Slick 60's

I have recently come into possession of a slick 66 f150 2wd with a 352 and a three speed manual. 32000 orig miles in beautiful shape. I love the truck, but hate the transmission, three speed column shift. I have a cancerous 1974 f150 2wd with a warner t-18. I would like to take the t-18 from the 74 and put it in the 66. Is this a reasonably easy swap? Do the three speeds from this era have the same bolt pattern as the t-18?
Will I have problems with the clutch linkage? Will the transmission hump cover in the 74 fit the curves of the floor of the 66?

If someone has actually done this, I would appreciate your input.

I am an amateur shade tree mechanic, but a good welder (stick, tig, mig), and I have a 13x34 engine lathe and a bridgeport mill, so I can make small parts,

Looking forward to your replies and suggestions.

welcome
there is no such thing as a 66 f150, its either an f100 or f250
you did not mention the engine in the 74, if its a 360 or 390 you can use its bell housing
the trans cover will fit ,you will have to cut out the hole in the 66 hump
there will be no clutch linkage issues at all.
you will need a new driveshaft, from a 65-72 f100 or f250 with 4 speed depending on what your 66 is.

sorry: I know the 66 is an f100. Typo, not ignoro. I don't want to move the bell housing, just the transmission. Are the bolts on the three speed different than those on the 4? If so what is the name of the bell housing that I need, and where does one go to get one. 2 internet sellers informed me that there is only one listing of bell housing for the three and 4 speed. Thanks for your interest.

One of the Guys over on FTE swapped in a 5 speed transmission (gets granny low with an overdrive for gas mileage). I do C6 only but if I were to do the swap you describe I'd go the extra mile and do the five speed. That's about the limit of my knowledge on the subject. Go over on FTE and look ij the tech articles for a great writeup on this deal. IMHO.

I've swapped an '84 floor shift OD trans into my '65 shortbed. It was fairly easy. The transcover from the latter truck might even fit your floor. You have to cut out the floor for the transmission cover. I used a driveshft from a '77 shortbed, but had to have it shortened 1/2 inch, cost around $100 for the shortening.

Does your 74 have ps? PS will swap over along with disc brakes.

'70's pickups had 360's and Orion 4-speed OD's that will bolt in. Might even be able to use your driveshaft. Just avoid the aluminum SROD hunk of junk.

I'm about to attempt the same swap next week (t18 into my 65 shortbed for the 3 speed) I'll let you know how mine goes.

I've decided to keep my 74 on the road and buy a transmission for the 66F100 2wd 352. Would a t-19 be as easy to swap as the t-18? If, so where should I go to find a wide ratio t-19? Thanks JB

Over the past few months I have been working on the truck. I put it on a hoist, removed the three speed manual trans, cut the hole in the floor, and installed a t-18. It was easy: the bolt patterns were the same. I had to move the cross member, but that was not problem because the frame was factory drilled. I needed to lengthen the drive shaft about an inch. After searching around the whole country, I found a tunnel hump cover lying on the front seat of a decaying mid 60's slick in a wrecking yard in a town of about 5000 about 20 miles from my front door. Go figure.

I removed the 3.5 carrier and put in a 2.73. I then bought a set of 235 75 radial tires. The 352 has tons of torque for my purposes, and the truck purrs along at about 2000rpm at 65mph. I start in first gear and don't mind doing that.

I then put in a Ford J red spray on bedliner and had the truck painted Ford J with a Wimbledon White Roof. I would like to show you all a picture of it, but I cannot figure out how to upload one.

Thanks to all of those who answered and offered suggestions. I would recommend this swap. The truck drives beautifully, and the fuel economy improved by about 25%.

I love threads with updates.

Thanks

I hope you can get some pictures up.

Nic

I uploaded photos. One shortly after I purchased it with my lovely wife standing beside it. The other two are very recent.

Hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for your interest.

j66b

j66b wrote: I removed the 3.5 carrier and put in a 2.73. I then bought a set of 235 75 radial tires. The truck drives beautifully, and the fuel economy improved by about 25%.

Thanks for the update - a happy ending is always a plus!

I can appreciate your joy, about a 110 years ago (it seems like) I had a '63 with a T-18, then moved on to a '65 with a 3 in-the-tree and hated it every time I ever needed it to haul or tow ANYTHING!

I doubt the trans swap had much bearing on your improvement in fuel mileage, since they both are 1:1 in highway gear. I'm sure the improvement was mainly due to your change in rear gear ratio (from 3.5 to 2.73) and likely the change in tires. What type & size tires did you previously run? I think it is pretty impressive that you picked up 25% MPG; so was it 8-MPG to 10-MPG or 16-MPG to 20-MPG?

BarnieTrk

The transmission probably didn't affect mileage, but it enabled you to use the 2.73. A lot of folks don't understand that the power train from engine all the way to the tires is all connected, and that you have to make them all work together,

I bit the bullet and bought a mid range rebuilt t-19 from Novak Adapters in Logan Utah. First gear is 5.0, reverse is about the same. I am impressed. Novak does a very good job. Now I have a synchro first, and the step to second gear is not so great. First is wonderfully usable, and with the 2.73 rear, I use it.

Thanks to all who have offered suggestions and ideas.

J66B

Well:
I've finally finished the modifications and completed a couple of road trips. Equipped with:

352, new autolite single platinum plugs, basic pertronix ignition, dual turbo muffler exhaust, 2.73 rear and Warner T19 (5.11 first). 265/75 R15 radials
Carb and timing carefully set with vacuum: timing 30 deg Before top dead.
Diamondback bed cover.

Was it worth it: the truck now gets 19.5mpg on the highway and 14.5 around town, so I think so. It's so nice to have to begin to think about fuel only every 350miles, instead of every 200.