Hi everyone, brand new to this page. I recently picked up a 63 fairlane 500 a couple weeks ago with a 260 Windsor and a 2 speed. The 260 is off at the machine shop and it’s getting beefed up so i figured while it’s out let’s do the transmission as well. Well I realize now what I’ve gotten myself into haha. I’m having difficulties picking the best route. I would like to pick up a relatively built c4 to hold about 400-450 hp reliably. I was luckily able to find a C4AP-7976-A bell housing online for sale. I think that’s a good first step correct me if I’m wrong. My next step is finding a built c4 that will accept this bell housing, how can i tell online? I see that TCI offers various c4’s but how can I be sure that it will accept that bell housing? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks all!
The '63 bell housing, if it's a bolt on on the 2 speed and bolts on to the C4, is the 5 bolt used through '64 that you'll need for the block. Is the one you bought a 5 or 6 bolt bell?
Note that you need to adjust the detent plate on the column shift. Also you might want to remove the NSS from the column and move it down to the C4 side. The shifter linkage need to be adjusted or extended. Just make sure you can cycle through all the shift points, the main thing is you may not get enough throw to get into the lowered shift point which would be 1 or low, if the shift detent plate and the NSS cuts it short. The driveshaft may work, I recall using the same on my '64. the bell housing the the key ingredient here. yeah no way you are getting anywhere near those HP numbers from a 260, who are you? Fred Munster?
Yes, the pan fill bellhousing bolts to the case with 5 large bolts and uses a 164 tooth flexplate. Converter has 11-7/16" bolt circle. Used in the mid-sized and larger cars. The case fill bell bolts to the pump with 7 small bolts and uses a 157 tooth flexplate. Converter has 10-1/2" bolt circle. Used in compact cars with floor tunnel clearance issues (Falcon, Mustang, Maverick etc.). The 5-bolt bellhousings I've seen have been the smaller case fill style. You can bolt a case fill bellhousing to the pump of a pan fill transmission.
If you can possibly produce 450 hp from a 260 (nitrous, turbo), you better find one heck of a built C4. They won't hold up to that much power for very long. Joe
Back In HS I had a '65 Falcon wagon with a 289 and C4. I bought my buddy's wrecked '64 Comet with a 289 and a full syncro 3 speed. Proceed to ditch the C4 for the stick. Got it all bolted in and installed the drive shaft from the C4. Went right in so all was good or so I thought. On the first test drive I let out the clutch and nothing but a spinning grinding noise. Turned out the spline on the 3 speed and the C4 were different. Swapped the front yoke and all was good. That said make sure you verify that the yoke on the C4 is the same as the 2 speed you're replacing.
I'd be interested in seeing how you get 400hp from a 260, aftermarket heads generally don't work because of valve size and the small bore of the 260. I think your looking at less than 200 unless you put wind to it.
@Brandon Dean The case fill C4 used a combo neutral safety switch/ back up light switch that fit onto the shift shaft coming out of side where the shift lever attaches. It has a ‘hole’ in the switch body that slips over the shaft when the shift arm is removed and engages tangs on the shaft. Your used tranny may already have it there. One thing to keep in mind….be careful removing the retaining nut from the shaft. Several years ago I was changing the switch and the threaded tip of the shaft twisted off. Had to get a shaft, drop the pan etc, etc. There are, of course, alternative aftermarket NSS switches that mount differently. Ray
[QUOTE="abe lugo, post: 14082274, member: 1024" yeah no way you are getting anywhere near those HP numbers from a 260, who are you? Fred Munster? [/QUOTE]Supposedly a 289 stroked and bored to 427.....
I used to know all this....Tragically I overdosed on Ford information. I guess it was 8RT/8BA interchange data and because of that, my brain melted. All I remember now is the easy button..... Whatever configuration Ford C4 that was used in 1967-68 is the one you want to use. 64-65 were running changes to get the bugs out. 1966 was the last year for the Dual Range Cruiseomatic/Green Dot which the C4 was called. Ford called all their 3 speed automatics, Cruiseomtics in '64. The Dual Range C$s had that funky shift pattern. In 67 the shift pattern/valvebody was updated. Use the 67-68 configuration.
Really to be fair... He said he wanted the C4 to built to handle 450HP, not that he expected that out of the 260. I do know with the right stuff the C4 can be built up pretty tough.
High horsepower C4's have been used in drag racing for years with the advantage of weight, 3 speed and exchangeable bellhousing. We have two, with one behind a 363 Shafiroff. Performance Automatic has been around for years and has advertised 1000 hp capability with warranty.
Put that way...look at a copy of the National Mustang Racing Association publication. Ads for built C-4s in there.
"Fred Munster" must have been Herman's long, lost brother. Kidding aside, building a C4 transmission to handle 450 horsepower is not a problem. I would find a later case-fill, not an early Selectomatic. You can also use a C5/w C4 valve body, servos, and converter. The 260/early 289 requires 5-bolt bellhousing. By the way, Dynamic Racing Transmissions offers a C4 wide-ratio gearset/w 2.90 1st, 1.60 2nd, 1:1 3rd. They can easily build a C4 that can handle 450+ hp. There are others, who can do the same.
You have know your stuff and parts interchange. I do believe around 71 or so the input splines changed. Also the case changed sometime around the same period. While it was still a two piece unit with the separate bell housing, I'm not sure if the earlier "pan fill" bellhousings will fit the later "case fill" transmission cases. It seems to me that they will not interchange but I could be very mistaken. These issues with a later 6 bolt block would be no problem. With the 5 bolt bellhousing you may be limited to the earlier pan fill transmissions. This is why I said that 1967-68 ish configuration would be the "easy button" as far as compatibility.
70-up C4 has a 26-spline input shaft. 1-yr. only (70?) has 26-splines on both ends. A pan-fill bellhousing bolts to the transmission case, and will not fit a case-fill C4, which has the bellhousing attached to the pump. Case-fill transmissions are preferred/required, when space is limited. The C5 transmission, which is an updated C4, has more clutch plates, improved fluid circuitry, 26-spline input shaft, and lockup torque converter. The C5 bellhousing is deeper, providing room for the lockup converter. The C5 pan holds an extra quart of fluid. I'm using a C5/w C4 valve body, 26-spline C4 converter, and C4 H servo. Note that there are 8-bolt and 9-bolt valve bodies. If memory serves me, the later 9-blot valve body can be used on earlier 8-bolt transmissions by placing nut and bolt into the extra hole. However, the earlier 8-bolt VB cannot be used on later 9-bolt VB transmissions. Pan-fill transmissions were mostly used on trucks. Mustangs used a case-fill C4.
Some full-size cars, like trucks, used the pan-fill C4. A case-fill, as found on Mustangs, will better suit your 63 Fairlane. I was correct, regarding using the later 9-bolt valve body on earlier 8-bolt transmissions. I would avoid pre-67 "Green-dot) transmissions. Pre-70 transmissions have 24-spline input shafts. They can be upgraded to 26-splines, but the torque converters are not interchangeable. The input shaft has to match the converter.
Yea. Average 430 to 450 HP and you end up splitting the stock block on a 302. Mexican blocks excepted.
Granted SBF are thin-wall castings, thereby limiting amount of overbore. However, there are 347 strokers that use stock blocks and are capable of 430-450 hp, without splitting the block. They might be using main studs and girdles.
The Jalopy Journal
