Advise on 3 speed manual upgrade

jrpappa · Nov 18, 2009

New to this forum so hopefully I am posting in the right place....

I am helping my 15 year old son with his 1966 Coupe, straight 6. I know he can't drive it yet, but he wanted to get a car that he can work on. Anyway, the tranny leaks so we dropped it and found out several of the gear teeth were shot. Thought we might as well upgrade so we bought a 4-speed (actually it is a 3 speed with overdrive internal linkage). SN on main case C-2604194, RF-D9BR-7006-AB. Some forums say this transmission came out of 70's or 80's era Ford (maybe a truck or mustang).

However, since this is a bigger tranny we now have to replace the clutch, flywheel and the driveshaft. Problem is that I don't know what clutch to buy for the 4-speed. The flywheel is shot and I can't seem to buy a new one for a straight 6.

Is it worth the trouble or should I just rebuild the 3-speed and throw it back in the car?

shoguun · Nov 18, 2009

it would be just easier to get a trans from the era. Most of them i think are around the same length so you wont have to change the drive shaft, mounts or any of that. if you start putting more modern trans in then you gotta do all that stuff cause there not made for the same body or era of car. you could probably find a 3 speed pretty easy. im not sure about most of this cause im no expert but i think its something like that

tx65coupe · Nov 18, 2009

If you want OD, just swap in a T5. Since its an I6 car, you can get a light duty one. I would think you could use one from a 2.3 4 cylinder LX. It makes about the same power the the 200 does. I know you can put a T5 in it, but just not sure exactly which ones. Maybe somone else knows if you can use that or not.

D.Hearne · Nov 18, 2009

jrpappa said:
New to this forum so hopefully I am posting in the right place....

I am helping my 15 year old son with his 1966 Coupe, straight 6. I know he can't drive it yet, but he wanted to get a car that he can work on. Anyway, the tranny leaks so we dropped it and found out several of the gear teeth were shot. Thought we might as well upgrade so we bought a 4-speed (actually it is a 3 speed with overdrive internal linkage). SN on main case C-2604194, RF-D9BR-7006-AB. Some forums say this transmission came out of 70's or 80's era Ford (maybe a truck or mustang).

However, since this is a bigger tranny we now have to replace the clutch, flywheel and the driveshaft. Problem is that I don't know what clutch to buy for the 4-speed. The flywheel is shot and I can't seem to buy a new one for a straight 6.

Is it worth the trouble or should I just rebuild the 3-speed and throw it back in the car?

Sounds like you picked upan SROD 3+1 4 speed. The input shaft is longer than the one on the 3 speed. So you'll need a 1" spacer between it and the bell. As far as the clutch and pressure plate, you can use a stock replacement for what you have now. Try looking fir this stuff on the websites for McCleod, Zoom, Hayes or some of the classic Mustang vendors. The problem with trying to rebuild the old 3 speed is finding parts, you're better off using the 4 speed you bought or swapping to a T-5, which will also need an adapter spacer to work with the 6 cylinder bell. The spacers are available thru the classic Mustang vendors, but get ready to pay over $100 for this item.

D.Hearne · Nov 18, 2009

And if you decide not to use the SROD, I'll take it off your hands, I need one for my V8 Ranger.

dennis112 · Nov 18, 2009

The 66' bell housing will need to be replaced with one from a 67' and newer Ford 170/200ci vehicle. Any 67' and newer Mustang will work. In the old days I sought out Mavericks as they were once quite common. With the newer bellhousing you can bolt a toploader right in. It will also require the more modern fork, a new flywheel and clutch assembly including a pilot bearing.

2+2GT · Nov 18, 2009

tx65coupe said:
If you want OD, just swap in a T5. Since its an I6 car, you can get a light duty one. I would think you could use one from a 2.3 4 cylinder LX. It makes about the same power the the 200 does. I know you can put a T5 in it, but just not sure exactly which ones. Maybe somone else knows if you can use that or not.

Yes, the SROD is an oddball transmission, not well thought of. The T5 5-speed is easy to install, all you need is a few adapters. Since you are working on the clutch, and the car is already manual trans, the conversion won't take you any extra time at all to speak of. You'll gain performance AND economy with the T5, while the SROD will not increase performance. 1st gear in the SROD is a real granny gear, useless above 10 mph. I used to drive a Ford van with an SROD, I usually didn't use 1st at all, just started off in 2nd.

What's "shot" about the flywheel?

rbohm · Nov 18, 2009

dennis112 said:
The 66' bell housing will need to be replaced with one from a 67' and newer Ford 170/200ci vehicle. Any 67' and newer Mustang will work. In the old days I sought out Mavericks as they were once quite common. With the newer bellhousing you can bolt a toploader right in. It will also require the more modern fork, a new flywheel and clutch assembly including a pilot bearing.

actually you dont need to replace the bell housing as there is an adapter for swapping out the 2.77 trans to a 3.03 trans available, from npd i think. the trans you have uses the same bolt pattern as the 3.03. as for the clutch, check out this link;

FORDSIX PERFORMANCE • View topic - Small Six 215mm Clutch and Presure Plate info

this is one of the stickies we have over at fordsix.com. read it and you find a number of options for better pressure plates and clutch discs for the recessed 8.5" flywheel.

by the way i also recommend using the T5 instead of the srod. it is lighter, has one more gear, and is more flexible with the six than the od four speed. there is also an adapter available to go from the 2.77 to the T5 trans as well.

dennis112 · Nov 18, 2009

rbohm said:
actually you dont need to replace the bell housing as there is an adapter for swapping out the 2.77 trans to a 3.03 trans available, from npd i think. the trans you have uses the same bolt pattern as the 3.03. as for the clutch, check out this link;

FORDSIX PERFORMANCE • View topic - Small Six 215mm Clutch and Presure Plate info

this is one of the stickies we have over at fordsix.com. read it and you find a number of options for better pressure plates and clutch discs for the recessed 8.5" flywheel.

Good to know should I ever do it again. Thanks.

BarnStang · Nov 18, 2009

I have a 3 spd trans that came out of my latest project. Already got a toploader 4 spd for it so you are welcome to the 3 spd if you cover the shipping if you want it. Or pick it up at zip 21740
Is buried behind the car right now. But can dig it out to check what it is exactly if you're interested in it.

2+2GT · Nov 18, 2009

On the other hand, if you want to have a go at rebuilding the 2.77, it's a great trans to start on, a kid could rebuild one. I should know, when I was a kid I did rebuild one. Despite its reputation, I drove that 2.77 equipped car all through college, and even towed a 16' sailboat all over the east coast with it.

D.Hearne · Nov 18, 2009

2+2GT said:
1st gear in the SROD is a real granny gear, useless above 10 mph. I used to drive a Ford van with an SROD, I usually didn't use 1st at all, just started off in 2nd.

The Mustang SROD's first isn't a granny at all. I just swapped one into my Ranger that's got 3.73's out back with 28" tires. It is a bit lower ratio than the 2.78 Toploader it replaced, but not at all useless. Could be the pickup/van SROD had a deeper 1st than the Stang unit did. The Stang 1st ratio is something like 3.35, almost, if not equal to the 1st gears in both the T-5 and Tremecs. I floored it taking off on the highway today for the first time and shifted out of 1st at about 30 mph. There is a drop going into 2nd, but not at all as bad as I'd thought. The 5.0 in it is a bit torquier than most though (Explorer equivalent motor but carbed) I'd really like to find a better SROD than this one, 2nd gear is a bit noisy and 4th is downright scary.(good thing it didn't cost me anything ) 1st and 3rd are normal. I figure it'd be easier to replace it than to rebuild this one.

Advise on 3 speed manual upgrade

jrpappa

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tx65coupe

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