I'm looking at a rebuilt zf5 s42 transmission on CL that's a good price, and considering buying it to swap into my 84 2wd f150 with the 4.9l i6. Most of the threads i've read online about the swap are for 4wd's with a transfer case rather than a 2wd swap. What would this swap entail exactly, would it bolt right in or would I require some modifications to make it fit?

 

I'm just guessing here, but my thoughts...

Does your '84 have a hydraulic clutch? If so it shouldn't be hard to hook up the ZFs clutch, but there is likely to be a little bit of creativity needed to get the lines a fittings to work out.

The ZF is a big trans and needs a lot of room. You'll probably need a cover plate for a ZF to let it poke up into the cab as much as it needs.

I'd guess a little more creativity would be needed for the trans mount. Probably nothing too drastic, but I wouldn't be surprised if a little welding was required to get a crossmember in the right place.

There will almost certainly be some driveshaft work required. But that's typically not a big deal.

I'm assuming you are looking at getting a 2WD trans. Otherwise it would get more complicated. And obviously you need a trans for a 6 cyl or smallblock.

 

What transmission do you have installed now? (Edit: Sorry, my bad...I see NP435 in the thread title.)

Something you need to be aware of with swapping a 5spd into a 2wd Bullnose is the speedometer cable drive. In order to keep your stock speedometer functional, you'll need a 5spd from 1988-1991. In 1992 the speedometer drive disappeared. This is not an issue in the 4x4 5spd swaps as the speedo drive is in the transfer case.

You'll have to move your existing crossmember, or buy the correct crossmember for the 5spd, or fabricate a custom one.

You'll probably need the correct 5spd plug for the reverse switch. You can get one at a junkyard. I bought one from LMC.

You'll need the hydraulic line and clutch slave cylinder that goes with the 5spd.

I was able to re-use my driveshaft without modifying it, but most to have to modify them. That's easy and relatively cheap.

 

I have not heard of anyone needing to weld a cross member unless they made one. Most get the CM from the same truck the ZF came from same for the trany tunnel cover, it bolts in place.
Rembrant went from a 3 on the tree to the M5OD and why the drive shaft worked. Again if you can get the drive shaft from the truck the trany came from and both are short or long beds it should bolt in.

So you need ZF trany and shifter, tunnel cover, cross member with the small brackets and drive shaft even if it will not fit for the yoke is all I can think of from what I seen posted.
Keep us posted on what you do.
Dave ----

 

Get a 2-wheel drive ZF for a 2-wheel drive truck.
Get a 4-wheel drive ZF for a 4-wheel drive truck.
There are differences.

 

I swapped an M5OD to a ZF5 in a 93 F150 2WD. I used the same crossmember and the metal cover on the floor of the cab. The ZF5 was about 3 inches shorter then the M5OD so I had to get a drive shaft make and that cost me $250. My ZF5 had no place for a speedometer cable which was OK because mine runs off the rear end. If the one you are looking at needs a cable you could use a GPS as a speedometer.