go to my photos/albums and can see issues with 400 for to ZFtranny 5 speed issues. it will work but things you need to know/do. not a big deal but if not prepared can be a big deal. learning as i go. keepin old iron alive one ford at a time.

 

I don't see in the pictures just what the problem was ? Looks like it all bolted right up.

 

the input shaft to back of crankshaft is only about maybe in about a 1/16" or .060 needs more support. needs to be atleast 1/2". if you look at back of 460 crankshaft compared to a 400 almost 5/8" difference. the 400 is similar to a 302/351 windsor. 390/460 similar. look at photos a little closer and read comments. I have a photo of a 390 and can see crankshaft difference, hope this helps. me and jason took the time to look at some engines and photograph difference and tape measure. was a littl surprized at the difference. part of the education of fordisml. later mark. yes it bolted up but input shaft isn't hardly in pilot bushing. exhaust manifolds OEM will not work either in pickup, pass side to close to tranny.

 

Ok, I didn't realize that was the measured distance. It just looked like you were trying it in the end of the crank.

 

All photos of input shaft are with zf tranny bolted up. we had the flywheel off crank to confirm what we needed to do. lesson learned. not a big deal to correct but things you have to do to make correct.

 

So you did what to correct the problem ? Steer me in the right direction here because I don't see the comments with the pictures or the fix ?

 

standard pilot bushing is 1/2" thick. so in our case we added another 5/8" on top of bushing. so total length around 1 1/8" you can go a little further but have to measure you setup to comfirm your length. just a added process with installing this. want to make sure you don't get into your splines on input shaft. their is a little thrust, not much but something to consider. In my application we are going 1.200" on total length and make sure totally pushed into back of crankshaft. it'll work but just don't assume everything is perfect. I was rather surprised about this process myself. read from another ford guy about these issues and I followed up and confirmed. good luck and hope to get tranny crossmember built this week and move on to next process. its coming together and learned a few things along the way. later mark, thanks for stoppin in.

 

Look at the pic's in my gallery.
I just did the ZF swap to my TMI 400 and had a custom pilot bushing made out of steel with a roller bearing. The spec's are also in my gallery and in another post in the 73-79 forumn.

 

not a difficult process but some steps needed to be done. just got mine install last night and building a new crossmember tonight. using urethane bushings instead of the factory mounts. gonna be nice and stout and mechanic friendly. catch you later mounted mine with 205 transfer case had to notch the zf to get the upper shift rod to clear but doable. the front hole on zf will work for trans shifter also. few little mods but doable.

 

How did you add to the bushing ? I'm wondering if it will hold up being made of bronze ? Is this a proven fix or are you pioneering it ? The steel one looks good and shouldn't crack but I still have to wonder if either will work it's way loose in the crank pilot in time.

 

being that the pilot bushing is inside the factory pilot bushing a little/not much. i believe it will work. this is what I'm going with. the next step is a roller bearing. I have acess to a lathe to machine this so keep it simple for now. got to many project at the time and moving on to crossmember build and begin mock up of link suspension for front axle dana 44. cross member and link bracket for rod eyes are kinda workin together so do all at once. have something built by this weekend. i like the steel idea with bearing if i get some time will probably go this route makes sense to me, great idea.

 

well got everything mocked up and fitted. But my new drama is the splines from clutch to input shaft are only about .300 max contact. I need atleast .500 to make me feel better. with the situation I have i believe the splines will get ripped out. need a thicker flywheel to solve this problem like on the 460 ford that are about 1/4' thicker or little more, for hyd clutch. this is the best and most simple route. lookin for a thick flywheel .250 thicker than stock OEM flywheel. just figured this out tonight. FORD DRAMA sucks!!

 

workin the problem and a thicker flywheel will make all my dreams come true. several photos of spline contact or lack of. been scratching my head on this problem. thicker flywheel will move the clutch out and give more thread contact on splines and more durable. hoping to not rip out splines due to lack of spline contact.thick flywheel solves all this, where is a thick flywheel??????

 

flywheel issues. in stock form a 400 ford flywheel is around .820 thickness to a little thicker. OK in stock application but with zf tranny not good. spline contact is minimal, about .300 max contact at .820 flywheel thickness. so did some serious searching and phone calls and found a place in tennesse that does custom builds flywheels. using a 460 hyd clutch blank flywheel. machine a hole to fit a 400 at crankshaft and have the extra thickness of a 460 hyd clutch flywheel, 1.200 thickness compared to .820, OEM 400 gain about 3/8" into input splines. I'm happy with this amount of spline contact and not afraid of ripping out the splines in hub of clutch. no one has ever brougth this up in zf tranny conversions. flywheel not cheap around $500 to build but in my situation I feel its necessary due to torque of my 400 build and its application and pullin mtns often and working it. things I have learned this week in zf tranny world to 400 ford.

 

Hey Wyoming, I like this thread! I have contemplating the whole zf thing for my truck for years, and this weekend, I finally found a ZF to put behind my 400. So far, your approach seems to be the best I have read, considering that I would really like to keep the hydraulic clutch.

I was hoping that the EFI460 flywheel could be machined and balanced for the 400, but I don't see it working. The biggest problem is the bolt pattern is the center hole is way bigger on the 460, and the bolt holes would have to drilled near the edge of this hole. When you spec'ed out your flywheel, did they say they could start with the smaller hole?

If you don't mind, could you PM me the company that is building this for you? If they can match balance my flexplate, they might be able to do this x2!!

1fastgamber,
Could you PM me the contact info of the machinist that made your pilot bearing?

thanks in advance!