Hey Guys I have searched extensively and cant find this particular swap What is needed (besides the 4 spd toploader trans) to change the stock 3 spd manual trans to a Ford 4 spd toploader trans----302 v8 engine Thanx
longer speedo cable. check driveshaft length after the swap. if the toploade comes with all the shift linkage and shifter handle, its pretty much a bolt in.
I have read somewhere here on this site that the 3 spd and 4 spd trannys are the same length---Also, what is the correct spline count for the tranny input shaft----some toploaders have different spline numbers
They both turn the same direction. The cable goes in from the opposite side of the tailshaft, and depending on what drive gear you use, the cable rotation can be the same or opposite. I did this swap in a 67 Stang way back in the 80's, the speedometer worked just fine without changing anything.
The very early Toploaders has a lesser count spline, I think it was around 24 or 25 spline. You can tell an early trans by the number of bolt holes in the front of the case...they have 4, The 8-bolt case like in the pic below have the same 28 spline count as the C4 automatic. Somewhere along 65 or 66 the C4 slip yoke were too long for the Toploader.
I was talking on the phone when I made the post and forgot to write the word GEAR between -speed and direction. I chewed a gear up by having the wrong gear in my T10...but the speedometer worked
The 25 spline early Toploaders also had a different (bellhousing)bolt pattern. Now whether or not the change in output splines occured along with the change in the main case is something I cannot say for sure.
There are 24" & 27" long Top Loaders... The short trans were in the pony cars and generally the intermediates(exception 428/429 CJ/SCJ), AFAIK the full size models always got the the longer trans... There are also 28 & 31(usually on big blocks) spline output shafts on both length trans as well as the larger 1 3/8" input used with 427/428/429 CJ/SCJ...
