I like the stick on the floor more than any automatic on most cars. So i want to convert my 1966 Ford Country Squire from a C6 to a stick shift with a toploader. So does anybody have experiences with the conversion on a Ford station wagon? Think that the floor is the same on a Galaxie, so there should be no major problems.
I did that back in 1973 with a 1964 Galaxie 500/XL convertible,352 Cruiseomatic. Of course,it was already a floor shift, and I had the 1963 XL 4-speed donor car. After 1964,the cars were a little different, with the perimeter frame and all that. The problem you might have today is that top loaders are in demand and expensive! And getting the clutch disc/plate/bearing/flywheel/pilot bearing assembly together and working right could cost more than a rebuilt automatic. In 1963, some Ford wagons were built with XL interior trim, buckets & console, I don't know if any were 4-speeds nor if Ford continued to offer this in 1965-1966. Good luck, nice idea.
Auto to 5 speed Not a Ford but a related auto to stick conversion. My son has a 1985 Chevy 1/2 ton long wheelbase truck rated as a 3/4 ton, or trailer tow package. He got it with a bad 7004R auto. He bought two different 7004R's which didn't last long from U-Pull-It. So he decided to swap to a GM 5-speed. Had a choice between a light duty, Camaro/Vette type with the shifter too far back for his bench seat or a 1/2 ton truck with shifter in front of seat. Of course he got the 1/2 ton 5 speed. He quickly found out 5th sync were worn out. Drove it that way as a 4-speed for months until throw out bearing froze up. One and half trips to work after engine was rebuilt. As he tore tranny apart bearings fell out and everything inside was worn out. Found another salvage yard replacement for $500. It wasn't the right size or type. But bought a one ton dually 5-speed from a Chevy diesel for $650. Rumors are this tranny sells for over $1000 without bellhousing and other parts. He got everything from engine back including a heavy duty flywheel and 12" like new clutch. Half ton clutch and pressure plate he tried didn't work. Removed tranny second time. He replaced throw out bearing and brake master and slave plus all lines just to be sure. Removed tranny again to do this. Didn't think about the one ton with two piece drive shaft. One ton and larger has a bolt on coupler like a rear end rather than a slip yoke. The carrier is where the slip joint is. Apparently there are at least four different GM 5-speed trannys. The only GM 5-speeds that are to be found are for the V-6 and other light duty Camaro, etc. Now he needs to find a good two piece drive shaft complete. As most drive shafts the original one ton got bent when handled by a fork lift. He has spent half his life in the last two years under his truck messing with transmissions. If and when he gets this one together it should last longer than the truck. But this just shows one problem leads to another.
Even though the shaft was damaged, did he buy it? It will have all the parts necessary to rebuild it. I did that on the driveshaft for the Ranchero; all it needed was the replacement tubing and the two u-joints. The rebuilder uses the yokes and other parts from the old shaft by cutting them off, then assembles a new one with new tubing.
stay in the original style Slidemanic, in 1973 there were great times, every junkyard full of cars we are dreaming of today. I still have the correct toploader, bench shifter with correct linkage, correct steering coloumn and most of the other parts. The problem is that that Ford changed the frame and most of the 4 speed parts in 66 and it changed in 68 again. So there is not much stuff arround and its getting expensive. The z-bar with the frame bracket and the tunnel hump for the bench seat are the hardest parts at the moment. I don´t like the fiberglas humps form Dearborn and i donßt know if the earlier from 64 are fitting. So this all will give me a lot of experience for converting my 66 Galaxie Xl too. There are more console car parts arround but the bench car parts are hard to find.
If you have any fabrication skills any thing is possible. I put 4-speed in my 63 fairlane wagon with bench seat. Got a used z-bar cut to lenth needed and configured to mate with clutch arm and exhaust $15. Pedal and rod was a task but doable. After install built my tunnel to fit. These type mods are very expensive if you try to get bolt on everything. My labor and fab work saved me a ton of money. Time is what you'll need most. I like 4-speed cars especially wagons.
