I have a 1954 F250 project truck, 223 six with a T98 4 speed. I just finished the body and paint work and I am ready to upgrade the drivetrain. I bought a rebuilt 1970 390 and would like to pair it with a 5 speed OD manual transmission. Is there a ZF that will mount to a 390?

Are there other options.

thanks,

jim

 

Unfortunately the FE engines were phased out well before the ZF transmissions were introduced and there is nothing that has the same bell housing that was ever mated to a ZF. This would be made easier if the ZF had a removable bell housing but I believe it does not. There maybe someone who makes some kind of adapter that will somehow make this combo possible, but I do not have the slightest clue of who that would be. There are several companies that offer kits and conversions to mate a New Venture 4500 heavy duty 5 speed to a Ford engine. I'm drawing a blank right now but someone should be able to point you somewhere.

 

Jim,
Look into the Tremec TR3550 or TKO. Both are aluminum case, 5 speeds (4th is 1:1, 5th is usually .68:1 (a .8:1 is also available)). It's geared like a car tranny (i.e., not a granny gear). The TKO was the trans used behind the Mustang Cobra R for a couple of years, and some specialty car builders have used them behind small and big-blocks (e.g., back when SuperPerformance used to include engines w/ their Cobra replicas they used the TKO behind their built 460s).

I've been running a TKO behind my 429 for a couple of years now, and I like it. The overdrive is sweet, and the TKO shares many of the same dimensions as the Toploaders 4 speed (same speedo gear, same tranny mounts, same bolt pattern). Someone on this site is running a TKO in their F100 (behind a 360).

Ohio Bill
1972 F100 360 4v 4 speed
1968 Torino GT 429 4v 5 speed