Ok. So I have an '82 Econoline club wagon with 300 straight 6 4.9l (Great engine) Crap tranny however. My question is; How hard would it be to replace the 3spd w/overdrive manual tranny with a newer 4spd top loader manual tranny? Anyone know if I can do this with minimal aggravation or would I just be wasting more of my time? I had the tranny rebuilt yet the end result is it is still crap. I really need help with this

 

I honestly don't know how hard but love the idea. I bought a '78 F100 Flareside pickup new with the 300 and the 4 speed O/D. And the countershaft bearings fried using OD so I just drove it in 3rd. I honestly lined up a swap for creeper gear truck 4 speed but I would have needed a new driveshaft. I actually priced and lined up the conversion. But sold the truck with 90k miles on it instead--it was starting to rust (Michigan salt)...

That OD trans is a top loader, but most car 4 speeds have a first gear of around 2.40-2.50 and to get a van moving you are probably gonna want a lower first gear. I believe the 4 speed OD has a numeric ratio above 3.0 but my memory may be bad. There may be some other top loader app with a lower first gear but you'd have to search that out. Not sure if they used different tailshaft housings for cars vs trucks, etc. I would hope the bolt pattern and input shaft are the same.

Good luck. My pickup was way overgeared with a 2.75 rear end and the OD, giving a final drive of 2.19 or something. The OD trans was a good idea but I was not pleased with the longevity. I would have been much happier with a regular top loader with a 1:1 final drive. Altho I haven't been of much help, I understand why you want to lose the OD transmission.

George

 

I can't shed much direct hand's on experience with swapping in a manual trans but its not easy. Sadly the pedal assembly along with an actuation method for the clutch are two issues that greatly complicate this. If you're up for a lot of modifying other components to fit a different use its doable.

Then again that which is doable depends very much on funds available, skill at such modifications along with a working knowledge of how to diagnose and correct any unforeseen problems arising from the installation. Put another way some things in theory always seem great...........

I've seen a few threads where some have tried this but can't recall any levels of success. At least not to the point what they did and how was ever consolidated into one how-to post.

BTW I'm not trying to quash your goal or enthusiasm----just letting you know its an uphill battle.

 

What's wrong with the current transmission that the rebuild didn't fix? A manual transmission was available in Econolines. I've actually seen a couple in the junkyard and wished I had pulled the pedal assembly for others to use.

 

You could get "big money" for those pedal assemblies---curious why some enterprising person's not duplicated them new for sale to early E-Series owners?

 

I'm a big guy with 2 bad shoulders. Well, one was fixed recently. Getting under a dash is something I try not to do too often. Otherwise I would have grabbed them.

 

Thanks for the input. This van came with a manual 3spd w/od or as some call it a 4spd. It needed an overhaul as 2nd was pretty well gone and 3rd/ od were not working as they should. So I sent it out for rebuild and it is still unusable. So I'm wondering if a new manual 4spd will bolt up to my 82 engine or do I need to continue looking for the older trannys or is there a place I can purchase all internal replacement parts so I can rebuild this sucker myself. I have put much time and money into this van because it was a gift to me. The frame and body are in awesome condition and there is no major rust anywhere. I just need to get a working tranny in this so we can pack up n head south. This northern winter weather has become way to much for this body to handle. Time for us to become snow birds. Yep Yep it is.

 

Remove the seats and suddenly there's enough working room inside to hold a dance.

FrankieGirl why is this rebuilt transmission unusable? If its a matter of the work done I'd have that addressed first----no reason to pay for something and it not work.

For compatibility with your current engine and possible transmissions look in one of the FTE sub-forums dealing with your engine or the transmission-specific area too.

 

I totally missed that your van already had a manual transmission. I skimmed through it and thought you wanted to swap a manual for an auto. Maybe this guy can answer your questions. Remanufactured Toploaders