Took 2 T5 transmissions apart part way, to swap tailhousings. There's a difference in the location of the shifter on 2 general types of these transmissions. Ones that came out of Camaro or Firebird V-8 equipt cars have the shifter located at the very rear of the tailhousings. Those from S10 pickup trucks, either 4 or 6 cylinder versions, have the shifter located at the front of the tailhousings. This puts the shifter in a much better position for lots of hotrod applications. Including the Whatever project.
I have one of each, however there are some differences between them. And model year differences as well. None of the differences make the swap impossible, only requiring some creativity in one case, and knowing what transmission for gear ratios and replacement parts for it might be required. For instance, there are non-world class (NWC) transmissions, and world class (WC) transmissions. The differences are in bearings and synchro rings. And between the two types of applications, the input shaft can be a different length. Oh, and the transmission mount on V-8 Camaro/Firebird transmissions is angled.
So I took the parts off to swap out and inspect the insides of the 2 transmissions. They both look clean and in good condition inside, which given the age, 1988 and 1993, is amazing. I have an idea that the V-8 T5 was rebuilt, as there's no swarf in the residue of gear oil in it. And the syncros look too good. No rounding of the teeth on the brass rings.
Likewise the S10 T5 is clean inside and it's synchro rings are also in good shape. This transmission is a WC T5 and has composite synchro rings. And uses ATF for lubricant. So here's a few pictures of the of them:
The 1st one is the S10 T5 and the 2nd one is the Camaro V-8 T5. Visible in the pictures are the syncros. They are dark in the 1st one and brass color in the 2nd. And while the outside of the transmissions are dirty, inside of both look clean and in good condition as I said before.
And one more issue to deal with is the speedometer dri, visible here as the, I think, blue gear near the right side of the last picture (I'm blue end of the spectrum color blind...).
The 2 transmissions have different types and locations for how the speedometer gets driven. Electronic on the S10, and traditional gear driven mechanical on the V-8 T5. I've got an idea for an adapter for converting one to the other. It must be serendipitous that I just happened to get the Atlas lathe! But more on that if it works...