Technical T-5 In a 61-67 econoline

This has just been a thought for a while in the back of my head. Im thinking a floor shift setup. How would the linkages work? Is this even possible? I need help brainstorming ideas. The main point here is to just squeeze a bit more drivability out of the 170 six banger upgrading from the stock 3 on the tree. What do yall hambers think?

 

I think it would be a real pain in the ass to make work.

Sent from my SM-G900T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

A T5 would be a great idea. I ran one behind my Falcon 144 for some time. It worked out really well.

In your application, the shifter would be a huge issue.

I have about a a ream of drawings, and a dozen, or so CAD files trying to make a column to T5 shifter.

No working model yet.

 

I have been trying to score an Astro van T5 shifter, to see if I can work with it, but manual transmission equipped T5's basically do not exist anywhere near where I live.

 

The main problem I see with your plan is that a 170 will probably not have enough power to pull the gear in that vehicle.

 

That was something I was thinking about. But on a flat highway cruisng I think a 105 hp motor could pull an econoline at about 170... and I could always downshift

 

Sorry about 70

 

At 70 that van pushes a lot of air. I had an early Chevy van that on a long hill wouldn't coast over 45. A 65 Chevelle on the same hill would coast over 70. A teen age aerodynamic study!

 

I kn

know but im thinking later down the road something like a ford 300 but even if the 170 cant pull an overdrive I could still use the extra gears.. after all it does take a fair amount of force to push a brick down a highway at 70

 

I'm thinking near impossible. The shifter would have to be in the middle of the cab, then go around the radiator and alongside the engine, to in back of the trans and back to the middle. Then you would have to, somehow, get the shifter to rotate and pull back and forth. It might be easier to teach a pig to fly...

 

Possible???? Yes. Practical? NO! Having dealt with many engine/transmission swaps in early econolines, it would be far easier and probably cheaper to swap to a larger engine (300 or 289/302) and keep the 3-speed or go automatic. There is lots of open floor there but it is all in FRONT of the radiator. Even a cable shifter for an automatic presents a challenge for a clean, simple and user friendly install on the floor.

Advice given freely. If not satisfied, entire purchase price will be refunded.

 

A 4 speed would be easier. HRP

 

Back in the 70's-80's there was an article in either Hot Rod or Car Craft where they put a four-speed in the Econoline, made it work with cables going to a forward mounted floor shifter. The easy solution (and I'm all about easy) is to use a T-85 with an overdrive, trans was used all the way up to the 60's in Ford cars and 70's in Ford pickups. Uses the same shifter linkage, just shorten the driveshaft, hook up the electrics and go.

 

Are there any borg warners that would bolt up to the econoline bellhousing (ford narrow pattern) and havw the same input shaft lenth and pilot bearing diameter?

 

Not to mention the right throwout bearing diameter as well

 

Does anyone make a cable shift for a t-5?

 

I the early Econoline bellhousing is shallow, allowing room for any number of adapters. Narrow top loader to wide top loader, or GM, etc.

Use the stock one. Turn down the collar.

I run a T56, with an adapter, that has a turned down collar that holds the stock throwout bearing carrier (with a Mercedes bearing).

No. I have been trying to work it out in my spare time, though.

 

I know cable craft makes cable shift sticks... for like buses and I think some Porsches use a cable shifter... but the problem is getting that to shift the t 5

 

I have owned and worked on cable shift Porsches. The stick-end (or column end) is easy enough. It is the transmission end that's the harder part.

I have a line on the aforementioned Astro shifter, to see if I can use/copy parts of it.

I know several people who want a T5, and the stock column shifter.

 

I think that a colum shifted 5 speed would be more difficult to do. And drive...

 

While in Guatemala for a couple of years in the mid '80s I saw a minibus with a floor shifter and the engine arrangement like an Econoline. the shifter's rod went down between the driver's seat and the engine cover, 90'd, and then went all the way back to the trans where it 90'd into the the trans. I imagine the flex on that rod was atrocious, speed shifting was probably impossible, but, it worked smoothly for that driver. It's hokey, and looked bad in that van, but I'd imagine a cover, like a really long shifter boot, would make it acceptable.
I'm with all the other posters here, I'd recommend an auto trans, or a 4 speed. My dad had the dagenham 4 speed in our falcon van. way back when. I learned to drive in that van. Good times!

 

I think this thread does a good job of highlighting your two major issues: 1) the mechanics of getting the transmission to shift, and b) the lack of power the 170 makes relative to gear. Though I think the idea of utilizing a T5 is very cool and would certainly help your drivability (if for no other reason that the taller 1st gear, let alone the OD), the big picture would dictate that it's just not worth it. A SBF/AOD swap would give you a far superior finished product, and do it easier than rigging some Rube Goldberg contraption together to shift the T5 with that anemic 6 pin. It's not as if the SBF/AOD is a difficult drivetrain to come by, nor expensive, and I routinely see Mustangs from the 80s for sale around $1000 that run and drive with your powertrain in them. That would give you not only more power, but probably better economy, better availability of parts, and the OD you're looking for. It seems a no-brainer to me.

 

Maybe you can get some ideas here:
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=mid+engine+manual+shifter

 

Eventually im looking into swapping for a ford 300... I know v8s make more power but I wanna stick to a 6 cylinder

 

And they have tons of availible parts

 

I've seen it done in a Econo pick up. There were MANY u-joints and linkages.
What's wrong with the stock 3-speed? You could get lucky and find the rare factory speed, but they're much weaker than the 3-speed. I ran a factory 3-speed from a 240 behind a 302 in my Econo and it worked great, highway and local.

 

I have a Ford inline 200, which fits in place of that 170, that makes 199hp, and 251lb-ft of torque.

 

The 240 trans will bolt up to a 300, too

 

If that is the plan, you can find a late-model pickup with a 300 and an AOD pretty easily.

They make torque for days, and last a really long time.

I would look for one of those in a spent pickup chassis. By the time you got done upgrading the 170 and fitting a T5, you could be long done with the 300.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. The bottom line is that you're looking for OD and the increased drivability and economy that gives you, which is totally cool. But doing this swap piecemeal is going to leave you unsatisfied both in performance and in what you spent to basically do the swap twice. If you don't want to swap to a V8, that's fine. The 300 is a perfectly good motor. But if you're going to swap to an AOD, as you probably should since you can't really run an automatic with that 170, then you should probably tackle the whole job at once, engine and trans. 300 I6/AOD F150s are a dime a dozen. I'd start there too.