for some reason 28 sticks out in my mind but you must research this, and yes it bolts right in, blam.

Vibration, yes there is some, but there are quite a few threads on pinion angle which must be corrected/compensated for by shimming various parts including the trans bracket or the rear diff mount. The problem can be solved. We basically have a buzzing vibration above about 70MPH but our car is stripped, with more weight/sound deadening I doubt it would be as bad.

The adapter was worth the price for us since we got the driveshaft for $30 and considering the cost of custom drive shafts was very economical.

Trust me when I say once you get a T5 in your Merkur you will kick yourself for not doing it sooner, between that, more boost, and suspension upgrades, god I love tinkering on these cars but I hate them at the same time...

Raze, you were one of the guys I wanted to hear from. I had found an old thread from 2008 about the T5 swap. You had mentioned the 460 adapter way back when and I was wanting some more in-depth info on how it worked. Thanks!

LordTurbonia wrote: Raze, you were one of the guys I wanted to hear from. I had found an old thread from 2008 about the T5 swap. You had mentioned the 460 adapter way back when and I was wanting some more in-depth info on how it worked. Thanks!

Way to go search-monkey! It's a strict bolt in-affair, and I think they even sent bolts, when we bought ours they were surprised anyone still wanted them, my buddies and I seem to have gotten on the XR4 bandwagon waaaaaaaay late in the game, but honestly it's alot of fun because after awhile you know the few hardcore or cool supplier guys (namely Grayson and Anglin from MC2Racing, Phil from OPMD, though he's closing down), and a few others. Most of the car can be fixed at Home Depot, I E36 M3 you not...

I can recommend Mc2 Racing also. Great guys with serious XR4ti/Autocross experience.