This is not an easy or inexpensive project
Question:
You have helped me out in the past so I thought I would see if you can help me with this one. I have a 1969 Borg-Warner T10 from an AMX that I want to install in my Gremlin. I have almost all of the parts needed but I am missing the yoke. I cannot find a listing for one anywhere. I can get one that will fit a T10 that was installed in Fords and Chevys, but no listing for one in an AMC. Can you tell me if either a Ford or Chevy yoke would fit? At one time I remember someone telling me that a yoke from one of the automatic transmissions that AMC used would fit, but I don’t know which one, and AMC used a lot of different automatic transmissions in its day.
Answer:
My research reveals that the original slip yoke for your 1969 AMX BW T10 was not the same as was used in either Ford or Chevrolet applications. These other yokes are close but the barrel section of the yoke is both too long and too large in outer diameter. Also, the portion of the yoke that accepts the U-joint end caps is not the same dimension. The original style/dimension yoke that you’re seeking was, I believe, also used in M-11, M-11A and M-11B AMC Borg-Warner automatic transmissions originally installed in 1967-71 AMC vehicles. In spite of this expanded use, however, good, useable examples of the yoke that you need are very hard to come by.
Contact American Parts Depot (americanpartsdepot.com) to see if he has what you need. Be prepared, however, to pay at least a couple of hundred dollars if he (or any other parts supplier) has the correct yoke.
Another solution to your dilemma is to modify a more common Ford or Chevy yoke to work with your AMC gearbox. A good machinist can remove enough material from the diameter so the alternative yoke is a snug slip fit in your AMC tail housing and cut off enough length so it doesn’t bottom out. You can also start with a Ford C4/T5 yoke, which has the correct number of splines but is too small in diameter by about .060-inches. A machinist can address the size difference by making a custom bushing for your tail housing or a sleeve for the yoke.
With either the undersized or oversized yoke you’ll need to solve the U-joint problem and there are a couple of ways to do this. A driveshaft shop can modify your driveshaft to accept the same 1330 type U-joint that the Ford yoke uses or you can buy a “conversion” U-joint that has two different size end caps. Summit Racing (summitracing.com) and various other suppliers sell this type of U-joint.
As with a correct, original-type yoke, none of these solutions is particularly inexpensive and, in fact, when you get finished with machining and new parts the cost for a conversion may well exceed the cost for a good original yoke.
