3 or 4 spd / drums or discs ?

Yellow66 · Mar 18, 2007

My newly purchased 65 fastback has a 3sp gearbox. It is about to undergo a resto and i purchased it "not running". If the 3 speed is in good condition i will leave it be, but if it is in need of a rebuilt, should i do this (and keep original), or put a 4spd in?

It is also running drum brakes all round and i was thinking of converting to discs up front. I was considering getting a conversion kit from the USA (live in Australia) when i inport some other parts. What do you guys recommend re disc conversion kits or should i just stay with the drums (car will only be driven 1-2 times a week)?

Cheers

krallman · Mar 18, 2007

Come on its a no brainer. Go with a four speed no matter what the condition your three speed is in. The way the muscle car values are today stock ones do not really bring that much more than slightly non stock ones. Plus if you ever want to go back to a three speed for some reason you can always have it there. Especially the way gas prices are i would go with a four speed. Im getting ready to swap out my 4 speed for a t-5. But for the brakes I would definetaly go with front discs. If you like to drive fast front discs are a must. Hopefully when money permits ill be getting some. Drums are just to scary when you have to stop on a dime. Most mustang vendors sell the conversion kits.

tjnavyblue · Mar 19, 2007

Nice to see an Australian on here. I traveled OZ in a campervan in 2005. Great country you have there.

You don't mention what engine you've got. If it's an I6, which often came with the three speed, you might think about just hopping that up. You australians had some great bolt on Ford performance parts for the 200-250 inline engines - like the OZ crossflow head. Check out fordsix.com for more info.

If it's an eight and you have the time and money, go with the four speed or even t-5 if you're gonna do the swap anyway. It'll pay dividends in the long run.

You may be aware that over here the typical disc swap is from a mid 1970's Ford Granada. You can buy the conversion parts brand new from www.discbrakeconversion.com

However - you might want to do a little looking around. I'm not sure what suspension components Ford was using in their OZ cars in the late 1960's to 1970's but you might find a 1970's Falcon discs will swap right over.

Good on ya for being one of the few Australians to have a Mustang.

Where in OZ are you by the way?

Cheers

Iamdiffrnt · Mar 19, 2007

I think the previous poster might have meant http://www.discbrakeswap.com

tjnavyblue · Mar 19, 2007

Thanks, that is what I meant.

Blu-Steel · Mar 19, 2007

I'm doing a swap from a 3 speed to a T-5 too. My 66 289 3-speed is fun but I wanted more gears and was debating between an original type 4-speed or a T-5 five speed. I figured the car would be a lot more fun to drive with a 5 speed, not to mention the savings in highway milage, so I am going that route. Plus I will keep the three speed so if I should ever want to return tooriginal condition I could easily do that.
One piece of advice if your car is an I6. I had an I6 three speed in a 66 Mustang once and swapped the trans for a 4 speed toploader. The I6 3 speed trans is affectionately known as a "paper transmission" because it was very week, had unsynchronized first gears and stripped gears easily. In 1986 Mustang monthly Magazine did a conversion article for swapping a 3 speed from a V8 Ford in place of the unsynchronized I6 transmission. At the end of that article they had a side bar that talked about swapping in a toploader, which is where I got my idea from.

degins · Mar 19, 2007

I suspect that mid 70's Australian Falcon disc brakes are the same or very similar to Granada or 71-73 Mustang. As such, they should be suitable swap cores for your 66. If you can locate and post pictures of spindles and/or calipers from the Falcon, I will confirm

68RCodeConv · Mar 21, 2007

You need disc brakes. First thing I would do (after installing a Pertronix).

If you are changing transmissions, put in a 5-speed. You can use the stock bellhousing, clutch and linkage if you want.

Decurion · Mar 21, 2007

I may ruffle a few feathers, but I say keep the drum brakes. Unless theyre totally wasted, and you need new drums and everything, just rebuild em. They work just fine for what it sounds like youll be doing. I would, however, go with the 5 speed. It should make the car way more fun to drive, and you wont be running the engine too high on the freeway. Having said that, though, I have a 67 f-250 with an I-6, 4 spd, and 4.10 gears, and it gets almost 20 mpg, so even overdrive is kinda overrated. If youre only driving 100 miles a week in your mustang (on the way high side), how much gas ya gonna save by getting overdrive? Not much at all.

Decurion · Mar 21, 2007

Oh, and +1 on the Pertronix. Points are yesterdays news.

Yellow66 · Mar 21, 2007

Thanks for advice

Thanks for some advice guys. Have plenty of time to make my mind up on things.

To answer a few questions:

It is an "A" code 289 motor

I was intending to check out some local falcon brakes but though a ready-made kit may be easier.

The car will probably not do too much driving, let alone highway miles. I have a 66 coupe that i only manage to clock up about 50 miles a week on. Once this is up and running, and if i keep both, they will probably do less, as i mainly only drive them on days off work (only sunny ones at that).

I live just outside Canberra (Oz's capital).

Cheers

3 or 4 spd / drums or discs ?

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