4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

The Era of The Square Body Racing Comets
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thos25
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4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by thos25 »

I have two questions about 65 CYCLONE trannys. First: Did 65 Cyclones come with toploaders or were they all T-10s? Second: If one wanted to replace a T-10 with a Toploader what kind of snags would be encountered?
Thanks, TOM

comethead
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by comethead »

Hey Tom Ford/Mercury looked at T10s and Toploaders the same way from a production stand point. They were interchangeable and it just depended what transmission was on hand when your car was built.
65 Comets Falcons and Rancheros (including Sprints Cyclones Futuras and Calientes) could have come with either a T10 or a Toploader.
We mostly see T10s in 63-65 cars because that was the transition period. By the late 60s I believe all 4 speed cars got Toploaders.

You could swap your T10 with a Toploader without any snags. You just need to be sure you have compatible speedo gears.

Joe
1965 Caliente HT- 289/4 speed
1964 Falcon HT- track car- 302/4 speed
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thos25
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by thos25 »

Hi Joe, Thanks for the great info. It confirmed what I thought but was not positive of. Like most every thing else in those days assembly people used what was available and on hand. Again, THANKS for the "Heads up".
TOM

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poboyjo65
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by poboyjo65 »

comethead wrote: You could swap your T10 with a Toploader without any snags. You just need to be sure you have compatible speedo gears.
Joe
Tom I bet you have plenty of gears laying around from all the trouble you have had trying to get your speedo working. I'm almost afraid to ask for fear you wasted more money but I'm curious,,, did you get the one from ebay I showed you? it seemed to be the measurements that you asked for.
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barrys65cyclone
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by barrys65cyclone »

Trans leaf spring for Toploader is Straight style while the T10 used "Z" style Trans leaf spring it was about 80 / 20 on transmissions 80% were T10 20% were Toploaders

thos25
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by thos25 »

Hi Joe, Yes I did get the gear from e-bay. That was the one you steered me onto and yes it is the correct OD. I thought I sent a reply to you saying THANKS but obviously you did not get it, I'm sorry you must think I am an ingrate but at my age the clutch does slip at times.Any way you finally ended my 12 year search and I am very grateful. Next step is to save enough money to have someone do the replacement work! This is the kind of thing that irks me to no end.
I will be 76 next month and just can't "gitter done any more" I can still get down on the garage floor, its the getting up that's the "killer".
Anyway, I have this rebuilt Toploader and as long as I have to pay someone to do the work I just wonder if I would be better off putting the Top loader in and selling the T-10. Decisions, decisions and more decisions. What is your take on this? Again a BIG THANKS on your suggestion and advise!
TOM

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poboyjo65
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by poboyjo65 »

thos25 wrote:Hi Joe, Yes I did get the gear from e-bay. That was the one you steered me onto and yes it is the correct OD. I thought I sent a reply to you saying THANKS but obviously you did not get it, I'm sorry you must think I am an ingrate but at my age the clutch does slip at times.Any way you finally ended my 12 year search and I am very grateful. Next step is to save enough money to have someone do the replacement work! This is the kind of thing that irks me to no end.
I will be 76 next month and just can't "gitter done any more" I can still get down on the garage floor, its the getting up that's the "killer".
Anyway, I have this rebuilt Toploader and as long as I have to pay someone to do the work I just wonder if I would be better off putting the Top loader in and selling the T-10. Decisions, decisions and more decisions. What is your take on this? Again a BIG THANKS on your suggestion and advise!
TOM
Tom I'm glad it was the right one! & you are welcome! :) I never got a message & was afraid you may have wasted more money so I figured I'd let you cool off a while before I asked about it :lol: As for the clutch slippin ,mine too. I've been known to send a PM to the wrong place,,,, to myself :roll: :roll:

Things that come to mind on swapping the trans .

some early TL's have a narrow bolt pattern,later ones had a wide pattern.I'm not sure about T10's.but if you could leave the bellhouse ,clutch & PP assembly on the motor would make it easy. just pull driveshaft & trans & swap.

Are the output shafts the same size? if not - got yoke?

& how does speedo drive gear look on the toploader? :lol: :lol: :lol: all kidding aside,it's a good time to look in the speedo gear hole & see what color drive gear you have on the TL, should be black or light pink-possibly faded. black is for reargears up to 350:1 & pink is for 350:1 & up . good time to put the right speedo drive gear in if is wrong for your gear. so if you have a black drive gear & your axle is 350 down to 280 you are good.
Last edited by poboyjo65 on Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Johno

comethead
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by comethead »

Tom another thing to consider is the Toploader shifter. Originals are very hard to find complete. The T10 shifter won’t work.
I bought a new Hurst Competition Plus shifter for my Comet Toploader ($550) and made an adapter to attach a stock looking handle on it ($150)
The stock looking handle I used is made for a Mustang T5 but works with the Hurst with some work.

So in the end I have a better shifting trans that looks stock.

Just some ideas if you decide to go that way.

Joe
1965 Caliente HT- 289/4 speed
1964 Falcon HT- track car- 302/4 speed
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popscomet
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by popscomet »

never saw a bell housing with both bolt patterns on a stock BH,,64 and older tranny has the narrow bolt pattern with ONE bolt hole per ear,,,,65 and up tranny has a narrow and the wide bolt pattern,,thus having a double set of bolt holes per ear.....I have a 64 TL with narrow bolt pattern,but it has the 26 spline out put shaft,and a t10 the same way...my 64 comet has a 5bolt bh that only accepts narrow,,,so I used a 65 TL that has the narrow and wide bolt pattern, and the 28 sp;ine,I use the narrow pattern and it works perfect,,,been in it for yrs.....POP
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poboyjo65
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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by poboyjo65 »

So are all T10s the narrow pattern?
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Johno

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Re: 4SPD TRANSMISSIONS

Post by popscomet »

poboyjo65 wrote:So are all T10s the narrow pattern?
NO....!!!!!
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