3 speed OD trans ?'s

Hello everyone. I have a ? for all you guys out there. I have the 58 ford 300. It has the three speed and 223, 6 cyl in it. I have a friend that has a 55 or so 3 speed od from a Merc with a 312. ? is, can I put the od in the Ford. Will the bolt patern be different? Any and all help would be great. I would love to stay with the fresh 6 cyl that came in it. But of course I want to drive it and the od would be great. Thanks everyone.

 

Just bolt it in and make the overdrive parts function. The 55 Transmission will probably have a different spline on the input but that just means you will have to change the clutch disc to match. The rear spline is probably different also. . different yoke on drive shaft. The bolt patter is the same. Should be a piece a cake.

 

That Merc OD trans is likely to be the heavier duty Warner T85, especially if the Merc was, in fact, a 312. That's a good score. That trans was used, with or without OD in quite a few heavy cars and/or bigger engines in the 50's and early 60' in cluding by Pontiac and Ford in the earlyto mid 60's. A quick way to tell is if the side cover lower edge is curved downward instead of being straight. Certainly out to hold up behind the 223.

Ray

 

The OD unit should bolt right in. You will have to add a lockout cable for the OD, and do some wiring to actuate the OD solenoid (fairly basic and there is a ton of threads on the HAMB on how to do it).

Good Luck

 

One thing to remember on the old overdrives; there are two fill holes. Drain it, and fill with clean 90 gear lube. If the OD is sticky, drain a pint off and refill the OD section with ATF to free it up. After all these years they just get a little sticky. If the one you get has the curved bottom side cover, you made the score of the year, covet and protect that gearbox.

 

Try to get the driveshaft also. The yoke is different and they are hard to find I've heard.

 

BigRy,

In about 1978 I had a 58 Ford 4 door white with the 6 cylinder and overdrive.

I got it from my brothers grandmother-inlaw.

I loved that car.

I enjoyed going thru all of the speeds with someone who haden't ridden in the car before. I even used overdrive 1st.

In about 1980 I fell into some other newer car and the 58 became a third and extra car.

I remember the finish was very dull on the original paint and a neighbor suggested that I wash it with Comet clenser to brighten the paint.

I did and the guy that bought it said that he couldn't believe that the original paint could look so good.

I didn't tell him about the Comet.

Anyway you will like the car with the overdrive transmission and it will definitely save on engine ware.

Dick

 

I had a 58 Ford 6 years ago I put an overdrive in it and loved it. It will be even better with the higher non overdrive diff. On that 6 pull the dist. and check the hex shaft that drives the oil pump. That is the only trouble I had with the car. It rounded and I lost oil pressure. I pulled over in time when I heard all the lifters rattling. Replaced it and drove hell out of it for years.

 

Thank you. It seems that it should be an pretty strait forward job.