I'm going crazy here ... My 1965 econoline has a 4 speed on the tree, my VIN says it should be a 3 speed... it all looks factory to me ... it's a spring special maybe thats why it has a 4 speed? ... I do not have an answer ... The shift lever is FORD R 1234 ... my mechanic says it looks like it's factory installed, so is it a cruel joke or is it possible someone switched it? How hard would that have been to switch? and where did this tranny come from? Could this be a factory installed 4 speed on the tree? ... 48 years and 6 owners later who knows?

 

I can't tell you why your vin doesn't match the trans, but I can say that the 4 speed was a factory option in the early Falcon and Econoline vans. I have seen several vans with the "4 on the tree" over the years.
The trans is a British Ford unit, a Dagenham. They were used through the mid 60's in Falcons, Comets and Mustangs, as well as the vans.
Mainly used behind 144 and 170 engines, they were avaiable for a short time behind 200's.

Hope this helps.

Roger Carter

 

The 4-speed trans was optional on the 1963 and 1964 Econolines. It's possible yours was installed by the dealer. Many do not like the Dagenham transmission because the gearing was odd.

It could be the dealer thought he would make the Spring Special even more special by installing a 4-speed transmission.

 

Swapping in the dagenham has been a popular conversion in the past. The Dagenham is weak and unless you have a low geared diff, the gearing is really too close. You can swap one in from a 63-64 Econoline and not be able to tell it wasnt factory for your truck.

If you want to go back to the factory 3-speed, I know someone who would be happy to swap even. ;-)

 

No VIN of any FoMoCo vehicle contains the TRANS code. It's listed separately on the Warranty Plate.

No 1965 Econoline came with the Dagenham 4 speed, 1963/64 only.

1962/64 Falcon 144/170, 1965 Mustang 170 before 8/23/1964, 1965/66 Mustang 200 were also available w/the Dagenham. 1965 Mustang's assembled from 8/23/1964 were only available with the 200 I-6.

TRANSMISSION CODES: Left: 1957/63 Ford Truck Parts Catalog / Right: 1964/72 Ford Truck Parts Catalog.

 

Many new Ford owners refer to the warranty plate as the VIN plate as that is the 'tag' where the VIN is found.

Mike, is your Econoline in the registry?

 

Econoline ID Table

 

A while back I had the opportunity to speak with Dave Kee at 4speedtoploaders.com. He indicated if the bolt holes and oil return passages are the same on the very short tail stock then he could make a main shaft. I'm not sure the Dagenham shifter will work. my thought was to add a short shift lever to the floor and use a bowden cable to operate reverse while keeping the original 3 on the tree. reverse would become 1st gear an so on. I still have a lot of other things to repair before this adventure but it looks like it would work. Also the top loader is about bullet proof and can have various gearing options
to get the spread required for ones specific needs.
svj

 

Dagenham shifter should work worst case it could be used to operate a cable instead of a solid linkage for reverse

 

There is/was a 4 speed trans+linkange+column+ extras for an early econoline on ebay the other day. I saved it in my favorites just in case some extra cash magically appeared in my checking account. here is the link...
1961 1967 Ford Econoline 4 SPD Transmission Column Linkage P P Flyw Bell H Inclu | eBay

 

 

It was a factory option in 63 and 64 ONLY. This 65 Spring Special did NOT come from the factory with the 4-speed.

 

Here's the 1964 pic, 1963 pic is in a different parts catalog.

 

I've seen that before Bill, in fact, if I didn't have my 57-72 manuals on CD I'd be bugging you every day!

Thank you for helping all of us every day!