i have a 54 plymouth belvedere, three on the tree... having issues with 2nd and 3rd gear. i am not one hundred percent sure if the issue is in the trans or on the steering column. i do know that the stock transmission are kind of a bastard trans and as far as i can tell no one makes a floor shift conversion for them. someone told me that its possible to rebuild the detents on the column if that is the case. im tired of the damn thing and wouldn't mind gaining a few more gears as well... i guess my question is does anyone know of a good swap that some what bolts right in? any help will be appreciated, thanks again guys.
Is this the "Hy-Drive" transmission? If it is, no upgrade will just bolt up. It wouldn't take all that much to use an adapter from Wilcap and swap in a "better" GM trans but I would look into fixing the detent issues and it may be that it's just out of adjustment.
You can get service manuals for pretty cheap, around $20. I know they are the same principal as the cast iron hydamatics but as far as column detent adjustment I don't know. Get a hold of the service manual and I'm sure it will give you some workable insight that may save you a lot of money and time. I do know they take almost 11 quarts of motor oil to fill up!
Ya, a service manual would be wise... Heres the situation, the car is covered in snow and its brutal cold out. I have been thinking, is it worth the time and effort to monkey around and try to fix it or just upgrade now and be done with it. Thought I came across some info on a ford ranger 5 speed swap but for some reason I can' t get the link to work. Has anyone ever seen /heard of this being done? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I put a T5 in my fairlane and it was the best thing I ever did. The swap did need an adapter along with a few other things. I got alot of info from modern driveline. I am a bit too young to have driven on a three on the tree originally and I was never able to get the hang of it comfortably. Good luck
Hy Drive is a fine transmission if you like putting 11 quarts of oil in the engine when changing the oil. The other 5-6qts are for the torque converter/fluid coupling.
Check over at the P15/D24 forum web site - there is a guy there who converted a six cylinder car to a ford 5 speed - it was a great conversion