I own a 94 351w bronco.....what manual transmission would i need?

 

You will nees a ZF 5-speed for 351 applications, I am not sure what it is called, but for the Ford bigblocks, its called a ZFS-542.
Here is a helpful (I hope) write up that I posted a while back, Now remember, I did the conversion from a E40D to a ZF5 on a F-350 with a 460V8, Your needs will vary slightly.

I completed mine about 2 years ago, on a 1992 F-350 4x4.

First off it all depends how "original" you want it to look.
You don't need a steering column unless your upgrading to lets say, a tilt from a non-tilt. You just need to take off the shifter, and the column cover and replace it with a cover from a manual transmission equipped truck/bronco. Its he same column. Be sure to zip tie up the internal mechanism that the shifter used to be attached to and permanently tie it in the park position, this is so it will start.

There should be no need for a computer, just be sure to KEEP your old harness plugged in and KEEP your old plastic gear selector box that has a hole in it from the auto transmission selector (its the silly looking plastic box at the end of your pigtail), stick your finger in there and click it to neutral position. If not in neutral, it will NOT start. your computer will think your in neutral and start fine every time.

Just keep the old harness intact and plugged in. put a balloon around these end plugs and the plastic gear selector box to keep it weather proof.

There is no way that I have found to splice in to the original reverse lights, just run a toggle on the shifter lever and new wires.
You will never again have a neutral safety switch. In order to do that, you would need a complete in-dash harness which is very, very hard to convert. ( I didn't )
So you will have to remember to push in the clutch before you hit the starter, or you just might hit a car or building!

You might need a manual transmission cross member, I did, because the E40D sits about 1" higher than the manual, doesn't seem like much, but in time it will wear your U-joints out faster and might vibrate. Also my front drive shaft rubbed on the auto's cross member cause there wasn't a big clearance dip like on the manuals cross member. Also you will need a longer rear drive shaft, the manual is about 5-6" shorter than the E40D. You might also need a longer front drive shaft if its a 4x4, I did cause mine is a 4x4. You did not specify if yours was a 4x4.

While the transmission is out, cut that firewall body seam that sticks down about 1.5-2".
Doing this will save a lot of headaches when it comes time to install the manual transmission or down the road when its time to change the clutch. The little "dog ears" that are the top two transmission bolt holes will hit this body seam and bind up when you are trying to align the splines on the transmission shaft to go into the pilot bushing.

Lets see......what else......

Make sure you get a shifter too.
Make sure you get a clutch fork (its the thing that the slave cylinder pushes on to engage the through out bearing)

It is best to get a brand new starter, I didn't and my old one was just worn out enough to start to chip flywheel teeth. this down the road cost me about $800 in parts + shop labor to put in a new starter and ring gear on the flywheel. I was push starting my truck for about 7 months till I gave in and had it fixed, it was not fun!!!

Get a new clutch pack from Napa or Autozone. It has the 5 new things you need:
the clutch basket, disk, pilot bushing, through out bearing, and alignment tool. Don't skimp on this part, you need all new clutch parts so you don't have trouble down the road. LUK brand clutch seems to be the best for me and many others, it should cost under $300.00 ( mine was $225)


If yours is a 4x4 get the shorter linkage from the manual donor truck/broncos Transfer case. the one for the E40D is WAY too long.

All total minus your time installing it, it should cost no more than $1800.00
unless you get EVERYTHING new.

Please feel free to ask me any other questions you may have.

John

 

I hate to say it but you're wrong. You're talking about a big block 351M, and streetbeast own's a '94 351W. A windsor motor is a small block and he needs a small block tranny to make it work. I myself is in a similiar situation. My '85 SB C6 went bad so I found a '93 donor truck that had been wrecked with a 5 speed tranny and I am now in the process of switching everything over. I had to find the clutch/brake pedal box from an '85 truck. The 5 speed tranny was bolted up to a SB 5.0 EFI, so now it's bolted up to my 5.0 carbbed motor with a new clutch / pressure plate / and slave cylinder. I also changed the transfer case from the 5 speed to the one from the C6 so my speedometer would work properly. There's always going to be some kind of modification, just be careful, watch what you're doing, and have fun. It'll be worth it in the end! Need anymore help? Just ask someone here is always ready to help!

Chris

 

Chris,

I don't know if you read my reply in its entirety.

As I stated, he will need a 351 transmission. I don't know what it is called. But I do know what the big block transmission is called, its called a ZFS-542.

I guess I should of completely separated the information by periods, and double spaced it. I just figured the comma would work.

No where did I say he needed a big block transmission. I know very well that the 351W is considered a small block.

All I said was the only transmission I know, is for the big blocks, and it is called a ZFS-542.

Also I said his needs will vary.

So in short, My write up is about a conversion on a ford big block, but the procedures are close to the same.

Chris, I hate to say it, but you need to re-read my original reply, and remember the commas.

 

does it not have a regular reverse light switch in the trans?

 

It does. If you can figure out which two wires on the auto trans harness are for the reverse lights I would think you could hook them up to the switch on the tranny and have reverse lights. I'm not sure about the trucks but in a '94-'95 Mustang there is a jumper hooked into a plug in the wiring harness by the fuse box that needs to be pulled out to give you the neutral safety switch feature.

The ZF transmissions came with integral bellhousings so you need to find one that fits your engine. The transes available fit (1) 300-six, 302/351w; (2) big block 460; (3) Diesel; and (4) modular. I got a ZF S5-47 and installed it in my '92 F-150 4X4 with 302 engine the weekend before last. I'm looking for some small parts to finish it up. A donor pickup with an M5OD is ideal for your parts needs for the conversion. Did Ford use 2 different size E4ODs? Maybe the longer one is a 2WD? I saw figures showing the E4OD at 37" long. I measured mine at 31-3/4" and the ZF at 29-3/16". Since the ZF transmission (at least in my case) is about 2-1/2" shorter than the E4OD so that makes the driveshaft you need for the rear 2-1/2" longer and for the front 2-1/2" shorter. When you look for your clutch/brake pedal assembly, remember the '92 and later F-150/250 is different from the 91 and earlier. The ZF shifter lever is specific to that trans and is about impossible to find in a junkyard. I had to buy it new from Ford. The boots and shift **** from an M5OD are the same. My E4OD transfer case shifter uses a different mounting plate than the ZF and won't work without extensive mods. Unfortunately the t-case shifter I got with the ZF tranny is missing the mounting plate and the linkage rod. I found a guy who is parting out an 88 F-150 4X4 M5OD and hope to get the rest of the parts I need from him. At that point I can look at the reverse light/NSS issues and see if anything can be done.

 

Mebby I missed something but how much of a pain is it with the clutch pedal installation?I don't know what kind of bracketry or what have ya would need to be taken from a donor truck and put into the factory automatic truck.I have been thinking about doing this to my 88 F-150 2wd C6 300 but am not sure about the pedal.Could you jack the driveshaft(s) from the donor truck to use in the factory auto truck?The wheelbase and engine location should be the same between 2 2wd or 2 4wd trucks right so the trans and driveshaft from the donor should go right in the auto truck I would think.Mebby I didn't see it in the post above or I'm just blind lol.Thanks guys.

Ryan

 

The clutch pedal installation isn't that bad. Drop the steering column, unbolt the old bracket and install the new. If you take the bracket out of the donor truck first you get some practice on how to do it. Since your truck is an '88, you need the pedal assembly from an '87-'91.

As far as the driveshafts, you need to get the length measurements (bellhousing mounting surface to end of tailshaft housing) of the 2wd trans that you have and the donor manual transmission. You would then add/subtract the difference in length to the length of your current driveshaft. If your new manual trans is shorter then you add the difference. If it's longer, you need a d/s that is that much shorter.

Like you said, the ideal donor truck should be the same wheelbase as yours. There could be a significant difference in length of driveshafts if your donor is a shortbed, Bronco, or one of the long wheelbase vehicles. Worst comes to worst, a driveshaft shop can fab one up for you.

 

Thank you for the info gustang818.I was thinking along those lines about the drive shaft but wasn't sure about the pedal assembly.Once again I appreciate it.

Ryan

 

Glad to be of help. I got the rest of the parts I needed last night-front and rear d/s, transfer case shifter, manual trans crossmember, and wiring for the reverse lights. It's held me up 2 weeks but the end is in sight!