Hi gang, Contrary to what many close friends will tell you, I am not a complete idiot! With that said, I have probably the stupidest question I have asked, 'cause I can't remember the answer. Some time around '64, Ford did away with that miserable excuse for an automatic trans, The Ford-O-Matic, and went to a 3 speed deal that was the precourser to the C4. I for the life of me can't remember what it was called. Even worse, instead of the shift quadrant having P,R,N,D,2,3 marking, this trans has a P,R,N,1,GREEN DOT,3 marking. I seem to remember that the green dot was "drive". I had one of these in the Falcon from '83 through about '91 when I mated a standard C4 to the weird bell housing (6 cylinder) and made it the standard pattern we know and love today. That's a long time ago, and I just can't remember the specifics. I really don't recomend that swap by the way, lots of weird machine work afoot. So am I right with the green dot being drive position on these? The girlfriend is looking at an O/T car, ( well, if you must know she wants a '65 or '66 6cylinder Mustang. Anybody got a nice one for cheap?!) and I saw the green dot the other night and it made me think. Thanks, Chip
Here's my really fuzzy recollection, I should look this stuff up because I probably have about seven mistakes here: C4 means 1964, that's the small 3 speed auto they came out with at that time. The predecessor was the 2 speed Fordomatic. There was also a 3 speed Cruisomatic some of them had only two shifter positions, L would get you 1st and 2nd, D would get you 2nd and 3rd. The green dot would start in 2nd and shift to 3rd, sort of imitating a powerglide.
She's a quirky kinda gal... the Real reason is she is a damn cute 43 year old woman from Hong Kong. She drives very much like a 43 year old gal from Hong Kong... They don't make race drivers over there, so with her slower will be better. Mostly worried about how strong the left turn signal is!
The "trade name was "Cruise-O-Matic" . The "starts in 2nd, shifts to 3rd" emulated the original Ford-O-Matics. 4TTRUK
When Ford first came out with an automatic transmission, it was called a Ford-O-Matic. It was an iron case transmission. It started off in second gear and shifted to third in the D position. You could shift to L for first gear manually. In 1958, Ford started using a sprag in the planetary and called the transmission a Cruise-O-Matic. The D position next to neutral started off in second gear and made a shift to third, just like a Ford-O-Matic, and you still had manual L for first gear. But, using the sprag, there was another D position (green dot) that started off in low, shifted to second, and shifted to third, all automatically.
If you shifted to the 'green dot', the vehicle would start in first and shift to second and to third. If you stated out in 'D', it would start in second and shift to third. I think it was intended for getting under way on slippery surfaces. Ford did the same thing in the pickups, my 65 f100 was that way until we installed a 67 "select shift" valve body.
The Green dot C4 predated the 1967 Selec-Shift revision that gave you manual 1st, manual second and 1-2-3 drive.
When racing the cast iron Cruiseomatic the sequence went like this. Start in drive (green dot). As soon as the car moves place the shift lever manually into low position. Hold in low till desired RPM. Move shifter to drive and immediately put shift lever back in low position. This holds the transmission in second gear until desired RPM is reached. Move lever into drive and transmission would shift into high gear. Shifts were crisp and solid if the transmission was in good shape.
Why not just start in L, then shift to green dot, then back to L, then back to green dot. Starting in green dot is same as starting in L, except you are using the sprag instead of the Lo/reverse band. Same 1st gear ratio. With the early Fordomatics 55 up, you could start in 1st by flooring the accelerator (while keeping the transmission in DR), keeping the accelerator floored it will shift up to 2nd, then 3rd. (They put the sprag in Studebakers that used this BW transmission to get a 1st gear start in DR) I believe the Ford equipped Fordomatics still used the Lo band for 1st, so they must have modified the valve body to get 1st with TV pressure at max. By turning the TV lever tighter, 1st gear could be had even at lower throttle positions. But it also moved the shifts up quite high. The later Fordomatics are 2 speed boxes that function more like a boat anchor, than a transmission. The 64-65 early C4's had the green dot pattern and functioned like the FMX Cruise-o-matic.
Cruise-o-Matic. It was P,R,N,White Dot, Green Dot, Low. White skipped 1st and started you out in 2nd. Green dot is the same as Drive and acts like a normal 3 speed. I had one and I bought a valve body for a '68 C4 and shifter. That fixes the whole green dot white dot and lets you downshift normally.
And here I was going to say FMX. I distinctly remember FMX not having all those buttons and stuff, so you other guys are probably right.
Sad to say, she went out and expressly to piss me off, bought a Honda... A fricken Honda!!! It's like driving an appliance at best. To her credit, we looked at about 23 '64-'66 Mustangs in the space of a month and found either way overpriced good stuff, or way overpriced junk. No in between. I however have gotten her '62 Falcon wagon on the road in the last couple of weeks, and her interest seems to be peaking a bit again. Soon I'll turn her loose for her first 30 mile one way commute in it and let's see how long that stupid Honda stays around. Wish me luck!
not to hijack the thread but can anyone tell me if this is a pre-C4 FoMoCo transmission that would bolt up behind the 260 in my '64 Fairlane? My '64 has a build date of October 24, 1963 so I know it it is pre-C4 and would love to replace the Ford-0-Matic 2 speed it's currently running.
That's an FMX, or FX, or MX, depending on year. Cast iron Cruise-O-Matic. Looks like the 5 bolt small block pattern. They have slightly less parasitic drag than the more popular C4, and a lot less than the C6. They are heavy, and harder to get performance parts for, but a good, durable transmission. The later AOD/4R70W overdrives were developed from that design.
58 custom is correct. That is a C-4, the early ones had a valve body that allowed only those gears, and drive was a 1-2-3 shift
I had a rear man go out on my Fairlane. I'm thinking it's the ideal time to swap the Fordomatic for the FX. I got no clue as to how or why the previous owner pulled it out of the car but the remaining fluid doesn't smell burnt so I'm thinking put it in and try it out. is the Fordo linkage going to work at all on the green dot tranny?
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