Found an answer to my question about the knob. At some point in production the newer style knob replaced the round ball on chrome rod. Mine is a later production car so the knob is correct.

Flywheel
 

So I decided to go the redrilled flywheel route. I bought a McLeod billet mustang flywheel (I got a really good deal on it) and a Auto 4.5 ring gear from a buddy. Taking the new FW, 3.5 FW to copy the pattern from, ring gear and my crankshaft(to insure it fits correctly) to the machine shop next week (If we are not shut down by then). Initial observations: Based on research the 10.5" clutch is more than large enough and more choices than the 11". Plenty of material to redrill center bore and bolt holes. The bolt heads will still cover the elongated hole-even the odd hole. The billet FW ring gear is thick so the 4.5 ring gear drops down over the FW without machining the flywheel. The OD is tapered so the FW may still need to be machined to fit but I don't want to cut off the ring gear just yet in case I need to return the new FW.

there was a guy with a few 3.5l ring gears on ebay for the longest time. He was looking for about 100$ each at one point. Looks like they're finally gone. -CTH

Thanks for the info CTH-I'm staying with the 4.5 gear since they are easy to come by and it fits. I want a combo that can easily be duplicated. I decided to go ahead and cut off the ring gear. The 4.5 ring gear slips on like it was made for it. The ring gear is about .2" further back from the block than the 3.5 one. Hopefully close enough not to be an issue. In case anyone wants to duplicate my combination it is a McLeod 463408 flywheel.

So it fits with enough tightness to center it? Are you going to drill and bolt it on?

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There is a very small clearance-maybe .1" The plan is to center it and drill/tap 6 holes. I will run the idea by the machinist to see if they have another idea.

Have you checked out the drivenman?

Pretty cool stuff. Nothing for v8 Mercedes though. I wish this stuff was available when I had my Jag-the trans was pretty rustic.

Too bad-that's for a 6 cyl car

I didn't realize that the 6 cylinder and v8 bell housing patterns were different.

Like the photo shopped shifter in the trans pic. WTF? Is he for real? All this guy's swaps use "new"t5 trans, where is he getting 400Lbft rated t5?

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That shifter arrangement MIGHT have worked on mine but I would have to cut out a large area where the original and added shifter boxes are and the original shifter hole would be gone. It will be easier to return the car to original with the hole under the A/C unit and the original shifter hole intact. Maybe their T5's have aftermarket gear sets? One would need the tag# to know.

That shifter isn't real. It's a drawing.

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ha! I guess it was cheaper to model it in software. -CTH