I got this brilliant Idea in my head that I could remove the 3 spd manual transmission from my 69 F-100 truck.

Spec.
year 1969
Body Reg. Cab 8Ft Bed
2wd 4 wheel drum breaks
Manual 3 speed transmission with a Mr Gasket Universal floor
shifter.
Engine 300 Cid Strait 6 with 1 barrel carb.

I talked to a few trans shops and they say it is possible to install a Ford T-5 transmission. I know that I will have to move the transmission mount cross member and all that but they say it can be done. The only problems that I may run into is that the shifter will need to be longer and this is the hard part I will need to install a Hydrolic Clutch (meaning a clutch mastercylinder and a slave cylinder. Has anyone ever done this before and if so did you use a kit or was this something dreamed up in a garage or shop.

Eventually I am gonna pu a 302 or a 351 under the hood but for now I think that putting in a trany with a few more gears will help with the gass milage till I can afford a good engine setup and not lose the ability to drive my truck in the mean time.


Robert J Hewitt

 

Any thing is possible with enough ingenuity and tenacity. Mounting the juice clutch will be the part that will take some engineering. Also you might consider a 5 speed from a later pickup. Most of the 300s came with the less desirable japanese unit but a Ford parts man told me that the F-350s had a small block German unit which is much better. Being an old school kind of guy, I would recmmend considering using the Borg Warner T-85 3 speed/overdrive tranny that was available in Ford pickups until 72. I have one of those trannys laying in wait for just such a project. And it would be a much easier swap since you could keep your same shifter and all. Now just finding one is the problem. That will require a bit of scrounging. I got mine at a swap meet for $100, but if you could find a donor pickup then you would have all the related pieces like the relays and switches for the electrical part. You can fabricat and eliminate some of that stuff by just mounting a switch to manually enguage it or kick it down when you want. You will also need to install a pull cable to lock it out or the gears won't hold it when parked. Do an internet search and you will find websites detailing similiar installations that other guys have done but some of them are a little overcomplicated.