I have a 50 Merc that we installed a 56 T Bird Special 225 horse 312 to the orig Merc 3 speed via Offy adaptor in 1956. I have a 56 Merc T85 OD trans I want to put in it and retain the orig clutch linkage. The best way to do this I think is via Hogs Head with an adaptor to the 49-56 Ford 4 bolt trans. HH retain the same style clutch fork and shaft as the Merc does. I also have a late 51 Merc 4 bolt BELLHOUSING but have never seen an adaptor to mate that to a Y block. Anyone know of an adaptor for the HH to the 49-56 4 bolt rans?? Find all kinds of them for the T 5 but as you know, different bolt pattern. Or an adaptor for the 51 Merc BH to a Y Block. Hope someone out there knows of something out there to accomplish this conversion. Many Thanx in advance!!
@daveydeuce Maybe an alternative worth considering would be to modify the clutch pedal linkage design to operate a stock Y-block bell housing and clutch fork. I believe the factory stock Y-block engine, bell housing and your trans should all bolt together with no adaptors required. Ray
They are around I sold the one I had to someone on here a couple of years Go. Ray, if you read all the way through Davey's post you can understand that the 49- early 51 Merc used clutch linkage that matches the F series trucks. That is why he wants an adapter rather than a Y block bellhousing. Late 51---- the bellhousing would work. Someone still sells those adapters or you can sometimes find one on Ebay.
Still looking for one that fits the 49-56 Ford 4 bolt trans. The one I bought from a HAMBER that is mismachined, centering ring 1/4 in to small, bolt holes to HH to small and don't match, can't even bolt it up and its for some odd ball trans. Now I know why it is a NOS, won't fit anything. Had Friends look at it also and they are stumped, never seen one like it. Any help is appreciated. Thanx again Davey
It’s the shape. A swine’s head is broad and deep at the back and tapers rapidly to the snout. Pretty much like the housing pictured in your post. Ray
I think you're looking for something that doesn't exist. The '49-50 Merc transmissions are unique as they have part of the bellhousing cast into the trans case. The adaptor you currently have is the other part between the trans and the motor, so what you need is another adaptor that mimics the trans case but allows the Ford-style trans to bolt up. In effect, you're wanting to build a stock-dimensioned Y-block bell the hard way, one that retains the OEM Mercury clutch linkage. I'll note here that even if you come up with this, you'll still probably need to fab some clutch linkage bits as the linkage pivot is located on the trans side cover, not the bell. While Ford included that pivot on the Ford-built trans for the Merc and some trucks, I don't recall ever seeing it cast onto a T85 trans side cover. The '51 Merc bell would work, except you'll need an adaptor between the bell and the engine. The problem here is the adaptor will move the trans mounting face away from the flywheel and now the trans input shaft will be too short. All the T5 adaptors you see will work because late-model T5 trans have a longer input, about 1" longer compared to the '49-64 ford trans. Any 'sandwich' type adaptor that fits between parts will have this issue with a '49-64 OEM trans. I think you have three choices. One, track down a '49-50 Merc OD trans. This won't be the stronger T85, but will bolt up to what you have. Two, use an OEM Y-block bell and just bite the bullet and fabricate the needed linkage. Or three, get a '49-50 Mercury trans case and machine the trans case off of it, leaving just the bellhousing part. This is a long shot as I have no idea if there will be enough 'meat' left to attach the later trans to it after machining. A lot of careful measuring would be needed to decide if this is a viable option. It won't be cheap either. Personally, option two would be the one I'd use. Commonly available parts, you'll only have to build the linkage. You'll be faced with building at least part of it anyway because of the trans differences.
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