Am at a point where I see a need in the near future to do some work or make changes concerning my clutch, trans in 39 ford pickup. Cost to repair stock is quite high as you know. Say I get a new clutch, pressure plate if needed throw out bearing rebuild trans or buy one I would be well over $1000.00 .Have thought about the t- 5 and what all it needs for the conversion and that would be even higher in cost. One other idea is a T- 170 which is not exactly cheap but from what I have found I can do this for close the cost would be of if I stayed with the orig set up. I have found 4 or 5 T 1-70 trans within 100 miles of my home priced anywhere from 350.00 too 500.00. Then I would need the adapter, open drive conversion and all involved . I believe the 500.00 one has only 73,000 miles . Have read about every post I could find on the net concerning all trans above and each has certain advantages but for the money the T- 170 seems the best choice . The gear ratio is close enough if I use a certain one from mid 80,s ford truck and I would get the benefit of overdrive. Any thoughts appreciated .
Do you need to buy a adapter bell housing kit of some kind thats going to run 750 bucks? Will you need to buy the rear end conversion for 300?New drive shaft a 150bucks? Only way it makes sense to me is if you spend a lot of time on the freeway in over drive.
Good point, actually never drove on interstate, just thinking with fully syncro trans how nice it would be but then again I did buy an ole truck because it is an ole truck.
Another way is a 3.03 trans (top loader 3 speed) from a mustang or fair lane and a Jeep t150 shifter to convert it. I am getting ready to start this conversion on my 39 Tudor now. It puts the shifter in almost the stock location, and you can get those 3 speeds for cheap. I only paid 75 bucks for mine.
All in I have 300 bucks invested in this trans swap. It may lack an overdrive but it’s a full synchro bullet proof setup.
I'm surprised that you managed to find that many t170 transmissions. I only ever found one and I should have bought it. Still looking. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Another alternative is a three speed with overdrive from a 75, 76, 77, AMC Hornet, Gremlin, or Pacer. The Trans is Ford 303 full syncro 3 speed connected to a Laycock overdrive (now Gearvendors ) they were optional on those three years only. I found mine for $200. I put a Jeep T 150 top shifter on it. It's behind 354 hemi in my deuce roadster. The shifter sits with 1 inch of where the original 32 shifter was. I put a small parts kit and bearings in the trans, wired a lighted switch on the dash to engage the overdrive and have had the car on the road for 11 years, driving the snot out of it without any problem. The transvestite hard to find, but once installed has been problem free. Just not easy at all to speed shift with the Jeep top cover.
Yes Jason ,these are underrated,,how many gears do you need ,,,I converted one to a mercruiser 4 banger in a model A ,,even coupled it to the closed drive ,,tough trans and stick Position almost matches ,,paid $45 for trans and $70 for Jeep shift,,
Thanks for all replies. Here are some pics, the on under the truck is in a local junkyard is supposedly a T-170 , A site I looked at said if the I'd sticker on the truck door pillar shows a type B in trans identity , it would be a T-170 . The truck does have a B on the sticker. The other pic is a pic junkyard 80 miles away sent me . It is poor but comparing it with some T-170 trans images it looks to be a T-170.
the 170's are very popular with the model A crowd, somebody, i forget who, makes the adapter to use the ford torque tube
Don't do what I did. I have a Ford 4 speed overdrive that originally had the shift arms exiting the side to which I adapted the Jeep 4 speed shifter. It is basically a homemade t-170 conversion with a stupid shift pattern where first gear is straight ahead and you pull back for second and up into neutral and back into third and forward for overdrive. Done wrong and you chance hitting reverse when trying for third. This is why I am now looking for a t-170. Must be nice to have so many to pick and choose from.
actually, that would be normal for an overdrive trans to have the high gear towards the dash. reason is, in a direct transmission when you pull back for high gear you are locking the mainshaft to the input shaft, so a straight thru power flow, 1 to 1 ratio, as the shifter goes back, the fork goes forward. overdrive power flow uses the counter shaft to get a ratio different from 1 to 1, so shift lever goes forward, shift fork goes back. all the big trucks are like this, you can always tell its an overdrive trans if high gear shifts toward the dash
Rusty, Maybe I didn't explain it well. In the Jeep, the shifter controls a normal 4 speed. Direct drive would be fourth gear. When the transmission becomes an overdrive transmission, direct drive is now third gear; hence the stupid shift pattern. The shift tower in the T170 should correct this problem. If I could get a T170 shift tower, I would be thrilled.
Jerry Hopkins in Corsicana Texas has these T170 closed drive shaft adaptor plates for the rear of the T170 Trans. Jerry's phone number is 903 875 9557