I am pondering rebuilding my 292 with manual transmission, floor shifter. I am beginning to believe that before the rebuild is complete I will at the very least have neuropathy and who knows what else to prevent me from driving a manual trans. Thinking of upgrading to an automatic trans. Any thoughts?

 

Are you thinking about a auto that bolts directly to the y block or one that bolts with an adaptor?


Neither will be cheap.


The 64 AT cooled through the engine block, not the radiator like the 65+ trucks do.


Unless you find a donor vehicle with everything intact, Im guessing that you will hunt for parts for years to do a period correct conversion.

 

Thanks for the info Shadowrider. Unless someone knows an easy way To make the transition I will probably just go with the manual trans or swap to a modern engine and trans.

 

If you can swap the engine and transmission, then you should have no problem swapping only a transmission as an entire swap will not be easier.
Your options are many. The easiest is to find an original truck auto, as shadowrider stated. That should be easiest to install, but hardest to find. Next is to use a car transmission and make mounts for it. That will be much easier to find but harder to install. Next is to get an adapter and use almost any transmission you want. This is also easy to find but possibly slightly harder to install than the Y-Block car option

 

I just barely have enough experience and help to do a total engine and trans swap if I can find the combo together in the first place. They were at least made to go together, just not in my truck. Where I fall short in tech savvy to make non matching parts match and the $takes are high. As Clint Eastwood said, "a man has got to know his limitations." I had hoped to find someone who was in my EXACT situation so I could cheat off of them..All of these replies have helped to educate me further so I can make an informed plan on how to proceed.. Sometimes I feel like a girl which I'm sure will make all the girls who know more than I do very angry...sorry

 

If you have not already, get a shop manual for the truck. Read through everything about the manual transmission in the truck, the automatic transmission installation and removal, steering column installation and removal, and that will give you a great idea about what is involved.
Any other aftermarket conversion will be more or less the same with the exception that you will have to devise some way to mount the transmission to the truck since the mounting ears will no longer be on the bellhousing. There may be other small things involved but if you get to the point where you are comfortable with making mounts, then they should be no issue.

 

I recently went to an AOD automatic from a truck 4 speed in my '62 F100 with a 292. Cost was about $3,500 to switch. I had someone do it for me that had the shop and know-how. Any way you go except stock is going to cost unless you do it all yourself and find a transmission cheap!

 

Ford-Y-Blocks.com has a bell and flex plate kit to adapt the C4 to the y block. It even has a starter drive gear, so you can use the more modern FE type starter. It looks to be a fairly straight-forward swap. This kit is around $550. Summit has a C4 for about $1200. This is cheaper than the T5 conversion; and, probably easier. I'm very interested to see if anyone has tried this conversion. I've got to decide if this is for me in the next several weeks. That yellow 63 Unibody would really drive a lot better with an automatic as opposed to the granny gear 4 speed!

 

Well I guess I am a coward. Instead of trying to rebuild the 292 and then trying to adapt an auto transmission I bought a 302 roller motor. Given my skill level it's probably the best path. Thanks for all of your advise.