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I have a C6 in my 69 F250 it's rebuilt soft shifts ok around town fwy is unpleasant unless I want to drive 55 that is what the truck was built to do funny my son pointed out that big solid line on the speedo that starts at 70 mph on up to 100 I never noticed it the line interpretation unpleasant rev on the motor past this point . Motor 390 FE with Dana 60 3:73 some say not a good idea another member had one in a truck with a 428 said beat it up all the time no problem I see them everywere the T10 the bell housing for a 390 pretty much everything but I'm not sure of the clutch pedal is it the same as a 3spd ? Just find a truck with a 3 on the tree ? Will the rod linkage fit to the throw fork I'm not sure about that also I read that a wide ratio is better than close for a 3:73 rear I figure if I shopped around I could do the swap for less than 2k with everything although I don't want to buy the wrong trans I hot rod around don't tow anything , make noise spin the wheels but I like to drive far in it mountains etc need a good cruise at 65/70 looked into gear vendor etc biggger rear tires the whole deal rather have a 4 spd .
A toploader is not going to change your cruising rpm unless you get one of the weak versions with the overdrive you will need the whole clutch linkage from pedal to release fork flywheel and bell housing and possibly driveshaft add the pedal pivots to the dash support and equalizer pivots on engine and frame and cut a hole in the trans tunnel for the shifter there's probably a few things I left out but this is off the top of my head
First off, a performance Toploader, or any other manual 4 speed with one exception, is going to have a 1:1 high gear just like your C6. You will gain a little by losing the torque converter slip, but nothing dramatic.
What do you see everywhere? Not a T10. Ford stopped using the T10 in '63 or '64 in favor of the Ford Toploader. T10s remained in service with GM but you will be hard pressed to find a serviceable one for a Ford.
Ditto a performance Toploader. The junk yards were stripped of those years ago. You can get a rebuilt or new, $2300. Wide ratio would be the way to go IMO. Toploader Price List
The clutch workings for your truck will be the same for the 3 speed or the 4 speeds offered as OEM. There is a question of bell depth if changing to the car transmission.
You will need the clutch and brake pedal assembly from a '68 to '72 truck.
Linkage, z-bar, pivot stud etc.
Bell housing of proper depth.
Flywheel, clutch workings.
You will need to figure out which shifter location and overall length transmission to install.
A toploader is not going to change your cruising rpm unless you get one of the weak versions with the overdrive you will need the whole clutch linkage from pedal to release fork flywheel and bell housing and possibly driveshaft add the pedal pivots to the dash support and equalizer pivots on engine and frame and cut a hole in the trans tunnel for the shifter there's probably a few things I left out but this is off the top of my head
Cruise rpm would improve slightly due to no slippage with the Toploader vs the C6
Steer clear of the 390 Specific Toploaders and the big block units. These have a shorter front snout that fits into the pilot bushing/bearing and do not work with a pickup truck FE bellhousing. If your C6 has a long tailhousing, then you'll want a long tail Galaxie Toploader (just not one from a 390 or big block) There's nothing wrong with a close ratio Toploader. The 390 has plenty of bottom end torque to get it going in 1st gear. I had a three speed Toploader in a 67 390 Stang and it was no slouch in getting off the line in 1st (with a far steeper 1st gear too) You will need to rebush all the clutch linkage you end up with, otherwise your clutch adjustment will be limited. I would look at using a hydro throwout bearing instead. If all you can find is a Galaxie 390 Toploader, then grab the bell housing for it too. Or hunt down an extended pilot bushing. Hurst made some shifters that had the stick bolted on, you'd do well buying one then either fabbing a stick or finding a long Hurst stick to go with it.
Speaking of Hurst shifters, I had to modify mine to make it fit under the console of my 69 Mustang. Hurst sells their own version of a handle that is welded to the shift mechanism, like my modified version, which will require disassembly of the shifter to install.
08-20-2019, 03:22 AM
