Originally Posted by
ALBUQ F-1
"back in the day" they'd put them behind nailhead Buicks, Caddys, etc. Your 302, if it's stock, won't hurt the stock trans if you aren't laying rubber all the time. And Ford used virtually the same trans behind 302's in the '50's.
Am I missing something Ross? If I am please fill me in.
But I was under the impression that the Ford 302 engine wasn't even introduced until 1968?
I'm sure with such a popular engine, you would think they would make a bell housing that would mate up with the original 3 speed. That 3 speed bolt pattern was used for quite awhile. I had a 1950 OD three speed behind my 65 289 (virtually the same as the 302 externally) and it worked fine - on a 55 truck.
Maybe I got off topic but.......the point I was
trying to make to the OP was that his clutch pedal arrangement on the 51/52 truck is of a different type than later, and when shopping for an adapter or bell housing to be aware of that. The adapter or bell housing will have to support a rotating shaft type actuator instead of a push fork actuator.