I'm new to the site and I'm trying to help my son find a tranny for his 62 comet. I located one but not sure if it's a 5 bolt or 6 volt bell housing so I I'm needing a little help from the experts
Thanks I was afraid it was he bought a running 289 and he's having a hard time finding a 5bolt automatic to bolt up to his motor
He is switching it to a 289 he has a running 289 that is a 5 bolt he's having a hard time finding a auto tranny
The 289 has a bell housing on it but it's for a standard tranny and he doesn't want to switch his auto setup over to a standard
I may be mistaken, but I think the trans you have pictured isn’t for any of the Windsor series small block Fords (221/260/289/351W), regardless of bolt count. It appears to me to be for the larger series, an M series block ?? Someone more fluid in Fordese will know for sure. However, if your son has a ‘62 model 6 cylinder, he doesn’t have a C4 anyway, but a Fordomatice of some kind. What would work, I believe, is a Fordomatic from a ‘62 thru early ‘64 small block V8 221/260 that had the 5 bolt bell housing bolt pattern. For a street cruiser a Fordomatic should work fine and may be easier to find than the 5 bolt C4. Ray
the car has a six in it. The 65 motor...he's looking for a transmission to fit it. the transmission he found will fit the 65 up 6 bolt engines, and no, it's not a" big block" C4...that bellhousing looks like this. notice the top bolts are further apart, and it's bigger overall. and you won't find a 1960s C4 with it, either. (notice the C6... engineering numbers on his transmission). fords are slightly confusing.
If it's an early small block V8 transmission, then it might. but if it's behind a little six, it won't.
You're looking for a one-year-only part.... The C4 was only used behind the 289 in '64 (not the 260) and a very few early-production '65s and are getting increasingly hard to find. The '64 bell also doesn't fit just any later C4 either; depending on where you look, it fits '65 to '69 (or '72) C4s only, won't fit the newer versions. I'd trade the 289 off for a later 289 or 302 if it were me.
If your post (above) was in response to my earlier post, I think one of us is misunderstanding something here. I said in my post I might be mistaken about the identity of his pictured transmission. I have 6 bolt bell small block engines and trannies in my shop, but I am at home today, not there, and 'thought' the upper part of his trans looked 'different' than I recalled. I also know the limited availability of the 5 bolt C4 units. I owned one of them years ago that was a '64 289 eng/C4 trans duo swapped into my '62 Fairlane in place of the 221/Fordomatic. What I said, or thought I did, was that the OP could look for a Fordomatic from the early SBF 221/260 that would fit his 5 bolt block 289 instead of looking for the scarce 5 bolt C4. If that didn't come across, then I apologize for my lack of clarity. Ray
no problem! I though you thought it looked like the C4 he has is for a big block (351M/400/429/460), just wanted to let him know that it is indeed for a small block. the 2 speed auto with the integral bellhousing from a 260 should fit that 289, if you can find all the pieces. but if it's attached to the little Six, it won't bolt up to a V8.
Is't the 5 bolt and 6 bolt C4 bellhousings interchangeable ? One of the transmission shops here had a 5 volt bellhousing.
Only with certain years of C4s.... I've heard both '65-69 and '65-72 C4s can accept one, but not the newer ones.
A fox-body 5 litre engine is less expensive than a 5 bolt C4 bell. Just buy another engine and swap over all the rockers/water pump/pulleys/intake/dizzy etc and use your existing C4 Then sell the 5 bolt 289 later. This would be a s***load cheaper than overhauling an old 289 [if it needs it]
One may be on EBay right now for $475 bucks plus 20 shipping. I stress may because I'm not sure.....it's advertised as a 5 bolt 289 bell. If I had mine apart I could tell you better. Hopefully I'll get to it soon. What about the block plate? I'm not sure a manual one would work. Your son's transmission looks to be made in 1966... likely it was for a 67 model car. That means it has the standard shift......not Green Dot shift pattern. You could try to find a junk 64 Model 289 car with the aluminum Cruisomatic (C4). All three speed automatic transmissions were called Cruisomatics in 1964. If you get lucky and find a junk car....get all of it. Best bet...... Find a 66 up 289 or 302. As said you can buy a running 302 for about the cost of that E bay bellhousing. Do not get a 351W as it will not fit easily into a Comet. I would try to stay pre 1980 with the 302 or 28 imbalance flexplate. A 200 / C.4 combo would be great in a Comet.
221s and 260 magically turn into 289s on sale day......... It's kind of like how every 65-66 F100 for sale always has a 390. No matter really......the C4 will go behind those with the 289 bell. What did the Falcon Futura Sprint have? A manual or the 2speed. The little bat wing fin, cat eye tail light Comets are pretty much the same as the early Falcons. Another option is a 5 bolt 289 Galaxie Cast Iron Cruisomatic.....the FX. Really 3 pedals, a 289 and a 4 speed would be the cat"s ass for that car.
I had to find a 5 bolt bell at one point, they are out these, just don't expect it to be dirt cheap. I would not say they are hen teeth either. look up the actual part number and have it handy to double check and have a picture of the mount pattern hand as well. If you get someone to ship it to you have them mount it to a piece flat ply woof and either zip tie or bolt it down. I had one shipped loose in a box and it can cracked in about 4 parts, really sad day even with insurance. Do some legwork, check transmission shops. Go to the swap. I think I ended paying about 150.00 for mine.
I gonna speak Ford to Mr Ashworth..... Yes and yes and...... No and no. The early Fordomatic was a 3 speed that everyone thought was a 2 speed. This cast iron cased transmission was called Fordomatic and Mercomatic. This design was improved reworked to take more advantage of low and it evolves into the cast iron Cruisomatic. There were two case sizes small and large......These designs were call The FX and the MX. In the late 60s-1970s....this design evolves into FMX. Eventually this design become the basis for the AOD and EAOD. This is the cast iron 3 speed that was behind or should be behind a 289 in a Full Sized car. In 1958 a big recession hits....this more than any other thing is what killed the Edsel. By 1960 economy cars had a market thus the Falcon, Comet, Corvair and Lark. For the light duty economy market Ford designed a light duty 2 speed. This light duty true 2 speed was also called Fordomatic and Mercomatic in Mercurys like the Comet. A 289 could have the Cruisomatic based on the old Fordomatic in a Galaxie. A 260 same block as a 289 could have the 2 speed Fordomatic in a Fairlane or Sprint. In 1964 Ford designed a better light duty transmission, the C4 that at the time they also called a Cruisomatic. The 289 Cruisomatic was mainly in 289 Fairlanes and Mustangs in 1965. The C 4 parts are rare for a 5 bolt. The 221-260 2 speeds are more common. A manual more common still. Manual parts are easy to find for a five bolt. Manual parts can be found in 6cyl Falcons and Comets. If he is keeping the 5 bolt above is the options..... Really his best bet or easiest thing to do is use a later mid 65 up 6 bolt 289-302. This avoids all this. If he has the later "rare" 5 bolt C 4 bell-housing as discussed earlier it should fit on a C4 to 1969.
There is a 1964 fordomatic on ebay for sale and based on your info you have given me I'm guessing it's a 2 speed is that trans worth considering
Do you mean the transmission advertised as a Ford-O-Marci/Merc-O-matic from a 63 Galaxie for 75 bucks? If so that transmission appears to be a Cruisomatic with the iron case. As I said earlier this looks like the 51 up family of iron cased transmissions. If it was from a Galaxie, that makes sense. The bell pattern appears to be 5 bolt small block .....Challanger Series V8 62-65 221-260-289 5 bolt. It does not look like a one piece cased aluminum 59-64 light duty 2 speed Fordomatic. It's so dirty it's hard to tell. I would message the seller and have him give you the numbers and go from there.
Here's one that may be for sale https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/5-bolt-ford-bellhousing-question.1098846/#post-12461472
There's no picture of the trans the seller guarantees that is in working condition or money back guaranteed. This is the sellers ID that's on ebay( indianacoreinc) I dont really want a 2 speed but if can't find anything else I may have to buy it. I'm trying to work a deal with one of the members on this site
The Jalopy Journal
