Nice write up! Nice to see whats involved, this is on the top of my to-do list for my 76. Interesting too, you raion choices... Thats whats been getting me, picking a trans I can get fairly easily, but still be something with OD for behind my 460, and at he same time as you guys say, more 'car like' since I plan to race it...

G.

 

Well, like I have said I had REALLY wanted a 4:1 1st gear T19. In my several trips to the junkyard I could only source decent 5:1 1st gear T19s. So, I had to go with that if I wanted to pursue this swap.

But after driving the transmission for a while I definately would rather go with something more car like. I have a 2wd truck that I NEVER haul anything and would at this time never tow anything, so having a deep first gear and overbuilt truck trans doesn't make much sense.

Plus, the transmission (my T19) doesn't like to be shifted above like 3500 rpm, which is sort of a problem with an engine that revs to 6500.

Josh

 

This is what I was referring to over power gain.
Are you noticing the difference at higher speeds (hill climbing, passing etc) or just on accelerating away from a start?

 

After actually driving it to and from work and running some errands I would have to say the power "feels" the same. The difference is in just the engine having a direct connection to the driveline with a clutch versus the torque convertor. You give it a little gas and you "feel" the truck taking off versus with an auto you give it gas and it is "mushy"

But I would dink around in 1st or 2nd with the C6 and when you gave it some throttle in those gears it was the same sensation, it would snap your neck back.

As a side note with the 5:1 T19, I usually take off from a stoplight using 1st gear, but I can take off in 2nd if I slip the clutch more than the usual amount. And I find I easily outpace most vehicles taking off in 1st and shifting quickly than I did with an Auto and giving it more than the normal amount of throttle. If that makes sense.

Josh

 

One other question, Josh - how has the swap affected gas mileage?

 

Back to the swap:

I't looks like you had 2 mini projects to do this:
1) Install manual transmission
2) Source and install pedals and link to tranny...

Where did you get the pedal assembly,...and could you give more info on the install of them?

I am looking at rebuilding a C4...BUT,...BUT,....BUT would love a manual.....how easy is it to find the pedal assembly and such and install? I see the tranny's around...but never thought to see if the sellers include the pedal assembly? Can they be from almost anything?

 

Fek....won't take my post edit.

disregard "where did you get pedal assembly"...you state that. I meant the whole "clutch equalizer".....? More info on that part of install.

 

I don't think it has effected the mileage much. Maybe a 1 MPG gain, but I haven't re-calibrated my speedo yet, and I have driven with and without GPS so I don't have exact mileage yet.

But just from oberserving how quickly the gas needle drops I would say the mileage is nearly the same (9-12 mpg).

Josh

 

The clutch equilizer or z-bar is very straight forward. The mounting holes with the welded nuts are already there on the frame, ready to use.

The FE engine block is already drilled and tapped for the engine side mount as well.

So it's really just a matter of bolting the stuff down and moving on.

The clutch fork spring was somewhat of a hassle. I snagged the one from the junkyard, but it ended up being too short and made the spring waaaaay too stiff.

So I bought a universal spring from NAPA.

The only special thing I did was to drill and tap a hole for a grease zerk in the z-bar. Seems like a no brainer and curious why Ford would skip that.

Josh

 

What size drive shaft did you have to get?

 

I believe there are only 2 for the intermmediate shaft. The short one is for the C6 and the manual tranny uses a longer almost 36" total shaft.

Just have to pay attention to what the output flange has and match accordingly or use a special 1310/1330 u-joint.

Josh

 

Oh ok thanks. I'm switching my c6 out for a np435. Trying to get some info cause I'm still kinda new to all of this.

 

The swap is the same whether it's an NP435 or T18/19.

Josh

 

I've always wanted to do this swap, but had fears of work I could'nt handle. Your write up makes it sound somewhat painless and is inspiring me to go ahead with the swap. I currently have a 78 F250 4x4 with a 400, C6 and want to swap in a 460 with manual trans. I also have a complete 77 F250 4x4 (field beater) with a junk engine, but basically a complete donor truck that I can rob all the parts off of. The donor truck also has 4:10 gears that I would like to use as well. Almost seems silly to swap out almost the whole powertrain versus just putting my cab, box, and new engine onto the 77, but my 78 chassis is in alot better shape. Thoughts?

 

It really is fairly straightforward. Just get all the parts ahead of time, and make sure everything is in order. Then it is a matter of swapping parts.

The manual tranny is friggin' heavy, but I did everything by myself and I am no Hulk Hogan.

As for frames and cabs... I think it would be easier to swap axles etc than swapping cabs. But somebody may have a different opinion on that.

Josh