I have a 79 F-150 with a three speed trans... I would call it a 3.03, but its not even a Ford trans. What happened is it would no longer shift into 3-4 at all.... I tear the thing apart and the weld on the 3-4 ford actuator has broken, it was a booger job to begin with... then I notice the teeth where the syncho engages the gear are dogged out too... I figure its no real problem I have a few 3.03s from my Broncos that are sitting around... well this trans is totally different, from the counter to the gear sizes to the top cover.... Once I put it back together with a the Ford 3.03 actuators that are actually stamped FOMOCO... I find it doesnt shift cleanly into gear.... its off... JUNK! the interlock system is just off... its like a factory second....

the only good thing about this trans is that it is the same exact length as a Mustang 4 speed toploader I have on has as well, which is a FOMOCO trans...

I figure to get the shifter where I need it I use the Hurst bracket for the three speed floor shifter the truck came with that was on the three speed, the use the 4 Speed shifter from the Mustang, and adjust the rods to work.

Has anybody done this on one of these trucks? Am I missing anything or is this as simple as this looks?

 

This is how you do this: First of all you will probably need to do something with your driveshaft because it will be two long.... my truck has a long one piece driveshaft. Its a 78-79. I also had a 75 with a two piece driveshaft.

I used a mustang toploader. There are two tail housings that I have seen for mustang. One is exactly like the ford truck 303.... the other has two holes right underneath the center of the tailhousing. I do not know how to adapt that for a truck.... I used a toploader with the same mounting boss as the 303.

You need to use the hurst install kit for master shift which will give you 1-2 and 3-4 rods and keys as well as a mounting bracket.... I do not know if you can use the mustang bracket because I did not try that. I also used a Hurst competition plus shifter and a custom handle which was made using the advance adapters toploader shifter lever for their toploader kit for Bronco. I cut the bracket that moves the lever over to the right off and welded the stick so that is is now on top of the shifter mechanism. Then I heated and bent the rod itself for the truck.

You need to modify the bracket from hurst because it is made for a three speed mastershift shifter by cutting an additional hole where the shifter mounts to the plate so you can get the shifter into 1-2 and reverse without issue. There is a large pin you can see on the side of the shifter that mounts to the plate. The plate I used has an oval hole for the side mounting bolt and I mounted the shifter all the way down in that hole with mounts is straight up and down. Then I used the cut out on the back of the shifter mechanism and matched it to the place in the mounting position I used and cut the hole.

Then you need to also grind down the place here is bolts to the tailhousing as well. The lower tailhousing bolt is where the conflict exists. A little grinding is all thats needed.

The rods with the install kit are perfect for 1-2 and 3-4. All you need is a straight rod and an additional keyway for reverse. I used a straight rod and straight keyway.

I always put reverse opposite opposite the factory position on toploaders.... factory has reverse up with first... which is why they had lockout shifter for performance cars.... If you put it down with second... you change to missing reverse for second goes down a lot compared from up with first.....

Shorten the driveshaft and done