I am new to the whole Ford truck thing and I am looking at buying a 69 F100 Ranger. I know it originally had a 302 with a three speed column shift manual transmission. I was wondering if you could help me ID the tranny and/or the axles. Any other information about this truck that you think would be helpful would also be appreciated. Thanks for the help.

 

Welcome to FTE, Tucker!
Are you indicating that the engine and/or transmission in the truck are not original?
If so, we'll need a bit more information to help you out.
If they are original, we can help pretty easily.
Look for the "Warranty Plate" or VIN tag. It will have several lines of codes.
Post them here, and someone can decode them for you, to tell you what originally came with the truck - such as axle, engine etc.

You've come to the best place for information and help, so again, Welcome!

 

The engine is no longer original, the previous owner swapped in a 351. I do know that the original was a 302 and that it still has a 3-speed tranny which I believe is original. I have found lots of info on ford automatics but not much on manuals. I was hoping that someone would know what the 3-speed manual that came with the 302 in 1969 was, or what the possibilities would be so that maybe I could ID it from sight. If someone knew what axles were also possibilites for that particular year and style then that would also give me a starting point to ID them. I looked for the VIN plates but did not see them and did not really know where to look, they were not in the same place that they are in my other truck. The only numbers I have are off of the original bill of sale. They were listed as the ID number F10GEF51181. I don't know if that help or not. Thanks alot

 

There was also a number that read: 115 7M F100 N81 C908 Thanks again

 

i had a 3 speed on the colum in my 70 f250 and it was a c6.....but it had a 460 to when i got the truck...so i dont know whats stock

 

I'm sorry, this is probably a really dumb question but I am somewhat confused. I thought the C6 was an automatic transmission. Am I wrong about this or was the C6 offered as both a manual and an automatic.

 

Tucker1815,
Not a stupid question! I too am a little confused, I think he meant that it originally had a C6 in it ??? C6 is an automatic!

 

In that case does anyone know the name of any 3-speed manual transmission that Ford offered in 1969, I know this seems weird but I have looked through countless posts and cannot find anywhere where someone has identified one by name, they are always just referred to as 3-speeds or 3-on-the-tree. I want to be able to research this tranny but I am having trouble because I can't even find the name of it. Thanks

 

Just what do you want to know about the three speed. It was basically the same 3 spd that came in any car/truck of that vintage. Nothing special about it. There was also an optional 3 spd OVERDRIVE tranny, but if you don't have a lever on dash that says "Overdrive", then you don't have that model. It looked like a regular 3 spd, but had a big bump in the bottom side of tailhousing to fit overdrive(plus a big soleniod on side to activate).

As for rear axles...a 9" is standard equipment back then. As for axles, probably 28 spline and with an open differential(non-posi). It more than likely had 3.50 ratio also. My '70 100 302/3 spd truck was built this way. It could have had a variety of ratio's but I think 3.50 was pretty common. There should be a tag on a bolt, on drivers side of pumpkin that tells you what ratio. There are two lines of text, usually the bottom line will have 3 . 50 XXXX or something like that. That number is the ratio(if no one has changed it). Pulling the axles is the only way to confirm number of splines, but unless it was optioned as heavy duty, it would have 28 spline.

Your serial number f10 = F100 2wd
G = V8 302
E = Mahwah, NJ (build plant)
F = I've seen this before but no one ever knows what??
xxxxx = consecutive serial number yours is 51181 built that year.

 

Thanks for the info on the axle, I figured it was a 9-inch but was wondering about the ratios. As for the tranny, I am basically trying to figure out if it is going to be desirable component of the truck I am looking into buying. I was hoping to be able to read up on it to figure out if it was going to be reliable with a 351, heavy-duty enough for light towing, what the gear ratios were, how easily it could be converted to floor shift if ever necessary... Above all I just wanted to know what was in this truck before I bought it

 

Your tranny is most likely the Ford 303. Named as the shafts are 3.03 inches apart. This is an all synchro box, right? It is fairly strong for a car tranny.

I had one in my '65 Mustang, an was able to bolt up a toploader 4 speed to the same bell and clutch, as these trannys have the same pattern.

Ratios for truck applications may differ. I think the truck version as a 2.99 first, where the car is 2.7 or something.

You can google for Ford 303 and after you wade through the British 303 info (a completely different item) you will find some info.

Do a search of this site for RUG and RAT transmissions. There has been a recent post about this tranny in the tranny section, methinks.

 

Thanks for the info, and yeah, it is synchronized even though sometimes it doesn't want to shift down easy when moving (I think it may be more of a linkage problem than anything else, but it's hard to tell since I only drove it once). Thanks

 

It is a pretty bullet proof tranny, as it is basically a toploader with only three gears. The hard part is the big drop between gears(being only a 3 spd). I put 4 spds in all my trucks so far. You get the 2.78 first gear(about the same as 3 sp) and have three gears to help you along.

Sounds like your 3 spd is a bit worn out and that is why it won't downshift easily. No biggie. You could, if you like, tear it down and put a couple blocker rings in it and run it forever.

You can convert the column to floor shift with a shifter from Hurst. They make the kit to do it with the tall handle to clear bench seats. I had one years back.
You could, like me get a 4 spd and convert it the same way. Buy a univeral 4 spd shifter and bolt it in. Not a big project, but takes some planning.