I collected a few decent T-86 OD's to assemble my 55 F100. I'm running a 53 Flatty. I installed the best looking tranny of the three, connected all the linkage linkage to my 3 on the tree, but It's still in build. I haven't wired the OD soleniod circuit... and I have a few thousand other things to do before I'm pounding pavement. In anticipation however, I've done a few days searching on the board trying to bone up on this old tranny. I've followed the links suggested, and Van Pelt Sales exploded Assy illustrations on early Ford trannies, but I still have some questions... 1) 49 through 54 Car used the same transmission case as the 51 through 55 truck, though I understand there were some improvements in the 51 gearing. I don't see any case part numbers that would help me determine which T-86 (49-55), I installed. Can anybody tell me how to differentiate transmission years to determine which model I have installed? 2) It sounds like the T-86 1st gear was unsyncronized? Were all model years of T-86's unsyncronized? 3) I'm not sure I've ever driven an unsyncronized transmission, however I've shifted through gears by getting the RPM's right without the clutch... I guess that's similar. I suppose what an unsyncronized 1st means is; it's necessarry to come to a complete stop before shifting down from 2nd to 1st. Any other driving tips I need to understand to use this tranny correctly? Lastly; as is typical I flew off half cocked when I started buying up T-86's, and my later research on these old tranny's broadened my understanding of the transmission options available to me behind my flatty, to included the later T85 OD that was developed to the larger displacement YBlocks... 5) Were all the T-85's fully syncronized? 6) I understand from my thread search that; The heavier duty T85 can be identified by its side cover which is curved on the lower edge, but I've never actually seen one which makes looking for one a little more difficult. Does anybody out there have a pic that illustrates the side cover of a T-85 that they could post so I could differentiate the two??? I'd appreciate any schooling you can give me!
Not the greatest angle but here's mine. It's from a 1969 F100 so it's one of the last of the overdrives.
That's Awesome... I'm surprised how short the tailshaft is compared to the T-86's. What engine was that in front of??? Thx!
Pickups typically used shorter tailhousings than passenger cars. All T-86 & T-85 were non-syncro 1st gear. The T-85 was the basis of the BW T-10 4 speed and the side cover [profile is the same (curved lower edge). T-85s were used in several FOMOCO applications, Ford, Merc, T-Bird, Pickups and '49/'51 era Lincolns. Also big Pontiacs around 1963. Ray
Thx Ray... Honestly I don't plan to put any big horsepower in front of the T-86, so I imaging it will serve my purposes just fine. P.S. if that Avatar happens to be a picture of your car, you my old school afficianado have got the finest Cord I've ever laid eyes on, and if not, you've jus got damn good taste!
Regarding the non-syncro low, yes they are all like that and theoretically you need to come to a stop to put it in low. With a little practice in the lost art of double clutching a smooth shift to low can be made without stopping. Also as an added bonus to having overdrive is a thing called 'freewheeling'. With the overdrive engaged the output shaft is pulling through a sprag 'roller' clutch witch allows the drive shaft to overun the the engine speed.This allows you to shift into low without stopping and to upshift without the clutch if you want. the other thing to bear in mind is most overdrive equipped vehicles had at least a 4.11 or deeper rear gear. Pulling away in second from a rolling stop in second is no problem. All food for thought.
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