I have a 89 f150 with the 302 and what i believe is a m5od (4speed with over drive) transmission, the trans has made noise since ive owned the truck then it got to where you had to slam it in reverse and hold it or as soon as you let out on the clutch it would pop out now you have to slam it in gear from first to over drive,a friend of mine gave me a granny gear 4 speed trans and a transfer case out of an 85 f150 with a inline 6 can i take the bell housing off of the m5od and put it on the four speed and put an internal slave cylinder on that transmission? Or am i gonna have to find a way to make it external? Thanks in advance!

 

They should both have the bell housing bolt pattern. If the shifter is sloppy in all gears there is a shifter repair kit that may solve the issue.

 

You may also check the fluid in the trans. I had a 87 vw that a bolt head broke off inside a popped a quarter side hole in the trans and the shifter wouldn't say in gear had to hold it in. Not sure if that would happen to a ford trans but worth a look.

 

I dont want to fix it the m5od is junk from what ive been through with mine and what ive seen from other people i know. i use my truck as a truck it pulls stuff it goes down through the woods, i feel the granny gear transmission would be alot better i had one in a full sice bronco and it was bullet proof, but i dont know if i can put a internal slave cylinder in it or not, thats what i need to know

 

I'm pretty sure the M5OD has an integral bellhousing (like essentially all automatics and Ford's newer manual transmissions). So no, you can't swap bellhousings to get the newer throwout on the older trans.

But as My4Fordtrucks said, the 302 and the 300 inline 6 both use the same bellhousing pattern, so as long as you have the bellhousing for the older trans you can mechanically attach the older trans & bellhousing to your engine.

I'm not sure, but I think you can use the slave cylinder and throwout bearing from the older trans with the master cylinder from your truck. You should just need to make the hydraulic connection.

You need to use the flywheel for your engine, a pressure plate that matches your flywheel's bolt pattern, a clutch disk that matches the trans input shaft and the pressure plate, a pilot bearing that matches your crankshaft and the older trans input shaft, and you'll need to make sure the input shaft length is correct. Having said all that, I don't know how hard that would be to do. Maybe it's as simple as getting all the clutch parts for your truck and it'll all just fit together. but then again, maybe not.

And then when you're done you won't have overdrive, so you'll be spinning the engine a lot faster on the highway (which probably isn't that big a deal with a 302 that needs to spin faster than anyone, including Ford, wants in order to get into its power band).

 

She don't see the highway much, more of a hunting/ wood truck, thats why i think the four speed would do better, thanks alot!

 

They offered the 4 speed for a while. Maybe in the the early 90's? Might be as easy as figuring out which one it is (NP435, T18,T19) and getting the OEM replacement part(s) to make it work.