Hi all. Have not posted in awhile. I have a 63 F100 (not a unibody) for the past 8 months it has been in the paint and body shop. It is almost done and I will get it next week. I will post some more pictures to my gallery showing how it turned out. I would appreciate some input or recomendations on a selection of a engine and trans. I put a 1957 292 Y block in the truck. It has a 600 CFM edlbrck 4BBL and Rds headers through a 2 1/4 exhaust with Flw Mstr Delta series mufflers. This engine is hooked up to the 3 speed trans from the original 223 engine. The engine has very few miles on it. It was rebuilt professionally and I purchased it. The problem is the 3 speed manual trans. It has lost reverse and is very hard to get into gear. I would like to change the transmission to a automatic. I have bad knees and can only drive the stick for a day or two before having to stop. I have not been able to find any type of automatic trans for the 292 engine. I was considering swaping a engine and trans from a donor vehicle or maybe a rebuit engine and trans. The truck also has a 3.89 rear end which is no good a highway speeds. I found a 3.25 rear and could swap that. I was thinking a 302 engine and either a c4, c6 or AOD. Would appreciate some help. I know what a 302 and 351 drive like not to sure about transmissions. I have a c4 in my 66 mustang with a 289 and the rear in that is 3.00. That is borederline gas hogish at highway speed. I want the truck to be able to be driven long distances at highway speeds as well as being used for a regular average truck duties around town. Will also clean it up once in awhile to go for cruize nights. Also need to decide on brake and front end upgrades.
Thanks for the help guys.

 

Andy:
Check out the Y-Block forum, maybe the guys there have a direct swap for your trans. I say this considering the motor sounds like it is pretty good shape and you could save a few bucks by not having to deal with swapping that as well.
Good luck, --Mike G

 

Andy, You should be able to find a Ford-O-Matic or a Cruse-O-Matic to work with your engine. You will have to find one from a car. There just were not many trucks with autos.

 

I agree with John, there should be no shortage of car donors out there for a trans swap. Automatics didn't gain acceptance in trucks for awhile back then. Just changing the trans is the simplest solution. When you start swapping engines around you have a lot more to deal with: exhaust, mounts, throttle connections, etc etc. The 292 can provide adequate power, so unless you want to race it or tow with it you don't need more engine. And if you do put in more power, you'd be foolish to not upgrade the brakes to discs, add power steering...which sends you quickly into grafting on a complete front clip. Which is more work, expense, and less time you can be driving your truck.

Only difficult part would be getting an auto shift column if you don't want a floor shifter, but I'm sure that could be overcome as well.

 

All true! Automatic columns are available for these trucks. Not many but they do exist. There is a Junk Yard in Junction City Kansas that had one a year or so ago??? I have seen them at Pigeon Forge as well. In the mean time the stick linkage can be made to work. Or you could go with a floor conversion like LoKar. Automatic transmissions are also available. I suggest you use drum/drum with an 8 inch power assist. Disk brakes are better of course but expensive and in my opinion not worth the investment for a leaf spring/straight axle setup. If you want to modernize this truck use a 76-79 frame. One of the locals here has this setup. He used the frame horns and motor mounts from the 64 to mount the front sheet metal and fabbed up front cab mounts. The rest (according to the owner) was easy. Looked like a simple deal to me as well but I have not personally done this swap. I will, just not yet! With the I Beam suspension in front and stock rear mounted fuel tank your options for engine, transmission, steering and brakes are unlimited. You get to save the money already invested in the body and personally I'd keep the 292. The other advantage is that this is doable with all Ford junk yard parts. IMHO!
William in Atlanta

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I have a cruize-o-matic in the 66 Muistang. It is just a c4 by another name. It will not bolt up to a 292 engine. Well it is possible with a kit that is made by one place. The kit costs 525 and looks like it has special parts that would not be able to be gotten again. The kit worries me also because the instructions talk about having the bolt studs on the torque converted welded to the converter for strength. Ford-o-matic from a car was mentioned. What year cars would these come from and which ones would bolt up. As for shifters I had to convert to a floor shifter for the current trans was just going to get a floor shifter for the automatic.
For brake upgrades I was thinking of going with front disc and a booster. I can get 2 kits that would let me do this for about 850. I put fresh pads on the drum brakes on the truck now. But they have the 63 one year only front wheel cylinders that push from one side only. They are very old, not leaking yet but I have not been able to find parts for them. I know it is allot of money to go to disc power brakes but I want to drive this truck where I live and the traffic here is. Well that would be a whole other discussion.