When i bought my comet, the bellhousing on the original merc-o-matic was cracked. Its proven really hard to find a decent merc-o-matic for sale and even harder to find just a bellhousing for the trans i already have. I have heard that a c4 wont fit. But i was just wondering what i would have to do to make one fit and how hard it would be. But i would rather keep it original...so if anyone has a merc-o-matic theyre willing to sell...just let me know. -Desiree
I would think a same year falcon would have the same trans and there has to be someone on here that would have extra parts,too bad you are too far as a local junkyard has about 15 falcons of you era. A C-4 will work,just find a 64 and up with the same motor and grab everything from the flywheel to the driveshaft including the crossmember and shift linkage. Jeff
If you can find an early C4 bellhousing from a "high-mount" starter 170 or 200 it should bolt up to your engine. Since the C4 belhousings are removable you only need to find the correct bellhousing. From there you need the C4 transmission mount & bracket from falconparts.com, and a custom driveshaft and it'll bolt in. The hardest part of the swap is fabbing a shift rod from the trans to the column. Also the ford-o-matic in the Falcons was the same trans with a different tailshaft & tailshaft housing that is about 2" shorter. So if you can find one of those you could swap your merc-o-matic unit onto it, or have your driveshaft lengthened to make up the difference.
I have an 2 spped ford a matic from my 62 Falcon, I will not be using but it is in Central Minnesota. jim H
Okay guys I really need your help! I just bought a 1963 Mercury Comet convertible. It has a 260 v8 and 3 on the tree. I want to swap out the tranny for a an automatic. I know my engine has a 5 bolt bellhousing and the c4 tranny I would wanna put in has a 6 bolt pattern. My other option is just getting a 289 or 302 v8 with the c4 already together. I am new to this and I am not sure if that drive train would work for me or how difficult it would be to do. Has anyone done this or have any advise as to what I should do? Thanks guys!!!!! Joshua
Hey Josh, Welcome! There should be a some sort of auto trans that bolts to your 260. Not all the 260 cars came with a manual obviously, I thought the early Stangs with the 289 have a similar bolt pattern on the bellhousing..
Hey Thanks for the quick reply! There is a mercomatic 2speed tranny that will work with it ( and I have found one locally for $200) I did hear however that I would be unhappy with that tranny. Some guy who works on tranny's said they are hard to find parts for and hard to find replacement ones. It has a one piece body and bellhousing with a 5 bolt which would work with my 260. My engine works fine and if I could keep this engine I would be stoked to save all that $ and time!
Does anyone know if that tranny guy was blowing smoke? is the Mercomatic 2 speed a good tranny and easily repaired or replaced?
I have had a few buddies with the fordomatics in falcons and it seems to me they are like most early autos junk. I would say go with a toploader a c4 or a t5 with the adapter plate. I had a falcon with a c4 and it was like a different car. I do have a toploader 3 speed with the bell that I might come off of for a hamber.
Sorry for the ignorance.... what's a top loader? What exactly do you have that could work for me, and if it did work for me I would be happy to buy it from you! Thanks man!
Its a 3 speed manual that was used with early v-8 fords and later 6cyl 200's and early 250's it will work on the 5 bolt 170's and dual pattern 200's
To fit the c-4 I think that you will need to make some room with a hammer to fit the tranni. You could fit the 302 with no problem if its carbed. the c-4 will also need mounts and a drive shaft I think. The 260 is a good motor the tranni is the weak link IMHO.
If you go with the newer motor you will need the motor mounts from the newer motor . The bolt spacing for the motor mount on the early blocks (5 bolt blocks) are 6 inches apart and the newer blocks ( 6 bolt blocks) are 7 inches apart. Other then that it should bolt in. There is nothing wrong with a 260 ford. They have the same stoke as the 289 just a smaller bore. If the motor is running good i would stay with it.
Just had a 63 1/2 falcon one done $300 labor and under $500 for parts including shift kit n torque converter every wear part replaced n modulater. C4 is a better choice but the 5 bolt bell is going for big bucks here in so cal
There were a gang of '64 1/2 Mustangs built with the 260 V-8 and 3 speed cruise-o-matic trans. Also, the '64 1/2 cars with the 5 bolt 289 had the same trans, so there should be some of them out there. I would try to find an early Mustang site and check with those guys.
Thanks guys. I am going to see if I can find a 5 boltbell housing for cheap locally and then drop an aod in it. My engine does run nice right now.
Im replacing the floors on my Falcon and will be picking up a c4 this week ( already have the 5-bolt bellhousing ).Is this true about having to hit the trans tunnell to make the c4 fit?If so I might as well go ahead and make the small cuts needed.Because the floors are about to get cut out soon as my replacements come in this week.If so I could and cut some small patches to weld in the tunnel trans housing. Also any ideas as for what type of stall converter to use to beef up the transmission? Of course I will be adding a shift kit as well. Anyone know of a good c4 transmission guy here in the Houston area. Probably be running 3.73 gears on the rear end.I got the rearend out of a 67 mustang it is the later webb casing that was beefed up a little more than the first ones that came out. Thanks,
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