Technical 4 speed manual w/overdrive

So in my 1965 Ranchero with the 200 and stock 3spd, I do a lot of highway driving. Around 60 i think it turns about 3200 rpms, which is a little too high for my liking. I'm looking at trying to find a 4 speed manual with overdrive, overdrive being the 4th gear. Any ideas what to use and where to look? Thanks guys!

 

Are you wanting/needing to keep it all FoMoCo?

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It'd be nice since I want to keep the car as stock looking as possible but if I can't it's not a huge deal.

 

IDK what Ford trans are available in a 3+1 configuration but I'd like to think there is at least one to look at.
What else is available? ...I'll toss this out and let the Ford guys beat me up...
MaMopar used the infamous A-833 in the 70'-80's as a 3-spd + OD. This was commonly used in pick-up and vans applications. GM also used this trans in ½ ton pickups. The GM trans will have a very similar length input shaft as the Ford; The Mopar will be much longer. You 'might' be able to re-drill your bell for the gm trans. The Mopar will require a spacer. The Mopar front bearing retainer is HUGE, dunno what gm used.
These often turn up at swap meets and most guys walk past them. If you find one, you really need the shifter that goes with it. Buying the shifter separately will likely double the costs. It is unique to the 3+1 set-up.
Laying on the ground these are quickly identified as 3+1 by the aluminum main case, aluminum tail housing or both in aluminum.

 

Nice information man. I'll start looking at the swap meets then. Let me know if you find anything about one for Ford. Thanks man.

 

Ford used the SROD behind 200's in Fairmonts and Mustangs. 1978-83 I think.

Car Ratios: 3.07 1st, 1.72 2nd, 1.00 3rd, 0.70 4th, and 3.07 Rev.

They were also used in trucks with lower first ratio, and the shifter farther forward.

 

Oh nice. I just hit up eBay for that and that's right. Thanks!

 

If you have a bench seat and don't want to convert to buckets, you don't have many choices. The '63-65 Falcon/Comet had the floor shifter location roughly 6" further forward compared to any other Ford car of the era or pretty much even the later cars. Everything else puts the shifter under the stock seat.

Ford trans that could be fitted will include the BW 3sp + OD units, but a '65-up unit (to fit your bellhousing) will be tough to find as Ford had pretty much phased them out by then. This could be connected to your stock three-on-tree linkage, but will require control wiring and floorboard/crossmember mods.

Next up is the car version Ford toploader OD (basically the Ford 4-speed converted to an OD trans), another not-so-common piece. Shift linkage will be an issue in order the keep the lever out from under the bench sweat. No floor mods (except for the shifter), but a new crossmember will be needed. The above-mentioned SROD is an all-aluminum variant of the Toploader with internal shift linkage used in both cars and trucks, but shifter location will again be an issue. Beware the more common truck versions of these, as most of those have very poor gear spreads.

A late T5 5-speed (fifth being OD) will the easiest one to find, but shifter location will again be the biggy with these. I know guys have been mixing and matching tailshaft housings to adjust shifter location, maybe somebody will chime in on this.
Lastly, you can get a brand-new Tremec 5-speed that will address most of these issues, but don't expect it to be cheap and will be overkill....

There's probably other choices, but now you're talking about swapping in probably another car make trans and will be looking at adaptors and whatnot to make it work,

 

Lordy. Well yeah I got the bench seat. Crap, this kinda sucks. Hopefully someone will add to this about how to fix that.

 

The truck ratios on the SROD: 3.29 1st, 1.84 2nd, 1.00 3rd, 0.81 4th, and 3.29 Rev.
The shifter is a few inches forward of the car version.

 

Yeah, I put a early Mustang 3-speed with the floor shifter into a '62 Falcon years ago and had to butcher the hell out of the floor. The seat had to be pushed all the way back to clear the shifter, short-legged drivers couldn't reach the pedals....

The SROD will require similar butchery....

It'll be easier to change the rear axle ratio to something a bit taller, but performance will fall off.

 

A T5 will probably be your best choice. Easy to find, they were used in a lot of different cars/configurations, most parts interchange (between similar versions) and there's a lot of aftermarket support. You're not going to find any 'easy' fitting trans, that will probably be the least hard option.

 

>>>I want to keep the car as stock looking as possible but if I can't it's not a huge deal. >>>

What size rear wheels & tires you got now? Jack E/Nj

 

That truck SROD would put your shifter in nearly the stock Falcon position and the gear ratios look good to me. A 3.29:1 first gear is nearly the same as a 3.35:1 Mustang T5 trans and not nearly as low as a 4.03:1 Chevy S10 T5 gearset.

 

The SROD will put the shifter about 4" further back and require at least partially cutting out the crossmember bracing welded to the underside of the floor. Plus he'll lose most of his seat adjustment.

On the OEM 4-speeds, the shifter was about 2" behind the main trans case; as tight as Ford could get it....

 

I got the 14" rims. I haven't measured the tires yet.

 

Dang that's tight. I'll probably end up going with the Tremec b/c you can change where the shifter is.

 

Yeah I'd like to keep my performance since its already hard to get much out of a Six.

 

My calculations show about 2680 at 60 mph...with guessing 24" dia tire and 3.20 rear axle gear..an od of .7 [average ratio] would give 1880 rpm and just kill that engine, even a .8 would be 2140 and bury it also..I'd leave it alone..

 

Agreed. If you do anything, try bigger wheels and taller tires to bring the RPMs down a bit. Jack E/NJ

 

The gearbox you need is an Alloy Case Ford T-170 from a mid 80's 6 cyl F150. It is a 3speed + 0.78 O/D
it is a Top Shifter which is perfect for a bench seat.

Google Image T-170 Transmission an it will explain everything

 

How would 1880 kill it? Don't you want it to turn as slow as possible so that it's easier on the engine?

 

This one will work with your bench seat and is 3+OD. It's an aluminum case trans out of mid 80s F150s. Hard to find..... not likely at a swap meet, but they are out there.

 

The auto wreckers is always an option too for me. Haha

 

Compare car SROD to Truck SROD. No cutting of Falcon crossmember with truck transmission.

 

Its a Tremec, similar to the T170/T176 that they used in the Jeeps. Search Ford RTS and you'll find some info both here on the HAMB, and out on the WWW.

 

I knew that the Ford crew would have some options!
If you entertain the 5-spd top-shift conversion you might also look at the TOYO KOGYO, 1983-87, used in Rangers and Aerostar vans....a lot cheaper than the t-5. The gear spread looks like: 3.96-1st; 2.07-2nd; 1.39-3rd; 1:1 in 4th and 0.84 in 5th. The deep 1st may be useful if you are low on hp. The Toyo has the shifter at about 25" from the face of the bell, similar to many top shift units. No, not a simple bolt-up and go.

The big reason for suggesting the A-833, even with the needed fixins, was that they are side shift and more likely to work with a bench seat. Similar issues with the early Mopar bodies.

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There is a reason why little engines don't work well at hiway speeds and low rpms....a serious lack of torque and horsepower at low rpms compared to V8's with two or 3 times of each.

 

Early 80's Toyota Hi-Ace have a column shift 5 speed.[If you want to keep it column shift]
Hi-Ace, Hi-Lux, Celica etc gearboxes are an easy swap to a Falcon engine

 

My 79 Econoline had an overdrive version of the top loader. Can't remember what it was called...maybe RUG?

Because of the van layout, the shifter came up a couple of inches behind the engine cover, and I always assumed the linkage and tower were different than the same transmission in a pickup or Granada.

I think this transmission was later redesigned to become the stodgy, with a internal linkage.