i'm using a '56 passenger 235 bellhousing and fork behind my 248 gmc. the trans i'm using is a '63 Ford f100 3-speed toploader that has the 1 3/8-10 spline with the chevy t-10/saginaw/muncie to '49-'64 adapter and a 10 1/2" borg & beck style pressure plate. the adapter takes up some unnecessary input shaft length of the Ford trans, but what to do about a throwout bearing? seems like everything Chevy and GMC had the 1 1/16 - 10 spline, even the SM-420 trans.
So what you're trying to say is that the input collar on the Ferd is larger in diameter than the Chevy? What about using a Ferd throwout bearing and fork? Or use a Chevy tranny.
actually i was starting to think about making a fork using the ford yoke section and the rest chevy to preserve the geometry. the reason i'm using the ford trans is i have a jeep tremec t-150 top-shift cover to go on it. think of it as a sightly more modern equivalent of a '37 packard top shift (just as strong) with slightly wider ratios, full synchros, and better parts availability.
What geometry are you refering to? If the distance from the shaft centerline to the pivot ball is different between Ferd and Chevy, you could just relocate the pivot ball. Chevy switched to a bolt-in pivot ball in the late 50's. Sixes and V8's are the same. I'm assuming Ferd used a bolt-in as well at some point, should the size of the ball be different between the two.
later ford passenger 57-up did not use a ball, they use a fulcrum that is similar to a short piece of angle iron, about 3/4 of an inch wide on each leg and maybe 2" long and the stamped steel throwout fork pivots on the top edge of the leg . that and the '28-'48 ford shaft arrangement are all that i'm super familliar with. i changed my clutch in my old 58 f100 when i was 19 but i'll be damned if i can remember the fork arrangenent. something tells me it had a ball; and if so it might be a winner because it had the big 1 3/8-10 input on the trans too. i have never really looked closely at anything '49-'56 in ford.
I'm not very up on Ferd stuff either, but perhaps some digging around on Ebay might show something useful. Perhaps adapting the Chevy forked spring onto the ford arm could work also.
Mustang maverick same trans 3-spd has the smaller in put shaft . they make a borg-beck with ford long fingers pressure plate- . years ago lakewood houseings had chev to top loader it used chev t-o arm we ran the big spline. ck with RED AT MC CLOUD CLUTCH. HAYS . CENTER FORCE. PAT AT WILCAP.
mustangs, late falcon, torino, comet, trucks after 65 and maverick 3-speeds (except ultra-rare 390gt versions) have less torque capacity due to the 2.99 first gear. my trans has 2.75 first and is stronger, so that's why i want to use it. the 248 will get a 270 4" stroke crank, 302 head and a healthy overbore, and will see some strip use. i'll check with Pat at Wilcap and Red at McLeod
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