Where they the only manual option offered at the time ??

 

The Mazda tranny first appeared in '88, along with the ZF. Not sure what was before then, or much after, but I think there was a 4 speed offered on my dad's '92.

 

As far as I can tell from the old brochures, for the F150's, the Mazda M5R2 was introduced in 1988 and it replaced the standard equipment T18-4 and the optional NP435. The T18-4 was available from 1987-1989 but it was optional in 1988 and 1989. The ZF S542 was introduced in 1987 on the F250, F350 and F-Super Duties. My father's 1987 F250 has the ZF but I've seen 1987 F250 and a 1990 F350 with the NP435. I'm not sure if they came that way from the factory or if they were transplants.

 

My 84 F250 has a 4 Speed (3sp+Granny). What tranny is this ??

Would a Mazda 5 Speed swap in directly behind my I-6 ??

 

Your 1984 most likely has an NP435. That transmission has been in use from at least the late 1970's. (Mid-60's to 1989 I think) My father's 1977 F250 had the NP435 in it along with a 460. If you're going to put a 5-speed behind your I6, don't put in a crappy M5R2 (crappy compared to the ZF), at least use a ZF S542 from a 1987-1994 F250/350 with a 300, 302 or 351. (Same bell pattern.) A ZF S547 from a 1995-1996 F250LD with the 300, 302 or 351 or 1995-1996 F350 with a 300 or 351 will work too. (and also a 1997 F250HD or F350 with a 351 only.) The 300, 302, 351 bell patterns are the same, the 460 is another and the 6.9L/7.3L diesel is yet another pattern so watch out. The S547 used on 1999-2001 Super Duties will not work and neither will the S6-650 used on the 1999-2005 super duties. Oh, and also, S542's on the F250LD's (300, 302, 351 with semi-floating Sterling 10.25" axle) had a crappy concentric slave cylinder clutch release. I'm not sure when they stopped using it. The F250HD and F350 models and all use the external slave cylinder clutch release which is much better.
I hope your I6 is already a manual transmission or you'll have a lot of fun. For example finding the correctly weighted and balanced flywheel for your engine, installing the pedal and all... Also you may need the transmission crossmember and a different length driveshaft depending on what was in your truck. No matter what, you'll need the entire hydraulic clutch system because I think the 3 and 4 speeds were cable operated.

 

Wow, thanks for the detailed transmission overview... make a note though that many (including mine) F-250's with the 300 and 302 came with the Mazda transmission... I don't know what the year range for that is but mine's a '91.

 

I'm not sure under what conditions the F250LD's had the Mazda vs. the ZF S542. Maybe with certain payload packages you got the S542. He's going to have to pay attention to that though, you're right. Here's a picture comparing the two. The top one is the ZF, the bottom one is the Mazda. They are different enough to immediatly tell the difference, the PTO plates on each side being a dead give away:

 

Yup. That's what it's got now.

I was just pondering (for the future) about upgrading to a 5-Speed.

I would LOVE to upgrade the engine to a PowerStroke on down the road as well.

 

Actually.....It's a Borg-Warner T18

 

Was a 3-speed plus granny low an option in 90' and later half-tons?


__________
90' F150 XLT Lariat Lb Loaded
302w/ headers /4-speed/ 4.10 rear
2.25" True Duals/24" packs/5th wheel

 

So you have an F250 Light Duty then, with the Sterling 10.25 semi-floater? The F250HD and F350 use the NP435 usually. (And the Sterling 10.25" full floater.)


I see the T18-4 listed in 1987 (standard equipment), and 1988 and 1989 as optional tranny only, nothing listed in 1990 and after. It doesn't mean someone couldn't have put one in a 1990 and above though.

 

There was a granny 4 speed offered in my dad's 92

 

As for the F250 LD vs HD thing.
F250 LD's got the M5OD with the 300 and 302(I haven't seen one with a 351W yet, but, if they did, they were likley auto only like the F150's) The HD's got the ZF behind the 300 and all the other offerd engines. The 302 wasn't offered in anything heavier than a F250 LD however.

 

The M5OD wasn't available in 1984... (He's talking about his 1984 F250) You had to wait til 1988 for the M5OD.

 

Your father had an F250 then? I can't find any 4-speeds listed for the 1992 F150 production run.

For the 1992 F250 production run:

There were 85,382 F250 trucks built.
5% had the 4-speed manual.
39% had the 5-speed manual.
4% had the 3-speed automatic.
52% had the 4-speed automatic.