this comes up all the time eh guys and gals ???? LOL !!!!!! i have i think , 3.92's in the dana in my 53 with a flatty . it is not a highway hauler by no means !!! i have a 8.8 diff laying around and or a t5 now to help with that lil' issue . my 8.8 is sporting 3.08's and seems to be a fair trade off in my mind . she's not gonna be hauling a load or any a-- from the lights anymore so .... never was a race truck anyways !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! flatties are cool but they aren't as powerful as they sound LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I had a 4 speed top loader with overdrive 4th is a 84 ford van with a 300 six. those transmissions are everywhere. They also came in 80's broncos. The shifter mounts on the side just like the standard ford top loader in torinos and mustangs.the srod is a later internal shift version of it. Is it as strong as the old muscle car 4 speeds? nope but its plenty strong. My father in law put one behind a ford diesel pickup back in the early 90's never had a problem. And they shift good. you can find them on craigs list for a couple hundred bucks.

 

I have been looking @ a T5 conversion. Would it be a better option in people's opinion? If I did that would the stock rear gears be ok?

And thanks for all the help so far.

 

t 5's are great transmissions. adaptors avialible for almost any engine. i may be wrong on this but im thinking the overdrive gear is .68 it will really bring down the rev's. multiply the .68 by your axle ratio and it will give you the final drive ratio.

 

I havent driven my truck yet, (still in pieces) but I have a T-5 Trans going in it with a 3.5 9" rear so I hope I'll have a decent set up all around. it will be powered by a 255+ Flathead also.
I have the Dwight Bonds t-5 adapter plate and the hogshead half bell.
I have extra hogs head bell's if you do end up going that route? and I'm local.

looks like a nice truck btw

 

Hi to all, havnt been on site in a while. 1954 F100

I run a 239-y (030 over) to a 1964 3-speed to the stock dana 44 with 3.92.
Runs well in city and on highway, the duals sound great and I have been known to run in the 70 + mph. range on freeway. The 239 just purrs and I,m guessing I'm in the 2800 to 3000 rpm range but I have recently installed a VDO rpm guage and will be checking the rpms soon.
Ed

 

I agree about the 3.0 gears being just too tall.

Here is the 4-sp OD trans mentioned, there are actually several variations of it, SROD, SMOD yadda yadda. Dick /4TL8Ford pointed us to these some years ago. They are not really top-loaders, but had shifters mounted on top, close enough.

 

Jake

Sounds like you have the perfect setup, and with the 6 haveing a little more torque, the auto trans and the diff that goes with it.
I looked all over a few years back for a diff from a 51 merc that was an automaic trans car and the diff was a 3.31

just a throw in a friend of mine runs a stock Flathead V8 Pickup, with 235 75 R 16 tires and he runs the hill of PA down to Pigeon Forge.
I had asked him how it handled the hills and his reply was no problem, it worked great.

It all depends on what terrain your running on, your better off to have a little reserve than not enough.
What I'm refering to here is Prarie flatlang running is great until you get a head wind then your engine is working.
It would be great to run 3.00 but what if your in a situation as above.
Tha automatic will handle it as will the O/D with a 3.78 setup, then again its J.M.O..

 

This discussion just busts me up. It's the typical "let's reinvent the wheel" type of thing.

We have had this discussion so many times in the past two year that I have been here (and probably 50 before then) I have these ratios memorized.

And LOL it always irons out to be the same result: 3.00 is a little too tall with a 3 speed but maybe ok with a 4 spd; 3.25 to 3.50 is ideal, and 3.73 is a little reaching.

You tend to get a little looney when you come here every day! (ok well that's my excuse!)