Hi All,

I have a 52 F2 with the heavy duty 3 speed in it. I have upgraded the rearend to a ford 9" with 3.50 gears and now I would like to upgrade to a tranny that will bolt right in but is fully synchronized. Can anyone tell me what might work. I would rather have a 4 speed. Anything anyone can tell me would be a big help. Thanks, so much, Dennis

 

To my knowledge, there is no fully syncro'd transmission that is a direct bolt in. Isn't your current trans syncro'd in gears 2 and 3? That shouldn't be bad to drive, and the only time you need 1st anyway is when you stop. For a fully syncro'd 4 speed, you'd need to step up to a 60's car model Ford top loader or a Borg Warner T-10. And good luck finding an adapter for either of those.

my 2c.

 

Thanks for the info, that is good to know. I may just update the whole drive train. I'm not sure what I want to do. The 215 runs good just leaks and uses a little oil. Thanks for your time and have a good one, Dennis

 

Do a search of this board for "T-5" transmission. It seems to be the most popular transmission upgrade. It's not exactly a bolt in but if you have heavy duty transmission you should have the Hogs Head, the clutch bellhousing, which is a big part you'll need.

 

Dennis, you have the same transmission and rear end set-up that I run in my 48 F1. A 4 spd would still give you 1:1 final ratio to the differential so you wouldn't gain anything.

If I ever change out my HD 3 I'm going with a T5 or 4 spd OD from an 80's truck.

For my application anything besides OD would be wasted effort.

I don't have a 215 but you might look at a 300 from the 70's or 80's if you want to seriously upgrade

 

MT, when the truck comes with the MD 3-sp, does it come with the big hoop crossmember? If so, I would think slapping a 4-sp OD trans or a T5 in would be a snap.

 

Not in the half ton - the standard mount bolts to the back of the big trans just like the LD 3 spd. I'll try to crawl under the F2 and compare things.

I haven't taken one apart to check but I'd bet the trans and mounts interchange among several models. The height of the mount corresponds to the depth of the crossmember so Ford could mix and match.

 

Here is a shot of my 52 F-3 trans crossmember.....
w

 

Try again....
w

 

We'd need to see it from the back, if you can get a shot of it that way.

 

I have nothing from the rear view here at the office, will try to get a shot tonight.
w

 

52 F2 4 spd spur gear trans


50 F4 4 spd spur gear trans


48 F6 was 4 spd spur


48 F1 3 spd HD trans T87D


48 F1 3 spd HD trans another angle

 

Here's a couple pics. 1st is from my F1, the second is from a donor F2. The 4sp in my '50 F6, and the T98 from my donor F6 all have the same bolt pattern for the rear mount, except for the height/drop of the mount part for the crossmember depth.

Now, a long time ago, I installed a T19 and a Ford 400 into my F1, and it fit lengthwise, and the t19 lined up pretty good, just would have needed to use the F2 crossmember and drilled new holes and shimmed the height (rubber). Bend the shifter back a little bit, too. The T19 came from a 1986 F250 2wd behind a 300 I6.

 

So it appears the key to getting the big hoop crossmember was to have a 4-sp spur tranny to begin with. I can't believe a T5 wouldn't slide right thru that bad boy.

Thanks for the pics, guys!

 

At some point, I should remount the 400 and T19 into that frame and take pics. Unfortunately, the F1 frame (spare) is out back, and everything else is scattered about. I got the F2 crossmember from Bob.... which it should be noted, has a different size master cylinder opening and bolt pattern.