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Copyright 1996-2004 Dan Wentz
Transmission Swaps |
quick liNksmaintenanceSpecifications modificationsF-Series historyCanadian Ford & Mercury Trucks Early F-Series in Film & Television Online ToolscommunityMy 1950 f1 |
The basic idea: Sometimes old transmissions die and can't be replaced. Sometimes you want an automatic or overdrive. Sometimes you swap engines and know the new one will kill the old transmission. There are lots of good reasons to swap transmissions. What's available? This is closely related to what kind of engine you're using. If you use a Ford engine you have to use a Ford transmission, use a Chevy engine, use a Chevy transmission. You also have to take the power of your engine into consideration. There's also the issue of automatic vs. manual. Most people opt for an automatic. Here's a list of some common transmissions: Ford C4--a very good 3 speed automatic used between 1964 and 1980--variants of it were used until 1985. Ford C6--a bigger, stronger 3 speed automatic. It's used for bigger engines and was in production well into the 90's. Ford AOD--a 4 speed overdrive automatic made from 1980 to 1993. It's a generally good transmission but doesn't like to be abused by too much power. Ford T5--a good manual transmission. 5 speed w. overdrive. Found in Mustangs, trucks, probably others. It's a good transmission unless you have a very powerful engine. Ford Top Loader--an old 4 speed from the 60's. Hard to come by and quite expensive, but indestructible. Chevy Turbo 350 & Turbo 400. I have no idea really--probably equivalent to the C4 and C6. I know painfully little about Chevy stuff. You can post on the message boards if you have info. BonusBuilt.Com suggests: C4 if you're running a small block Ford or a Flathead. They're light, small, and take a good amount of power. Great aftermarket support as well--good general parts availability. Even if you drag race it's a good tranny to use. How do you do it? It varies greatly from case to case. You will need an engine to bolt it to (an engine with the same bolt pattern would be even better) and a mount for it attached to the frame. The location and construction of the mount is up to you. Personally, I lucked out and had my C4 mount line up with my stock tranny crossmember--minimal modification made it fit. You'll also need to find a way to shift the gears--basically just buy a good shifter. If you have a manual tranny you need to hook up the clutch to a pedal--a hydraulic line is probably your best bet--and the shifter will be a bigger deal than with an automatic because the stick directly shifts the gears so it has to clear the dash, the seat, you, and you have to be able to reach it. I guess that's why people usually opt for an automatic. Any common problems? Transmissions are tricky, but problems directly related to installation are pretty minimal. |
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Copyright 1996-2004 Dan Wentz |