Hello geniuses! My name is Joe I'm looking for some help in identifying my correct transmission. I bought an 1982 f-100 step side truck and drove it for two days before noticing a clicking noise in first and second. Well I took it to a cheap mechanic who took out the trannys and proceeded to tell me he couldn't find another and that we had to machine all the parts. Well before that could happen he just closed up shop and left my truck outside with no tranny so now I'd like to know which transmission to look for. It was a 4-speed with an OD (5-speed?) With an I6 engine. Thanks for any help!

 

Welcome to FTE

Identified as a "RUG" SR-OD Single Rail 4 Speed Overdrive.

Installed in: 1978/83 E/F100/150 300 I-6 & 302 / 1978/80 Granada 200 1-6 & 302 / 1978/83 Fairmont/Zephyr 200 I-6 & 255/302 / 1979/83 Mustang/Capri 200 I-6 & 302 / 1981/82 Granada 200 I-6.

 

and mustang capri i6 and standard v8 through about midyear 83. anyway check ebay. there is a shop rebuilding them at a fair price. he even has a webcam.
anyway the transmission is a tremec transmission. ford discontinued parts for it long ago, but your not in the same boat i was in. parts are now being manufactured for it. want my advice?get a t5 and bellhousing and clutch fork. that trans never was strong. aluminum case. its very similar to a t10 borg warner,only not so tough. if you abuse it, you will lose second. i can pull that thing down in my sleep!

 

So pretty easy to put in? I can basically use any of those transmissions? I was told I couldn't by my weak *** mechanic

 

Find a donor truck at the junkyard or in someone's back yard with the tranny you want, and it will fit, because you will have everything you need right there. Just make sure the truck has or had a 300, 302 or 351w. If you want a 5 speed, you probably will have to convert to a hydraulic clutch, but that is doable also if you have a donor pickup.

Where do you live? You can go to Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market and see if someone nearby has the tranny you need, or some other tranny you would like to use.

 

Thanks for pointing that out, I knew that, but omitted them, now edited into post 2.

The shift lever nestles into a nylon bushing (D9BZ-7K453-A) that is notorious for cracking apart. Obsolete, no Ford Dealer or obsolete parts vendor has any.

AFAIK, only Northwest Transmission has any.

 

you have a few tranny options to consider if you don't find the model it came with, or want to upgrade to something else:
borg warner t18 or t19, 4 speed, not usually found behind the 6cyl but behind bigger engines
NP 435, a common well respected 4 speed found on 6cyl trucks and some v8s.
or for a 5 speed
m5od - light duty 5 speed including overdrive, found in rangers and 6 cyl f150s a bit newer than yours, i don't remember exact years.
zf5 - heavy duty 5 speed including overdrive, found in f250s and up. just make sure your donor truck has one of the engines listed in post #5, what we commonly call the "small block ford" or "SBF" bell housing pattern. this tranny was also offered behind bigger engines, so double check before you buy.

both of the 4 speeds i mentioned have a removable bell housing, which can be found in either mechanical or hydro clutch.
both of the 5 speeds i mentioned have an integral bell housing with a slave cylinder mounted internally, thus requiring you to have a hydro clutch.

 

this is why i said the t5. it needs a t5 bellhousing, but uses a clutch fork and cable. the clutch assembly is a direct replacement. both trannies use the same clutch. it is bolt in no mods other than reverse light neutral plug/s and the speedo gear. the driveline goes right back in, etc. i did this swap on an 82 capri 5.0. just started ripping those srod's apart everytime i throttled up.
did i mention the srod bellhousing is the same,or will work with a 6 spd tremec, so dont scrap it. and yes that stupid nylon bushing on the shifter cost me a slider once.

 

Have you ever put a t5 in a truck? Don't you run into shifter problems? Did I read people sometimes use a s10 t5 shifter to make it work? A t5 was never offered in these trucks, so it's not a total bolt in deal with stock 80-96 parts. If you know all the parts needed, maybe you could list them.

 

Hanlon Motorsports in Elverson Pa ((610) 469-2695) works on the tremec boxes. Mostly for cars but Bob knows a TON about the tremec transes and probably knows a thing or two about the SRODs.

The problem with the S10 tail, other than finding one, is that it's a non-World Class (NWC) whereas most of the mustang T5's are WC boxes. As far as I know you can't mix and match parts. Also, the 4, 6 and 8 cylinder transmissions had different ratio's and many of the parts are unavailable now. Most of the V8 boxes are WC and everything else is NWC.

The shifter location on the Mustang T5 is 19.5" from the face of the trans. The S10 is 11.75" back. The SROD if memory serves is about 15" back.

Given the plethora of shifter turrets for the mustang T5 you can get one that will bolt a hurst handle and go the route of the bench seat tri-five chevies with the big C shaped shifter. Not sure if that would work and you'd have to punch a new hole in the floor but it's an option.

Also the SROD uses the toploader bell, so you'd need a T5 bell and a way to adapt the clutch to a cable. Interesting idea but I don't know how feasible a T5 swap is. Maybe someone who's done one will chime in.

 

Some links...

Looks like you can swap WC and NWC parts to some degree...
The Ultimate T-5 Swap Article

Looks like you can convert a cable clutch to a regular mechanical pushrod style similar to the ones used on the 80-83 trucks...
T5 Swap, T5 Conversion, Mustang T5 Swap, Auto to Manual Transmission - FordMuscle

So it looks doable.

A ZF swap would entail a switch to the 83-86 pedals for the hydraulic clutch... That presents it's own problems but I've found smallblock ZF5 2wd transmissions pretty cheap.

The easiest thing would be a T19 or NP435 4spd...

 

I haven't owned one, but an SMOD is a cast iron case version of the SROD that you have now, & is slightly heavier duty......it will bolt straight in to your truck.

But is an overdrive transmission what you want?

If not, any of the three 4-speed transmissions that Josh mentioned (T18, T19, or NP435) will bolt straight in, using your existing clutch & pedals.
All three are heavy duty.......the T18 & NP435 are very similar (granny low, + 3 normal driving gears).
The T19 was available with similar ratios, or in a close-ratio version (T19A), which gave 4x good driving gears, but no creeper. T19's had the added advantage of 1st being synchromesh.

But, if you need o/drive.........

 

the need for OD depends on his rearend ratio - i would suspect its 3.08 or taller (low number), in which case overdrive isn't useful most of the time.
the OP might want to post his axle ratio if he knows it, or the axle code from the tag on the door pillar so we can identify it and have a better idea of how helpful an overdrive may or may not be for him