FalconTechPage2

Falcon Tech Page 2

The original 64 Falcons that were equipped with automatics had the two speed Fordomatic transmission. Somewhere along the line someone had went to the trouble of installing a C-4 three speed automatic in my car, which made for a really nice set up. But, still I wanted the four speed. To convert any car that is an automatic to a four speed, or any manual transmission for that matter is not an insurmountable task, but still a formidable one.

     I started by gathering up the parts I would need to do the swap. I wanted to get everything I would need before I started so my car would not be down a long time while I was looking for parts. This is not a cheap, or economical thing to do, it seems that there is always one more thing to buy. Your biggest expense is the transmission, I was lucky, I had three Ford toploaders in my shop. Between the three I knew I had at least one good one. However if you want the shifter to come out in the right place just as the stock ones did you will need to have a Falcon tailshaft, these tailshafts are very hard to come by on the used market, but Don Kee toploaders reproduces these and sells them for a very resonable price. It wasn't long before I had all my parts rounded up and I was ready to start.

     I put the car up on stands as high as I could get it. I started by removing both the bucket seats, and the carpet from the front floorboards. I next removed the steering column. You will have to use a puller to remove the steering wheel. Next remove the turn signal lever, and then the attaching wires toward the bottom of the steering column. Remove the shift linkage from the bottom side and slip the steering column, along with the shift tube right up and off the steering shaft. The steering shaft will stay attached to the steering gear box.

     I next removed the master cylinder, leaving the lines connected, so I could remove the brake pedal support assembly. I next installed the newly acquired brake and clutch pedal support and pedals.

     I then went under the car and drained the C-4 by removing the dip stick tube from the side of the pan and the cooling lines, also drain the converter at this time. You will then have to remove the pan to get the rest of the fluid out. After draining the transmission reinstall the pan and secure it. Remove the starter, converter to fly wheel nuts, vacuum line, speedometer cable, drive shaft and if you have a convertible you will have to remove the steel plate that goes under the drive shaft. Depending on your application, you may have to remove your exhaust pipes too. With your transmission supported remove the bell housing bolts and rear support. By moving the transmission rearward you should now be ready to lower it. I accomplished this by using a transmission jack.

     With the transmission removed and out of the way, you can now remove the flywheel, you will probably have to use an impact wrench. With flywheel and transmission out of the way, now is a good time to install your Z bar or as it is correctly called the clutch equalizer bar. When I installed my Z bar I also installed new nylon bushings in both ends. The Z bar is held in place by a metal bracket held by two bolts on the frame side and a screw in stud with pivot on the engine side. Screw in the engine stud first and tighten it security. Next slide the frame bracket onto the end of the Z bar, and slide the Z bar onto the engine stud. Now you should be able to install the two blots into the frame mounted bracket. Now would be a good time to install the clutch pedal to Z bar rod, leave the adjusting nuts loose at this time.

     Before we do anything else we need to cut a hole in the side of the transmission hump for the shifter. I did this by taking the four speed shifter hump and laying it in the correct place on the side of the transmission hump and marking the outline with a piece of chalk. I next measured the width of the flange around the shifter hump and remarked the area with chalk again, this is the line I will use for cutting. To cut I took a three quarter inch hole saw and cut holes in the corners of my outline marks. By doing this you do not have to make hard turns with your saber saw when cutting out the hole, you just cut from hole to hole. I bought some extra saber saw blades before I started cutting, because I figured I would end up breaking a few before I finished the job, as it was I only broke one while cutting the hole. I cleaned up the cut out with a file.

     With the four speed hump cutout finished we are ready for the next step. First install the pilot bushing and standard transmission flywheel. Because this car was an automatic it does not have a pilot bushing, you will have to install one. You just take an inserted face mallet and drive it in the end of the crankshaft, very simple and easy. FYI if you are installing a big block transmission behind a small block, because of the shorter input shaft you will need a stepped pilot bushing, a stepped bushing is a little longer than a regular bushing and compensates for the shorter input shaft. I used a flywheel that I had used in another car, so to avoid any problems I had the fly wheel resurfaced. This should always be done when using a used flywheel. You are now ready to install your new or reconditioned clutch disc, pressure plate, and throw out bearing. Be sure and use a clutch arbor to align your clutch disc when you install your pressure plate, or you will have trouble when you try to install the transmission.

     After these are installed, install the clutch fork in the bell housing with the throw out bearing attached to it, and install the bell housing, don't forget the put in your spacer plate between your bell housing and engine block. You are now ready for the transmission. If you have already installed your shifter on the transmission you will have to remove it before installing the tranny, remove it and all linkage from the transmission at this time. Also make sure that the transmission has gear oil in it. Since the transmission is already out I always drain the gear oil and replace it with fresh. I have an extra drive shaft yoke that I place in the end of the transmission to prevent the gear oil from running out the tailshaft. I placed the transmission on a transmission jack and lifted it into place with the jack. You may have to reach through the hole in the back of the bellhousing to get the throw out bearing started over the transmission input shaft, with this done align the transmission as close as you can to the transmission to bellhousing bolt holes. You may even want to use long bolts to align them. Here is a tip I use to engage the input shaft with the clutch disc. Before I lift the transmission up with the jack, I always shift the transmission in gear, any gear will do. Then when I start to push the transmission forward I can twist the drive shaft yoke to align the input shaft with the clutch disc. As you get closer to the bell housing you can remove the long bolts and replace them with the correct transmission to bell housing bolts. CAUTION, do not force the transmission to mate to the bell housing by forcing it with the mounting bolts, this is a good way to break off a transmission ear. As long as it moves freely forward, tighten the blots evenly until it is firmly against the bell housing. Before removing the jack install the rear transmission mount. My car had a C-4 in it and I was able to use the same rear mount on the toploader as was on the C-4. While under the car I installed the Z bar to clutch fork linkage and also installed the return spring to the clutch fork.

     You will have to buy another speedometer cable when switching to four speed as the cable is attached to the passenger side of the transmission, and is longer, also note that you will also have to change the speedometer gear, the teeth on the gear are cut opposite of the teeth on the automatic gear. Install the speedometer cable now.

     Back on the top side you are ready to install the shifter to your transmission using the extremely large looking hole you cut into the floor of your car, but don't worry, it is big for a reason. I wanted my car to have a stock look and also I liked the nostalgic look of the stock Ford shifter handle. However I did not like the sloppiness of the Ford built shifter box. So I married a Ford shifter handle to a Hurst shifter box. I did this by fabricating a metal adapter to bolt the shifter handle to the shifter box, by doing this I did not have to cut up my handle or my shifter box. The handle come out in the correct place and looks as if it was bone stock. Once my shifter was bolted to the side of the transmission, I installed my linkage and made sure it was adjusted correctly, adjusted the stops and was ready to install the four speed shifter hump.

     Before installing the four speed shifter hump to the transmission hump I flattened out any waves or places that didn't mate together well. I used dum dum as a sealer. I do not know the correct name of the sealer but I have always heard it called dum dum. It is gray in color and looks like putty, but does not get hard like putty. You can use it over and over again. You can buy it at automotive and recreation vehicle parts suppliers. I laid the sealer all around the edge of the hole I had cut and then placed the four speed shifter hump in place and drilled holes for my mounting screws. I used sheet metal screws to secure it with.

     As I said earlier it always seems there is one more thing to buy. It is now time to replace the front carpet. The front carpet in four speed cars is made different from the carpet of automatic cars. I got ACC or Auto Custom Carper brand carpet through a local trim shop, they make it in two different styles. Molded carpet or sewn carpet. These cars originally came with sewn carpet. I opted for the sewn carpet but wish that I had bought the molded carpet instead. The reason being is because the seam where the carpet is sewn around the top of the shifter hole has a thick edge under the carpet and does not fit as snug as I would like for it too. I think the molded would make a much neater fit.

     With carpet installed, it is now time to install the steering column, but first there are things to do. As with all automatic cars and manual transmission cars that have column shifts you have a shift lever on the side of the column. There are two ways to tackle this, one is to cut it off, grind it smooth and bondo it, the other is to find a replacement piece from a four speed car. Since these can be hard to find, there is another source. Ford trucks from the sixties used the same type of collar as the Falcons. I found a collar from a 62 Ford truck with a four speed transmission in the junk yard and used it. the 62 truck was pretty well picked over and didn't still have the piece that went between the steering wheel and the collar that held the turn signal switch. Using the original one from my car, I filled the space where the P-R-N-D-L indicator window sat with bondo. Drilled an extra hole in it to secure it to the collar assembly and painted the whole thing with a can of blue interior spray paint that I had bought from a local Mustang parts supplier. Put your turn signal switch in the finished column. The column is now ready to install back in the car. With the column installed in the car and the steering wheel back on and every thing connected, you are ready to adjust your clutch. Adjust your clutch total travel and free travel according to the car manual and you are in business. Please note that my car had a C-4. The C-4 and the Ford four speed transmission use the same size drive shaft yoke. Depending on the transmission in your car, you may have to change the drive shaft yoke as well and possibly either lengthen or shorten your driveshaft to affect this change. As it was, I had to do neither one.

                                                ITEMS NEEDED FOR SWAP

Transmission with Falcon tailshaft,bell housing, shifter assemble with handle, and linkage, shifter knob, brake and clutch pedal support, clutch equalizer bar, engine and frame support brackets for equalizer bar, bushings for equalizer bar, clutch pedal to equalizer bar rod, Equalizer bar to clutch fork rod, Clutch fork, Manual flywheel, pilot bushing, pressure plate, clutch disc, throw out bearing, clutch fork return spring, side hump for four speed shifter, shifter boot, shifter boot retaining ring, carpet for four speed car, upper steering column parts (column tube flange and, turn signal housing), rear transmission mount, four speed speedometer cable, and gear.

This is for reference only. People's mechanical ability varies and I can not be responsible for someone elses inability to affect the change over properly. You do so at your own risk.

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Falcon Tech Page

Installing a four speed transmission in your Falcon

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