I'll be buying a '58 or '59 F250 soon, and I need to know what the choices were for manual trannies. Does the tranny have a removable bell housing? The old 272 has a spun cam bearing and is not gettting oil to the rockers. Untill I get this fixed, I plan on running a 289. What all would be involved with this swap? Thanks!

390FE

 

390fe:

You will have a bit of a problem using a 289 in your 58 or 59 F250, particularly in the area of matching your motor with the trans.

These are the transmissions that were offered on this truck (assuming the truck came with the 272, not a 6, and hasn't been changed:

1 Light Duty 3 speed Ford (has square side cover, is listed as a 272 box)

2 Medium Duty 3 speed BW T89 (9 bolt side cover; similar to the T85 car and T10 4speed boxes; only listed with 292s)

3 4 speed BW T98 (truck box with "grannie" gear)

The 3 speeds share the same bellhousing with the '49 - '64 Ford "tall and narrow" transmission bolt pattern. The input bearing retainer hole is 4.675" diameter. the Ford box is pretty light for most anything, IMHO. The T89 is a good choice.

The Four speed is a heavy duty unit that came in trucks up to the F700 size. If you are "working" the truck, it is just what you need, but otherwise it is a real "combine" piece of equipment. It uses a different belhousing (that was shared with the T87 HD 3 speed in larger trucks) with a different trans bolt pattern and a 5.125 input bearing retainer hole.

The bad news for your plan is using any of these transmissions with a 289. Because the Y Block is a yblock (like and FE), the bellhousings aren't interchangable. The rear motor mounts are on ears cast with the bellhousing, and no 289 bellhousing I've seen has these motor mounts.

Finally, the input shaft is 7.125" long on transmissions that were used with rear mount bellhousings, whereas 289s used transmissions with 6.5" input shafts. So, the truck trans would have too long of an input shaft for any 289 bellhousing. There is an exception - some late Mustang 302s with T5s used a 7.125" input shaft.

What you can do:

Swap an entire engine/trans combo.

Get an FE bellhousing from a big truck salvage yard with the rear motor mounts and use an FE with your present transmission.

Find a good Y Block. Personally, I feel that the only reason to change out a Y Block is because you don't like them - they are a fine engine that can do most anything you would need. They were always considered very reliable in commercial use and can be built to deliver a surprizing amount of power. Most folks who don't like them have been listening to brand X lovers and their propaganda organ, Hot Rod, too long. Why don't you check out <a href="http://members.aol.com/yblock/YBLOCK.htm">http://members.aol.com/yblock/YBLOCK.htm</a>
and think it over?

 

Tim, thanks for the reply! I think now, I'll just fix the 272, instead of swapping in another motor. Sounds like too much work. By the way, the tranny is a four speed with granny first. The truck has never had anything under the hood but a 272.

 

390fe:

If your center cam bearing is truly spun, you will probably be taking the engine down to replace it. Remember that the Y Block uses mushroom lifters, which only come out thru the bottom of the block. There was a tool to do this while the engine was in the car. Another thing that bedevils Y Blocks is a leaky rear main. Use a neoprene seal and make sure you put the whole assembly together right, if you are taking the crank out, too.

One place where the oil can get blocked off when going from the center cam to the rockers is in the transfer passage that is along the block deck. The re is a gallery that runs up the block to the deck, then a goove in the head surface that connects with the passage going up the rocker stand. It was common for htis passage to clog - this could be why you aren't getting oil, in case you are not certain of a spun center bearing.

Every now and then Ys were subject to cam bores that are not true. An old cam can serve as a reamer to align newly insalled bearings in this case. I have never personally experienced this on a Y, but I have on a Big Block 440 Mopar, another noted offender in this area. It is very important that your center cam bearing clearance be tight, but not too tight. If it is too tight, the pressure bleed-off from supplying two rocker shafts will cause the center bearing to run dry and seize. On the other hand, too loose of a fit will reduce upper end oiling, so this needs to be right. Make sure the cam spins freely if you put in new cam bearings.

I think a big problem with Ys is the crankcase ventilation. The old road draft tube did not really work well in any of its Y Block interations, and the breather, being in the slipstream of the fan, would always blow oil mist under the hood, making the engine dirty. A PCV system is easily rigged, and will keep both the inside and outside of the engine clean. Clean oil lessens the possibility of sludge blocking an oil passage.