DIY Resources & MDL Blog

Two projects for SEMA 2015.  A 1963 Corvette and a 1968 Mustang.  Both equipped with Modern Driveline Transmissions.           Click to see 1967 Mustang Kits                   Click to see 1963 Corvette Kits      …

The following pictorial highlights the build of a 1933 American Speed Body built onto a Shadow Rods Chassis with a Flathead power plant followed by a MDL Front Shift T5 1933 Rod Build Enthusiasts Who Are Also Engineers This is why you do business with Modern Driveline. We are not a large company…

The following pictorial highlights Bill’s 1966 Mustang. Bill wrote “Thought I would send a couple of pictures of the car. With the great weather this winter in Oregon I’ve been able to put about 900 miles on it so far. I would like to thank you for the help and the fast shipping. 66…

The following pictorial highlights Jim’s 2013 Mustang. Jim contacted us not long after buying this 2013 Mustang GT.  Stock with a MT-82 transmission and stock 5.0L, Jim knew that it would not live up to his expectations of spirited street and Road Course driving.  To deliver the power generated by the Roush Stage 3…

David shows off his 1973 Mach 1. David, from Trenton Michigan, works as a Engineer for Ford. In his off hours he has restored this 1973 Mustang Mach 1.  In November 2016 he is taking the car back to its original home in Pennsylvania to surprise the previous owner, John, with the beauty of the…

The T5 five-speed transmission was developed for a broad range of vehicle applications from passenger cars to compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) requirements. The TREMEC T5 has been used on various passenger car and light truck applications. Its largest application was the Mustang GT. Currently, it is sold to the aftermarket for modernizing classic…

The T45 five-speed overdrive transmission was developed primarily for high-performance cars with relatively high-engine torque requirements but is adaptable to other light-duty applications such as sport-utility light trucks. Product Run 1996 – Feb 2001 Ford 4.6L Mustang The Borg-Warner T45 was introduced in 1996 when the Ford 4.6L Modular motor was released.  These transmissions were…

TREMEC TR3550 5 Speed overdrive transmission was developed to provide great torque capacity and is ideal for specialty sports cars equipped with high torque engines.   The TREMEC TR3550 5 Speed was both a product and a product line. The product line encompassed the 3550 and TKO models. Each model had two versions. One being…

The TR-3650 five-speed overdrive transmission was developed using state-of-the-art technology and is designed for a wide range of cars and compact utility vehicles.  Currently, the TREMEC TR-3650 is used in the Ford Mustang GT and the BA Falcon.  It was first introduced in 2001 as a replacement for the T-45 five speed.  Produced from 2001-2004…

  World-Class T5   Not all Borg Warner/TREMEC T5’s are the same. T5 Service Manual LINK The first T5 five speeds were introduced to market in 1980, in all things, an AMC Spirit/Concord. In 1983, T5’s were introduced to Fox body Mustangs and continued to be used in V-6 Mustangs until 2010. The T5 is…

Tremec’s New T-56 Magnum Is Ready To Make Stronger, Smoother Music In Your ‘Stang Dale Amy September 1, 2009 In the great pecking order of Mustang manual transmissions, six-speed gearboxes such as those factory-installed in ’03-’04 Cobras and current GT500s clearly rule the roost. While most of us had to get by with only five…

If you are rebuilding your transmission look below for the service manual which may guide you to a successful outcome. Service details for the T-5, TKO, and T-56 transmissions are provided below in pdf form.  Download and print them to help guide you through the process of rebuilding and repair of your transmission. If…

Out Of The Relative Quiet Of Oregon’s Rogue Valley Comes The Undeniable Roar Of Brute Ford Power Jim Smart June 1, 2007 Medford, Oregon, hides in plain sight along Interstate 5, just north of the California border. This largely agricultural community is on the beaten path, yet far enough off of it that the masses…

Written by Brandan Gillogly on November 5, 2013 Steve Strope, owner of Pure Vision, has made a habit of debuting an amazing build at the annual SEMA show. Last year was the racy Martini Mustang that featured a rare Ford Indy OHC V8. For SEMA 2013, he moved from a stripped race car to a luxury grand touring car in…

Ed Schmidt Never Expected To Keep His 1967 Ford Mustang GT Fastback For 40 Years Donald Farr Former Editor, Mustang Monthly January 10, 2011 Lonny Childress pulled over, set the parking brake, and announced, “Now you drive.” I was visiting Gateway Classic Mustang to check out their new vintage Mustang suspension system (see “Gateway to…

Carla Coleman’s Father Bought This ’65 Fastback Brand-New. She And Husband Jerry Have Rebuilt It Into A Modern Cruiser Donald Farr Former Editor, Mustang Monthly June 1, 2010 Photos By: Jerry Heasley In November 1964, Charles Modesitt placed an order for a Rangoon Red ’65 Mustang fastback. While most buyers chose the new fastback body style…

Tremec’s Magnum Six-Speed Will Separate Your Classic Ford From The Rest Of The Herd Dale Amy July 16, 2010 Tech | Transmission Upgrade You don’t have to have the mathematical skills of Einstein to grasp the obvious advantages of a six-speed gearbox over any old-school three- or four-speed box. With a deep overdrive in Sixth…

A Mustang Coupe That Really Hauls Joe Greeves February 4, 2014 Do you know the difference between a pickup truck and an Ute? Most enthusiasts think that Ute is just an Australian term for a pickup truck, but it’s more than that. Henry Ford debuted the first factory-produced pickup truck in 1925, a Model T…

Clutch Need A Crutch? Jim Smart January 19, 2016 If you’ve been driving a classic Mustang with a manual transmission for a while you probably understand this one. The original factory clutch Z-bar systems were terrible at best because they were never strong enough nor were they properly engineered for the task. We’ve often made…

Typical Errors and Misconceptions We All Make – And How to Avoid Them Written by Jim Smart March 9, 2016 OK, admit it. You’re tempted to cruise past this article, yet you can’t resist the desire to read it to see if you’ve made at least one of these mistakes building a classic muscle car.…

Jim Smart May 31, 2016 Modern Driveline was on top of the five-speed conversion game before anyone else with complete five-speed conversion kits and great technical support. These days, the Modern Driveline discussion moves quickly to five- and six-speed conversions for all Mustang generations and a host of other popular marques like Chevy Camaro, Corvette,…

Jim Smart May 31, 2016 When Ford introduced the all-new 1979 Mustang in the fall of 1978, few of us believed it would ever be collectible. At the time classic 1965-1973 Mustangs were coming into their own as hot collector cars and they got all the attention. Late model Fox-body Mustangs weren’t even considered Mustangs…

Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords by Jim Smart Pedal Play: Modern Driveline Makes It Fast & Easy to Get Precision Low-Pedal Resistance Clutch Performance Jim Smart November 1, 2016 Fox-Body Mustangs haven’t been this popular since the 1990s. Sales of these lightweight, good-looking 1979-1993 Stangs haven’t been this brisk in ages. They’re plentiful and cheap,…

Acheive SPOT-ON clutch bellhousing & Trans alignment for reduced wear & increased performance

LF Series External Hydraulic Clutch Slave Uses cable style lever and bearing Integrated bleed Simple installation Simple and reliable Compatible with T5/TKO Aluminum Bell and Quicktime steel bell Alternative to Mechanical linkage The LF Series Hydraulic Clutch Slave is designed as a alternative to mechanical linkage or a replacement for the cabled clutch system.  Using…

The Muscle-Z-Bar is the answer to poor performance from your mechanical linkage.  Spherical rod ends, heim joints, and fully adjustable linkage rods remove the binding points which plaque mechanical linkages. As Jim Smart says in Mustang Monthly: “The vintage Mustang’s stock clutch linkage isn’t a bad design. In fact, it isn’t much different than most from the…

        Are you plagued with shifting issues in your 2005-up Mustang, including the 2011 and 2012 Mustangs? Have you beefed up the motor with power adders, pushing beyond the limits of the TR3650 (2005-2010) or Getrag MT-82 (2011-2012)? Is the 2-piece driveshaft causing vibration issues at high speeds?…

Introduced in the spring of 2009, the TREMEC T-56 Magnum 6-speed manual transmission, was the long-awaited and highly anticipated replacement for the original T-56. Based heavily on the TR-6060, the all-new Magnum took the best of TREMEC’s current OEM design and manufacturing technologies and combined them with the most popular features of their intensely popular TKO 5-speed. The…

Early (mid-1960s and earlier) cars and street rods with their engines and drivetrain sitting back further than today’s cars benefit greatly when the shifter is positioned forward from the standard position offered by the T5 overdrive transmission. MDL is proud to introduce the Front Shift T5 Tailhousing. Designed from the ground up to reproduce the…

Put a “better” overdrive transmission behind your Ford Flathead.       JUST RELEASED – Flathead overdrive begins with the adapter. The MDL Flathead bell adapter, made as a direct fit for the 59 series blocks, while also mating to the intermediate ring on the 8 series flatheads, allows you to install a “better” transmission…