Can anyone tell me what a cruise-o-matic trans is? I have a 69 F100 that Ford said it came with along with a 390 2v. He couldn't tell me if i was a C6 or a FMX. Any help?

 

C6 has an all-aluminum bell housing & trans body. FMX has cast iron trans body. I don't know codes, so crawl underneath. Cruise-O-Matic was applied to ALL FoMoCo 3-speed trans... From 1958/59 onward. Prior was Ford-O-Matic.

Why does it matter?

tom

 

I thought cruiseamatics were 2 speeds,i had one in a 63 galaxy w/260 engine.fmx is a cast iron c-4,you probaly have a c-6 w/the 390.

 

Ford-O-Matics were two speed, Cruise-O-Matics three. Dad's '64 Lincoln had a cast iron trans, they were aluminum starting in '65.

Jim

 

The FMX is not a C4. Nothing will fit between them except maybe the pan bolts. The FMX is basically the same trans as the Ford-O-Matic built for ages, except that it has a modified valve body that uses the low gear that was built into the trans, but never used unless you put the Ford-O-Matic in "L". The '63 up Cruise-O-Matic had a PRNDL indicator with a green dot, which started the trans in 1st gear, older models had D1. The other setting was a white dot, or D2 for older models, starting the trans in 2nd gear, just like the old Ford-O-Matics. "Saves Gas", and allows for lower torque starts in mud and snow. The latter part actually works, and I've used the same trick in manual shift cars with some success.

We hadda '65 Country Squire with a 390. Cruise-O-Matic. FMX. Cast Iron. Same trans as was in the '59 T-Bird with a 352. '60 Merc had an even bigger cast iron trans. Don't remember the name, but it looked like an FMX on some sort of drugs. big. wide. HEAVY.
The C6 was a new designe (then) that was aluminum, with non-detachable bell housing. The C4 was a small aluminum with detachable bell housing. Used starting in '63(my first sighting was a '63, so may be earlier) behind the 6 and small blocks, even in the Galaxie with the 289. It doesn't look like an FMX at all... We haven't mentioned the 2-speed made in '62 to compete with the Powerglide. It was a useless waste of time and energy to design and put it into production for a short time, much as the two-speed put into the 4-cyl Taurus in '86. Junque, to give it a little class that they both don't deserve. Why FoMoCo insists on trying to save a few bucks by taking out a gearset, and spending the bucks on engineering and production costs. Foolish, in my opinion, to go to the trouble of engineering, parts design and sourcing, production line setup, assembly line. Even the cooler lines were different. Throw that money away.
As if anyone reads this stuff...
tom