1970 C/Special
I just recently came into the possion of a 1970 F-250 camper special.
It has a rebuilt 360 engine 2 bbl carb and a c6 tranny , i think.

The person i got it from said the tranny was worn out.
The truck has a lot of miles on it.

Also said, they broke the ears off when putting it in and stripped out the hole where the speedo goes, and said i should completely replace it.
So far it is doing alright, as i use the truck for street and don't pull anything or have a camper on it.
But i would like to replace the tranny !

Questions :

1)what kind of trannys will fit this year 360 ?

2)should i stay with a c-6 or get something else ?

They said something about a big bellhousing is required,

3) Dont ford trannies swap from one engine to another ?

4) Also is a 360 a big block or a small block ?


5) what is with ford steering ?

I replaced the steering gear box,power steering pump,kingpins and greased eveything that had a ZERK, and still it doesn't return to center unless i steer it back to center.

This problem was there before i did all this work too .

6) Also is a whats the deal with the alternators/regulators on old ford trucks?

7) Can i also go to a HEI setup without too much hassle instead of the stock dist setup ?


Sorry for all the questions on first post , I consider myself a fairly good shadetree mechanic but i was addicted to chevys before i opened up my eyes and woke up to old ford trucks.

I fell in love for this truck and i want to bring it back to looking new as can be. And running even better. It had a dual battery setup at one time, but is now only wired for one. I had to scrounge junkyards to find the original wiring cause the people who had it had stripped off the wiring and rigged some sort of
on-board regulator on the alternator.
That was a serious problem, was showing 19.
1 on my little meter which in turn fried the rest of everything and boiled my battery, also blew out every bulb i had.

This truck has a 95 percent perfect body with no rust except for a pin hole or two behing the wheel well. I really would be thankful for any help anyone can give to me.

thanks---

 

Stick w/ C6 if your going auto...
They have AOD's... C4s were never put behind them I dont think.
As for HEI... I dont know if they make them or not, but I'd just stick w/ what you have. If its points convert it to Petronix or electronic.
As for the voltage regulators.... they were used instead of having the regulators inside of the alternator they were external.
Ive found them very useful... You can replace a voltage regulator box way cheaper than you can the alternator.
But of course the alternators aren't that expensive either....
Good luck on the truck and keep us posted

 

Welcome. Loks like we converted us another one. Stick with the C6. A 360 is what is known as an FE motor, in the same family as a 352, 390, 427, 428, and the mercury 410. Have you tried backing off of the adjustment screw on the sterring box? You can loosen the lock nut and turn the screw inside to adjust the backlash of the gears. Too tight will cause them to bind and not return to center(BTW, this is for manual steering, but should be the same on the PS). I have seen several HEI setups for fords, but not sure if they are avalible for FE motors. The setup you have now should work fine if you replace the points with a pertronix, and even this is easy because the distributor is in the fron and easily acessable (not true on the dark side). Andy already answered the alternator question.

 

Welcome, nice to see someone returning from the dark side. The 360 has it's own bellhousing pattern as far as I know. The C6 is a tough transmission just no overdrive.

My 70 also does not return the steering to center. Bending more caster into the I beams would probably fix it. I'm just used to it.

The external voltage regulator is a good setup, easy to test and cheap to fix. You can add a Duraspark electronic for little cost. You just need the distributor from a later 360/390 and the ign module.

 

Perfomance distributors makes a D.U.I. HEI conversion dist that will drop in if you're set on using GM style ignition. As mentioned before, a conversion to ford duraspark ignition is almost as easy, and cheaper.

You should have a C6 trans. Replace it with another. The only other factory tranny that would bolt up to an F.E. family engine is the FMX. That tranny is not the best. The F.E. family includes: 332, 352, 360, 390, 410, 427, 428 engines, often referred to as big blocks. The different ford engine families often do not interchange bellhousing patterens, excepting the 351M/400 and the Big block 429/460.

 

thanks guys, all this info is helping. going to take a little while for the change to happen to my old chevy brain cells. This forum has provided tons of info for me, i have been reading alot.

 

yeah i tried the lock nut lossen the screw thing, got a little more play in my steering now, but still does not come back to center. It acts like it wants too, but just doesnt. I have replaced everything now, including a new power steering pump yesterday. Yes i filled it up too. lol. Is there something in the steering shaft itself that can cause this problem ?

 

My truck does the same thing. Bending more caster in the I beams is probably the cure. I am just used to it.

 

Most shops don't bend I-beams anymore. You can get different bushings for the radius arms to change the caster. I think NAPA sells an adjustable one that you can get up to 6 degrees out of. Ride height is a critical factor for keeping the I-beam front end within alignment specs. If your springs are sagging it changes the camber and may affect the caster too.
Welcome to the strange and mystical world of the blue oval. Be forewarned that Ford changed things at will for no apparent reason. Swaps and conversions are to be approached with caution. Consult FTE before attempting any swaps. Ford is notorious for changing things in the middle of the year. This is called running production changes. Some are well documented and some aren't. I have a 72 F-250 with an aug 72 production date and have had to use 73 parts on it a few times. I saw a 74 econoline in the junkyard the other day with a dec 74 production date, several months into the 75 model run.
Don't get frusterated, hang in there. It's worth it.

 

oh i dont have a problem with my alighment, my truck tracks down the road just fine, and tire wear is not a problem at all. My truck is not sagging either. As a matter of fact for a 1970 it rides quite nice. As far as i can check back with previous owners, this steering problem has been there for many years. I am about to just forget about it cause i am about used to it now, but my wife still wont drive it because of that. So i guess there is a good and a bad to everything lol

 

If your wife can drive it then it's not a real truck.lol