So, I found the original 80 amc sr4 four speed and bellhousing in the challenge car last night.
According to the Internet, Which is never wrong, is the great grandfather of the t5. It's also supposedly junk.
Anyway, will it bolt to a t5 bellhousing? I haven't seen the shifter yet, so what can I use for one? We've got a 5.0 t5 bell, and possibly a used clutch and flywheel, so that makes this a no brainer if they all will play nice with each other.
not sure about the bell housing, will likely depend on if you have a vanilla t5 housing, or a world class. The bigger problem is that tranny is weaker than the original t4/t5, which are much weaker than the WC t5 usually found behind 302's. That's assuming it's not already busted up internally.
So pretty much it's a hand grenade with the pin pulled, and may not last long enough to test the car, let alone challenge the car.
If its weaker then a non worldclass t5 then it really is crap. I broke 2 of the regular t5's behind a stock 2.3t. You can find the worldclass ones pretty cheap but even there you have mixed results.
The later the T-5, the better. '93 Mustangs had the best of the regular boxes, the '93 Cobra was better, and the T-5Z is the best. Also, beware: 94-95 T-5s have a longer input shaft, and require the use of the 94-95 bellhousing. All other T-5 bells are the same, WC or non-WC.
Look at the Mustang II forums, they have the answer as the SR2 came in those and they look for ways to get the T-5 in there too. IIRC, they call the SR4 the RAD 4.
http://www.mustangii.org/tech/tipsntricks/mii-4speed-alternative.shtml
The transmission is also found in CJ Jeeps so then you need to check Novak Adapters as they have a lot of good tech along with their adapters: https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transmissions/manual/sr4/
Basically, that transmission is an explosion in progress behind a v8 of nearly any flavor. It was barely enough for the 151 (Gm or AMC). and 258. Unless you get a cheap WC deal, I'd avoid that whole series of transmissions. I'd go straight to a t-56 or top loader 4 speed.
In a pinch, a c4 or c6 with a ratchet shifter is another option. That era of 3 speed slush boxes are brutally simple and stout enough.
The ford 3 speed manuals have some potential options too, in the rat/ran/ref series. Just been so long that I don't recall which were the heavier duty boxes, the light duty ones are about equal to the SR4.
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