right now my truck has a worn out 3spd in it, it jumps out of gear, you have to hunt to find it agian, and the throw between the gears is just too long, Any way, I was just wondering if I could fit a 4spd from a mustang or similar car from the 60's in place of that awful 3spd. I don't plan on pulling anything or hauling heavy loads, this will basically be a highschool hauler. And also how hard would it be to swap the 4spd in.

 

swapping in a car four speed is not really very easy as the tail shafts are generally different lengths, which causes the mount to be in a different place. Not to mention the considerable cost involved in finding one of those. If you found a four speed you would want a toploader because they are very strong trannies. I assume you have a 302 or something pretty close to that. A 302 has to work pretty hard for pretty long to break a toploader transmission. Essentially, you would have to do it on purpose. In my experience, (as I have done this swap in a mustang) the 4 speed will bolt up to the bellhousing. Here are some things to consider: Input shaft size and number of teeth. Also check the length compared to your three speed. Then, check where the transmission bolts to the transmisison mount. The length needs to be the same unless you want to make a custom mount. Count the number of teeth on the output shaft. Most mustang transmissions have 28 teeth. Remember that if your transmission is longer than the three speed, you will have driveshaft issues.
I almost hate to suggest it, but it might be easier to find a truck with a slushbox (automatic) and take all you need to make it work in your truck. It is a pretty easy swap as long as you find a truck with the same series motor in it. Take the driveshaft, (unless it is the same length), steering column, flywheel, starter and anything else you might need to make it work.

 

Find a short tail toploader from a fairlane and it'll relatively bolt in. You'll need to get a extended pilot bushing and have your driveshaft shortened and set up for a sliding output yoke since it wont be in the driveshaft now. I had ran a V-gate shifter so I also had to swap to a bucket seat because the shifter came up in the middle of the bench. It's easier to take a transmission tunnel cover from a automatic truck in the junkyard and cut a new hole for where your shifter will come up. The crossmember will work in factory holes or at least it did in my shortbed truck with a HEH-CL toploader from a 390GT Fairlane. But when I did mine I reused the bellhousing clutch, clutch disc, crossmembers mounts speedo everything pretty much. Make sure you get the small input if you dont want to have to swap clutches also. And as another plus you can install the toploader manually without a tranny jack if you want but you'll need the jack to remove the old one.

 

Put a 5-speed out of a late model truck in it. That's what I did on my 67. You get a fairly low first gear and over drive.

 

How much would a 5spd cost, and how difficult would it be to install, What if I found a truck 4spd, what would be the best one for me, I have heard alot about granny gear 4spds what is there first gear ratio, and aslo what would my 3spd first gear ratio be??

 

How much money are you willing to spend and how much of the work can you do yourself? The 60s style toploader with shifter will be a bargain at anything less that $750. There is a version of it that came in early 80s pickups and vans that has 4th O/d. They can be had pretty cheap and the shifter shoud be in the right place. I am not sure about the rear mount but it should be close enough that no major surgery will be required. It will be a little longer so you will need to address the driveshaft issue. If you are really on a budget you may just consider finding a replacement 3 speed and putting a good floorshift in. I passed up a Hurst that was still in the box for $25 at the last swap meet I went to. I think the guy took it home.

 

Last winter I installed a borg warner t-10 side loader in my 67 f100. I bought it at a swap meet for $150 it came out of a 64 falcon or comet. everything inside looked great. It bolted right up to my bell housing I had to move my trammy crossmemebr back about an inch and had to make my own tranny mount. I also had to shorten my driveshaft several inches. I used a Hurst performance plus shifter that cost me almost twice what I paid for the tranny. I also used synthetic oil in it. although it was a lot of trouble for the extra gear I know it was worth it. The gears seem so much closer together.

 

I converted all my F100's to stick. I use the toploader tranny also. Not really sure of the applications, but they were all short tailhousing models. They are a simple bolt in for replacing the 3 spd. I re-use the mount from 3 spd and re-do the driveshaft to fit. The toploader comes with two styles of rear mounts, mine is the perpendicular type. It mounts across(perpendicular) to the centerline, the other is inline.

There are two mounting locations for shifter on tailhousing also. I use the forward mount to keep it in front of the seat more, even though I have bucket seats.

Larry