I have a 1954 ford f100. I just put a 289 out of a 65 mustang in it. I used a ato trans out of a 82 ford f150 with a straight six, I also used the flex plate from the f150. Ok here are my questions. I have a vibration in my motor realy bad.

Did i use the wrong flexplate?

What type of rear end is in the truck?

I am wanting to run down the road 60, 65 mph not 40, 45 what can do for that problem? I would like to stay with the orignal rear end if I could but, just thought I would ask your opinon?

Has any one put a rack and pinion on there straight axle trucks before and is they have can you give some advise on how to do it?


Thank you

Eddy

 

Hey man welcome!! If you're using the flexplate from the F150 with the 300 6 cyl. thats where your vibration is comming from.


2nd as far as the gears what ratio are you running now? The '82 F150 is TOO wide. You need one '71 and earlier to fit properly.

3rd the question of a rack with a straight axle has come up before, and usually starts a BIG debate. I'm personally against it, but there are some who have done it successfully??

Hope this helps

 

I am fairly sure the flexplate is incorrect, I cant remember what year the balance weight changed, but it may be a moot point as I believe 300/6 and 289/8 use different flexplates.
The rear is best to be replaced with a 9 inch, see tech articles, for better gearing and ease of swap.
Have no idea about the rack and pinion.....sorry


Crap....I type to slow :-)

 

I'd say you have an imbalance issue. I'd suggest you read thru the engine forums on 6 and V8's. I don't think either flywheels or flexplates are interchangeable between the two. Bellhousing is the same however.

To further confuse the issue, early 302 used 28 oz imbalance and later ones used 50 oz. The breakover is around '81. Harmonic balancers up front must match.

 

First off, is it an engine vibration or a driveline vibration? Does the enging vibrate all on its own while running in nuetral or park or is the vibration only felt while driving.
I the engine running good? hitting on all cylinders etc?

More than likely you will need the flexplate for the engine.

Ditto to what Terry said, a pre 1972 truck rearend is the perfect width for the older trucks.

As far as the steering? There are a couple of guys here on the board that have that set up. I don't know much about it but my personal opinion is that the it would make for some unsafe conditions with your intermediate steering column shaft.
I think its alot cleaner and nicer set up to go with the toyota power steering box swap

Good luck
Bobby

 

WOW Thank you for all the reaply so fast Thank you. I Will start looking for a different flexplate and thank you for the rear end info I going to a local junk yard soon and I will look for one. I am going to look for some info on the toyota streeing right now.


Thank you

Eddy

 

Your existing 54 rearend is most likely a 3.92:1 or a 4.11:1. If you are running a non-overdrive auto tranny you should look for 3.0:1 or a 3:25:1 to get decent highway speed without high rpms.

 

Welcome aboard, congratulations on your neat ride.

 

You need a 28oz imbalance flexplate quicklike. Running that engine without the proper imbalance will certainly ruin your engine eventually. 300 6 have zero imbalance. If you can come to Superior, WI, I can give you one. (boy, I better make sure I have the right one first, lol.....give me a day)

 

Havi, just reading this thread. What is a flexplate.

( I find myself just reading alot of the topics)

JimG

 

flywheel= manual transmission.
flexplate=automatic transmission.

I know I have about 3 of them for the 302, just can't remember if they are flywheels, or flexplates, lol.

 

Si, Seniore,

thanks

 

Hey man, there's alot of good guys on here, and alot of good info.At times it's even right. You need to edit your profile and tell everyone where you live? That way we know where you live and maybe even some FTE member lives close to you?

 

I think I fixed my profile. Thank you for all the help it awnsers alot of questions.

 

Just to confuse things, there are several different diameters (tooth counts) on 289/302 flexplates's, even with the proper balance. A good place to look is:

http://www.pioneerautoinc.com/index.htm

They make tons of replacement A/T parts including flexplates. They aren't very expensive, it's really a new ring gear with a piece of sheet metal in the middle.

(edit: they used to have a wonderful on-line listing, but it appears to be "under construction"...)