I have been looking for a nice 77 to 79 ford xlt with ac cruise and a standard tranny The best one I have found is rusty and straight but the guy wants 5000. The best ones I have found are all autos. How tough is it to switch to a standard. will it be dependable. Let me know if I have missed anything but I tyhink you have to change the steering column and put a clutch linkage and pedal system new trans hump. Is there anything unneeded from the auto like wiring or anything like that. Can you make the cruise on the wheel work in a non auto column Is there any vehicles that had a column that was tilt with cruise but no column shifter? Thanks for any imput

 

Chris, Leave the auto tranny in the truck, they are very dependable. That is a lot of work just for the thrill of changing gears. You should be able to find a truck for less than $5000.00

Where are you located?

John

jowilker
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66F100s Rule
In the cool still quiet of night you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

I live 15 mile south of idaho falls, idaho I have been lookijng hard for a good truck for the past two years I would much rather have a manual trans I just like shifting and being able to idle places without touching the gas standards are more bullet proof cheaper to replace ( old ones ) and allow more power to be transfered in my opinion To make an automatic of that age perform well would probably cost much more when you can fix up other things. What is good about autos Maybe you could change my mind What is the good and bad about both types. I am not trying to make everyone think I know everything I dont and would like to learn much more about my favorite trucks. I am willing to travel almost anywhere In north america almost, to get a good truck and would pay maybe 7 grand depending on condition.

 

The shift vs auto has been around for as long as autos have. Get the one you want. Converting to a stick will be a real pain. I don't like auto and have only owned one. The only advantage I see is that it's easier in bumper to bumper traffic, but I looked all over to find one that was a stick and passed others just because they were auto.

The auto does suck some power, I've heard the C6 can suck 50-75HP.

I'd check EBay and try to find one in the west coast or south west coast area because of less rust problems. In that price range, you should have your choice of many.

 

Chris, I wouldn't have thought that trucks were that hard to find in Idaho. You may need to look out of state where the is a higher population.

The sd were getting harder to find for that era because folks were finding out just how good they are. If you like manual labor go for it but converting from auto to manual is a lot of work. If the autos were such a piece of junk you wouldn't find auto to standard 25 to 1 on the new car lot.

Karl the auto does spend some hp, but 75 is like saying a K&N air filter adds 15. That is a far stretch. 5 to 8 would be a better number for the loss.

IMHO of course.


John

jowilker
[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker|Club FTE since 01 01] My FTE Page

[link:www.ford-trucks.net/users/jowilker/NCFTE.html|NC Truck Owners] NC Ford Truck owners group

66F100s Rule
In the cool still quiet of night you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

I think the reason for all the autos in the new cars is cause people got lazy and don't want to shift gears. Eric

 

I like an auto in my truck. Makes it much easier and smoother when towing a trailer. Also easier to get out of a slippery boat ramp. JMHO

Barry

 

How do I look for a truck on ebay evrytime i type in a search it says no results tell me where everybody goes to find them. There are a lot of old trucks in idaho. But the ones for sale are hunks of crap and they want too much money. The ones that are decent or realy nice are the ones no one will give up

 

I dont know how serious you are about traveling to find a good ford, but if you check the classifieds under the Reno Gazzette newspaper, its online (RGJ.Comm I think) there is ussually several 70's fords listed. Not sure but I believe Reno Nevada is only a day trip away from you. I have bought several fords from around here.

 

If you, or anyone else is serious about traveling for for a good deal, there is a local free paper that is nothing but classifieds basically. Its located in East TX. The link is www.peddlernet.com there are some great deals to be had. Just depends on how far you want to go.
*jdbanks*

 

Go to ebay.com homepage. Then click on ebay motors link on the left. Then select trucks from the next menu, then Ford from the next, and F100, F150, etc., from the next menu. Lots of good trucks there...wish I had some dough.

 

Hey, I changed my buddies `79 ford bronco to a manual tranny, it had a 351m, c6, and a np205 transfer case. its now got the 429, np435,np205 in it. It didnt have cruise so i can answear that question but I assume their would be no way it would change over. changing the steering colum is a breeze, The linkadge was fairly easy to get, i think i paid $30 to bills ford up here in spokane for most of the brakets, u can get the clutch pedals and stuff from pull&save while ur up there, the manual is shorter so u will need to change so stuff, unless urs is an auto, then i cant beleive it would be very difficult at all. <351m-400m,429,460 ford bellhousing are hard to find, just pay the 150 bucks for one.

 

darn i hashed that last one didnt I? what ment to say at the end was that if u dont have 4x4 it will be easy to just find a new drive line at pull and save.

 

I transformed my 76 F100 from 3 on tree to C6... now I'm prepareing it to be a 4sp and reinstalling the clutch pedal and stuff. One thing I've learned, is that there are some unexpected differences between my 79 w/ manual and my 76. The way the pedals are hung is completely different. Also steering columns are somewhat different between the two trucks, at least in wiring. The horn mechanism I know is different. The moral of that observation is that usually you find those years interchangable. Some issues you may run up against. The tranny you get may have different driveline needs both in length and in the type and size of yokes for u joints. Which engine do you have? The inner pivot for the Zbar is different from engine type to engine type, esp if you have a 302. You will have to figure out how the z bar is set up for your particular engine and acquire that bracket. As far as your shifter, I'm assumeing you aren't thinking of 3 on the tree. Does your truck have the removable tranny panel for shifter? Not all do, My 76 w/ three speed didn't, My trucks w/ 4sps do, I found more than one automatic that did w/ a panel w/ no shifter hole. As far as my 76, it had all the embossments of the cutout in the floor, so I took a dremmel w/ lot's of cutting wheels and cut it out and placed a removable panel from wrecking yard onto it, it fits like factory. One of my 4 speeds is a T18 w/ granny low, this has an integral tower shifter right out the top of tranny. My 79 has a 4sp OD tranny that is significantly different. It has external levers like 3 on tree w/ a shifter similar to Hurst shifter bolted to the tailshaft and comeing through floorboard off to the side like transfercase shifters do. When I wanted new rubber boot for that, I discovered w/ Ford parts counter indulgence that it used the same boot as transfer case shifters do. How does the clutch rod get through the floorboard? Your automatic should have an oval plug of rubber in toeboard that you will see on the underside of cab, this presses out, and if you are fortunate at dealer you should still be able to get fresh clutch rod boot. I just got two new ones less than a month ago. Both my manual tranny trucks had torn boots that allowed noise and fumes into cab. Now I have fresh new boots to seal them up. You might consider stock piling an extra clutch rod. I used to drive a funky 70 ford van w/ 3sp and had clutch rod break in traffic on me rendering me very disabled. This was about 4 years ago and then the Ford dealer still sold them as the fatigue made this a problem now and again. Why am I driving manuals? Its a driving preference for me. I'd say that when I had the automatic in my 76 that it was quieter. There is alot of potential whirring and gear noise w/ the manual boxs and clutchs. I dig letting my 302 rev farther up the tach before shifting than the C6 would have done. And the old 3 on the tree, just try and make a quick shift from 1st to 2nd. My T18, very tight shifting, better syncros than my OD except no syncro on 1st gear and virtually never any call to use 1st. My 79s "RUG" OD, is nice for haveing OD gear, but the syncros are worn out more and the external linkage shifter is "clunkier"

This is what I know about it....
BBT

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 29-Jun-01 AT 03:39&nbsp;AM (EST)[/font][p]With an auto you can play with the ol'lady and drive at the same
time.

I GOT A TRUCK A WHOLE LOT BETTER SHAPE THAN THAT. A 78 F-250 MANUAL 4X4.
IF YOU'RE WILLING TO PAY $5,000.00 FOR IT, I'LL DRIVE IT TO IDAHO
FOR YOU-TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IN SO.ILL WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS A $500.00 TRUCK. MAYBE
$650.00