It would help to know how many miles are on it. But $400 seems fair.

Put the shifter in gear, spin the input shaft, and listen/feel for any grinding or binding.
Work it in every gear the best you can by hand.

 

Sounds fair, but I would suggest you not buy it unless you fully expect to completely rebuild it. It's very likely that trans has hundreds of thousands of miles on it. Of course, you might get lucky.

 

An upgrade to that '90 WCT5 would be one from a '98 V6
I wouldnt pay that much for an unknown, there are to many still in junkyards that can be made to work for under $200.
$400 would be closer to used with 90 day warranty price.

 

I wouldnt pay that much for an unknown, there are to many still in junkyards that can be made to work for under $200.
$400 would be closer to used with 90 day warranty price.

This right here:thumbsup:

Unless you have driven this transmission personally or know someone you trust who has, it's a core. I wouldn't pay more than $150 for it.

 

My experience has been that $350-$400 is pretty much the avg. going rate for T5 in drop-in runnable shape = at least a few years ago when I was looking. As mentioned, you may not be dealing with trustworthy seller and overpaying for a core. I bought T5WC for 1,000 that came with bell, new clutch pressure plate, shifter, fork and a freshly built 302 with quality parts and ARP bolts along with all the drive accessories. This was all out of an '88 Mustang GT. Ended up selling the T5 and shifter for $400, heads for $250, E303 cam and roller lifters for $150, valve covers and air cleaner for $100, misc parts for $100 and was left with the fresh shortblock, bell and clutch/PP all for a net cost of $0 - not bad. Fella had just completed the build and then hydroplaned the mustang into a wall on his 2nd outing and was in need of cash at time and I was first to call. Was initially planning to run that T5 but decided to sell instead and trade-up to a T5Z for better gearing, durability and not have to worry about yanking it out anytime soon. That was when they were only $1,400 at Summit - noticed they've been going up rather quickly.

 

My 4 speed toploader is starting to grind from 3rd to 4th if I shift it too quickly so I thought it would be a good time to put a 5 speed and change my rear gears.

I guess I'll start hitting the yards see what they are going for I'm my area.

Thanks everyone.

 

Get ready for disappointment. I've talked to multiple people looking for a T5 in salvage yards and they reported finding none. Every car with a 5-speed was picked clean.

Can't hurt to try. Good luck!

 

Paid $350 for mine a number of years ago. Was "told" it had only 70k+ miles on it. I've had no issues with the tranny itself, but maybe I got lucky.

 

The guy tells me it was rebuilt in August last year.
Didn't ask him yet if he has a receipt to prove it was rebuilt.

 

I feel like everyone already knows this but, the site car-part.com is great for searching bone yards.

 

While I feel the price is fair (if it is a good trans), I would want someone to go through it before I installed it. Adding up the costs though, you might be getting close to a newone. Personally, when I was looking for a T5 I came up empty so I saved a bit longer and bought a new T5Z from Jegs--free shipping helped out too.

 

Have you considered finding a T5 core and rebuilding it yourself? I bought a T5 and all the parts I needed for the install for $1,100 (I actually paid $1,300, but I always subtract the $200 I got out of selling the C4). Rebuilding a T5 is really easy. I bought a "how to" rebuild video from Bad Shoe Productions How To Video Series - Ford Transmissions & Rears and parts from http://www.thegearbox.org/home.html and did it myself. It was the first time I've ever rebuilt a transmission and I was surprised how easy it was, and how fast I got it done.

There are several videos on youtube if you want to see the process.

 

Have you considered finding a T5 core and rebuilding it yourself? I bought a T5 and all the parts I needed for the install for $1,100 (I actually paid $1,300, but I always subtract the $200 I got out of selling the C4). Rebuilding a T5 is really easy. I bought a "how to" rebuild video from Bad Shoe Productions How To Video Series - Ford Transmissions & Rears and parts from The Gear Box is your online source for t56 transmission parts,t5 transmission parts,borg warner t56,muncie transmission,t10 transmission,super t10 transmission,3550 transmission parts,manual transmission parts,t56 transmission overhaul kit, t56 trans and did it myself. It was the first time I've ever rebuilt a transmission and I was surprised how easy it was, and how fast I got it done.

I actually bought that video too--my plan was to rebuild one and save a few $$. The few cores I foun were way over priced though. I really did want to try and rebuild one after I built my 347--I figured if I couldbuild a shortblock then a trans would be a nice bit of knowledge to have.