I sent number dummy a PM, though he never responded, so I thought I'd just copy and paste it and ask it to everyone

"Well, I found a '53 ford that has a y-block and a three on the tree with an overdrive. It has been a while since that heated discussion, sop I was going to ask you, first of all, would the trans from the y-block bolt up to my 223 I-6?

And second of all, am I right for remembering that the 56 and older trucks are the ones that cam with the T-86?

Thank you very much.

P.S. He is unfortunately not willing to part the truck out, and wants $1k for the whole thing, worth it? I don't know..."

Thank you for reading.

 

i dunno bout them fitting the six , but i used the heavy t-98 four speed from a 55 y block in my 53 behind my flatty, so i cant see as to why it shouldn't with your's with the right bell housing . who's to know though , ford was pretty good at making a million variations on a theme with one widget changed to screw things up somewhere ........ case in point , the new mod motors , 'sposed to be able to just swap 'em and their parts back and forth , well ..... so far i've found 8 different blocks , like 12 different sets of cylinder heads , different cranks for the same displacement .......... anyway i'd say it would . if it's the right price what's a little cash and a shot at putting it in gonna hurt ???????

 

The three speed and three speed with OD all use the BW bolt pattern and all fit the bell housings that came on the trucks from 53-60 whether Six or V-8. The only difference between the passenger car 3 speeds & 3 speeds with OD and the trucks are the main drive gear and front bearing retainer. The truck uses a 1 3/8 diameter spline for the clutch disc, and the bearing retainer is larger diameter and uses a larger throwout bearing. These transmissions are the T-85 B-W. (The T-86 was a top loader design which came along later but which was never used as an OD in Ford Trucks.) The T-85 uses a side mounted shift cover with 9 bolts.

The main difference in the bell housings between the passenger car and the trucks are that the truck uses projections cast into the bell housing for rear engine mounts. This is the only reason why passenger bell hoiusings and transmissions cannot be used in trucks. So this means that if you were to use a T-5 in your truck instead of a BW overdrive, you would have to change the mounting of the engine to the passenger style with mid block mounting in the front, and transmission mounting in the rear.

Is the B-W OD worth $1000? Not to me. I would instead find a T-5 from a Chevy S-10 which has the shift lever forward which fits our trucks, I would remount the engine with a simple mid block mounting, I would buy the bell housing for the Y-block, get a centerforce clutch pressure plate and disc, and mount the T-5. This would not only get me an overdrive, but would get me 5 synchronized speeds and a floor shift that clears the seat. I might spend $700 to do this, but it is a mod that allows you to use any engine later on, and a transmission that has easy to get parts...... Of course, if you were to buy the entire truck, you could easily get double the purchase price by selling off all the parts and sheet metal, and you would have the overdrive for nothing. Remember however, that the OD has an electric solenoid and uses a relay both of which have to be a voltage that is the same as your truck. (6V or 12V)

Regards,

Alan

PS I have some T-85 Overdrive and 3 speed transmission parts left for sale.

 

Wow, just the kind of info I was looking for. So in depth, thank you!

I see what you mean about idfferent variations, however, there was a big discussion about this a couple months ago, and I just needed a memory refresh(It was long and complicated, and didn't feel like reading through it all, hahaha)

But no about the T-85, I need a T-86. Preferrably something that's close here in CA. And about the S-10, I don't know, I think that'd end up being a lot more troublesome and expensive than $1000 dollars, and the guy also said OBO, So after inspecting it, I bet I Could get it down to $650-750.

Thanks so much for the replies, and "chip-in's" are greatly appreciated!

 

in my case i put as mentioned the t-98 four speed in mine . now as things have went along i was looking for a s-10 5 speed . kinda hard to find here as they all rusted away and went to the great boneyard in the sky .well any way i got that 87 crown vic for parts to get my disc brakes and it donated it's diff too . same width as my dana , just a little surgery to remove the coil spring mounts and control arm brackets and put leaf spring perches on. it has a 2:73 rear gear . the t-98 has a 6:62.1 FIRST GEAR SO IF I'MEMBER MY MATH RIGHT I'LL END UP TAKING OFF IN FIRST WITH A FINAL RATIO OF ABOUT 3.5SUM TO1 AND WHEN IM IN FOURTH I GOT acheap od { the tranny was free about 170 bucks in parts and my labor } as the obviuos final drive ratio is a highway freindly 2.73:1 . which makes me ecstatic i'll be able to run at 65 nonetheless exceed the posted speed limit with my flatty if i want !!!!!!!!!