i currently have a 300 straight my truck being a 77 the motor being a 79 and the transmission being a 3spd..the motor is from cali so theres a couple problems finding parts for it and in 3 inthe tree..i have been told i can have up to a 351w unmodified..which is fine but what if i want to goto a 390 or bigger..what transmission would i use that would be compatable with a larger engine and it still be 3 speed and in the column????thank u in advanced!!!

 

i think u think u have to stick w/ the 3 on the tree shifter buy and install a floor shifter and what ever motor and trans u think u want u know what i mean i think thats what u mean but not real sure if thats what u mean

 

whats the truck gonna be used for? work, daily driver, mud bogger, street racer etc.

 

its going to be daily driver /rod.. if possible i would like to keep it 3 in the column...

 

390=FE bolt pattern. Use a FE belllhousing in front of the 3 speed. Sound simple?

It's not. The 390 is too big that the shifter linkage would interfere with the exhaust. I'd say keep the 300 with the three speed. Or a 302/5.0. I had the 302/3 speed/3.25:1 gears in a 2wd f100(74), and there was no shortage of getup&go.

 

This is something I had rumbling around in my head for ....... just say a loong time. I had two early Ford vans from the 1960's. The motors are six poppers and gut less. I allways wanted a 4-speed to keep the motor on boil, expecially when passing and up hills. The vans had the motor between the front seats so the trans was mid van making it real hard to add an aftermarket floor shifter. My idea was to install a 4-speed and use the column shifter for the four gears shifting and have a seperate lever for reverse. I think (dream?) some quality floor shifters have this reverse lock out, primary used at the drag strip, to make sure you don't hit reverse while banging gears. That might be a trick option if you want a 4-speed and keep the column shifter for..... looks? I have three on the tree now in my 85 van with new bushings that works about as good as they get, which is not saying much. A quality shifter like the one I had in my Mustang GT was so much better it's not even funny. I don't know why anyone would want a column shifter over a good floor shifter, except to keep the stock look, which I am ok with. I am just a function over form kind of guy. Been there, did that, can't wate to get back to a nice, slick, click, shift.