I know where I can get everything (pedals, clutch, trans, Z Bar and linkages) to swap my car to a 3 speed manual. Could I expect about the same performance on the interstate with a 3 speed versus a C4? What about around town? I really just want to do it for simplicity and because I swapped my '71 F250 to a 3 speed manual from a C6 and I really like it. In the end it's going to cost about the same as buying a new C4... Do those of you with 3 speeds in your car like how it accelerates and drives on the interstate? What rear gear are you running? Wish I had the money to throw out on a T5. My car currently has a 250 and a 2:79 rear.
Both transmissions have a 1:1 final gear so mileage and performance on the interstate shouldn't change. Depending on how you drive, you can probably get better mileage over all because there is less slipping going on with the manual. Not to mention once you convert to manual, a 4 speed is a bolt in upgrade and a T5 will go in with a few minor mods.
thats kinda funny, i switched my f250 from the four speed to a c-6 and like it a lot better. the end gear may be the same but the other two speeds are deifnately different. course a c-4 vs three speed may be closer in gear ratios. Id suggest paying the extra for a t-5 if thats what you want though. may need to save a little longer and bandaid the c-4, but settling now will cost you later when you get what you want. JMO
You will gain a tiny bit of rwhp as the manual tranny sucks up less power into the driveline. A general guide is 20% loss with an auto, 15% with a manual. So if you are making 100 fwhp, then you would theoretically get 80 rwhp with an auto, or 85 with a stick. Good luck Dave
The C4 in my car has 160,000 miles on it and slips like crazy. Every seal and gasket on it leaks. It leaks so bad that on warmer days the trans fluid drips on the exaust and burns off causing a little bit of extreamly nasty smelling smoke to roll out beside the car when I'm sitting at red lights and stuff. The transmission has more miles on it then the entire car does by far, but my original trans burned up and I figgured this one is better then walking. My grandpa told me he knows a guy that will rebuild my original C4. Put all new seals in it and replace anything that needs to be replaced for $150. This guy rebuilt the trans in my grandpa's '93 Aerostar and it has gone over 150,000 since then with no problems. I think I may just let him rebuild my original trans. The C4 thats in there won't last long enough for me to get the money up for a T5. It's down to the point of wondering if it's still going to move the car when I walk out the door every morning. I will eventually put a T5 in. Thats why I'm kinda wanting to go ahead and swap it to a stick shift while I can get all the parts. The 3 speed is just kinda something to get me by for now. The one in my truck isn't bad at all.
most drag racers will tell you that a automatic is .01 second faster than a manual,but a manual will build more torque than a automatic......Hotrod-Daddy
If the measurements on the t-5 are the same as the ones on the 3 speed then go for it, but i dont think they are. If they are not then i would rebuild the c-4 and store the 3 speed parts. reasons being, long run cost of switching twice and extra labor of switching twice. i dont know about you, but doing most of the conversion work on my truck myself and just having a shop check the drive alignment and rebuild the driveshaft lengths (4X4) the project cost me over 2k total. even if you use a driveshaft and parts from another vehicle, it will easily run past the 150 for the c-4 rebuild. if you save the manual parts until you can afford the t-5 then switch it will save the money and labor of converting twice. besides, arent you also contemplating an AOD? this will give you more time to contemplate and save for either. JMO
The driveshaft and rear crossmember are not an issue if you swap to a 3 or 4 speed. I think they are only minor adjustments when going to a T5. The 3/4 speeds put the speedo cable on the opposite side of the tailshaft. This is an issue. Mine broke pretty quickly due to the extra bend. Also, if you are worried about drag racing like Hotroddaddy brought up... The autos are faster due to consistentcy, even though they put less power to the ground. A human will never shift exactly the same every time. A well built racing auto trans will.
$150??? I'd be interested in him rebuilding mine as well! Is he local? I have the rebuild kit already ...
$150.00 is cheap for a "good" rebuild, I called a friend that owns a trans shop and he said if that includes the torque convertor then its a real good deal, why go to all the trouble of swapping everything over when in just under a half days time you can get you fresh tranny in and out and be rolling again and crusin to find the "ladies".
Jamie; if you like driving a manual, then go for it. I personally like the manual better, and hope to convert mine some day. Good luck!
Get your c-4 rebuilt,save up for a t5 when you get ready to go v8.A 3 spd is kinda fun if everythings working well but if not....well I've been under the '70 f100 I had in hs more than a few times trying to get linkage unbinded,tightening loose shiftrods in the dark,floor shifters coming apart,you'll be happier w/the c-4 since you drive it all the time.
No, this car will absolutely never see a drag strip unless it's just once or twice for the fun of doing it. This is strictly a street car. I do enjoy driving manual trans cars alot more then automatics. I do everything to my car myself, and the labor of swapping anything isn't "labor" to me. I love working on this car. I don't think the rebuild includes a new a new torque converter. I don't think there is anything wrong with the one thats currently on there. I think it's just tearing it down and checking everything out and replaceing what ever internally needs to be replaced, and putting new bearings and seals and stuff in. I really have no idea what happend to the original trans. I was just driving along about 45 mph and it just quit pulling. I stopped and the trans fluid smelled burned up. I limped it home in first gear, second and third wouldn't move the car. The car wasn't shifting right for a long time before that. It'll be intresting to find out exactly what went wrong. The trans in my grandpa's Aerostar leaked and slipped terribly, but it's gone 150,000 (336,000 in all) miles since the rebuild and is still goes as good as the day we got it back from the guy. Dan, this guy is just barely in NC, about 80-90 miles from you. I really appreciate all the input. I think what I am going to do is go ahead and have the C4 rebuilt and stick that back in there for the time being. Then I'm going to save up the $150 I lost from doing that and buy all the manual trans stuff and put it up for the time being until I decide how I'm going to go about the T5 swap.
The only problem with this is, if there's any metal shards and assorted other crap in your current TC, these will quite probably wind up getting pumped through your freshly built trans. This is why the TC is commonly replaced at rebuild time. However, you can clean the TC out yourself, you'll have to pull the TC drain plug and you can cycle some solvent through the TC to clean all the crud out. Obviously, you'll have to be sure to get all the solvent out before reinstallation. Once all the hard stuff is done:
