What all would be required to go from a 3-speed to a 4-speed? I already have a new throwout bearing and 10-inch clutch disc for a 240 strait six and a 3-speed. I am planning to rebuild the 240 and it would be great if i could use those parts for the 3-speed. Basically i am wondering about parts interchangability,any advice you can give me,and recomendations on what kind of 4-speed to get.A 4-speed with a granny-low first would be nice.....

 

I'm not sure about the clutch disk and related parts, but you will have to raise the tranny hump in the cab for clearance. your 4-speed will usually be a toploader where the 3-speed uses side linkages and the clearances are different.

You did not mention what you are driving but I assume it a 65 or 66.

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How strong is the 3-speed? The 240 rebuild is going to be mostly stock. Just a slight performance cam. It is a 66.

 

It's strong enough to handle anything that the little six can throw at it, you are not dealing with gm parts. :-)
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Has anyone put a toploader 4 speed(car,no granny gear) to replace the standard 3 speed in a '65 352 long bed? Curious about trans mount,drive shaft, can I use existing bellhouse? thanks.

 

I've been wondering about putting a 4 spd toploader in my 65 F250 myself. I've been under there looking at where the tranny bolts to the bellhousing and it LOOKS like it'll work. As I understand it, after 64 toploaders had a rectangular pattern that at least resembles my bellhousing and I know toploaders did come behind FE mills in post 67 Mustangs. The bellhousings exist. I hear pre-64 toploaders had a narrow pattern on the top 2 bolts so I'd stay away from those.

Assuming the truck and Mustang bellhousings are the same then there are no complications with the clutch. The clutch disc may have to be matched up to the toploader input shaft but again, they once came in Mustangs. Have to be out there.

For trans mounts? That's why we have steel and welders! LOL! You can get just about anything made up for a driveshaft. And that leaves the shifter. I suspect it comes up way behind where my truck shifter is but there's a lot of floor there.

What I'm really looking for is an overdrive toploader. They have the usual 4 spd's but the shift fork for the 3-4 slot gets reversed or something, so 3rd becomes the 1 to 1 drive that's usually the top gear. 4th is a .84 or .87? Can't remember, but I did do the calculation and figured it'd be a 2.97 final drive. That'd get me loafing down the freeways!

 

I had a 66 with a 300 and put a 3speed+ overdrive from a 78 F150 in it. It worked out great. Got over 20MPG with that combo. The spread between 2nd and 3rd is quite a jump though. My local junkyard has one in a 85 F150 they just got.

 

My "race truck" has a Cougar car 4 - speed installed in it. The prior owner had to shorten the driveshaft because the transmsiion tail was longer. He never got the speedometer recaliburated. This driveline is for sale in classiffied.