4 Speed swap in wood grain wagon!

Discussion in 'Station Wagon Projects' started by cutlassmike, Dec 3, 2019.

  1. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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  2. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    Battled with the carpet. Needed to trim away material to allow the shifter housing to poke through.
    Box cutter and patience was all that was necessary to carve up the rug. It looks very finished even without a trim around the base. Carpet butts up nice and neat to the housing.
    I will be body working the shifter housing and applying a roll on box liner. I am doing this with the carpet down as it was a bear to maneuver back into position. I realize that I am doing things a little out of order but it is what it is.

    I am hoping that I will be able to enjoy this car this summer. I fear that we will all be locked in at home for quite some time.
    Just DO IT! Stay home, be safe and don't be a douche by going out and helping this Covid crap spread around! Suspend your own freedom for a while and you will appreciate it even more when this is over!
    wagon carpet down.jpg
     
  3. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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  4. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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  5. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    On my 1959 I actually had to pop it out in front of the rear tire. I tucked the pipe {no tip} up and out of sight as best I could with a downward pointing exit.
    How the frame is on the X-frame cars makes it extremely difficult {if not impossible} to run it over the rear end. I may get grief over this as it goes in contrary to laws here in my
    province. They want it 6" back from the nearest opening window. I'm just hoping that they will just give me a pass.
    In stock 1959 form the exhaust pipes are routed in the rear wheel well between the tire and the frame. YUCK.
     
  6. HotRodRacer

    HotRodRacer Moderator Staff Member Moderator

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    Those tips look really nice!
     
  7. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    Well, it's all wrapped up. 4 speed is in, interior wrapped up and I took it for a cruise around the block.
    I do have to finish up the trans shifter blister but I couldn't wait to drive it.
    Trans shifts very well. Wide gear ratios. Over drive gear seems to whine or drone under load and I suspect that it's the ATF that is recommended for this trans {ATF in a manual, weird right??} and/or, possibly, the fact I'm not going fast enough to utilize that gear. I'll try gear oil and see what happens.
    The rear axle gear must be a tall set as I'm going 120 kms/h before feeling as though I need to use O/D gear.

    350 needs a tune up but is running. All the gauges work, no check engine lights or anything due to losing the CCC system. I just wrapped up the CCC wiring harness and tucked it into the passengers side front fender so it can go back to stock if someone wanted.

    wagon interior finished.jpg wogon finished 3.jpg wagon finished.jpg
     

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  8. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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    Nice! I can't blame you for wanting to take it out!
     
  9. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Oh, that's the one! Nice! You said something about lowering; how much did you lower it?
     
  10. OldFox

    OldFox Curmudgeon

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    I lunched a trans because of that. I didn't know it took ATF and used 90w gear lube. On a cross country trip in the winter, I started hearing a grinding noise and for some reason I instinctively knocked the shifter into neutral. The mainshaft welded itself into direct drive and I had to feather the clutch to get going for the rest of my trip. Evidently, the gear lube is too thick to "climb" enough to reach the upper parts of the trans. I rebuilt it with ATF and had no further problems.
     
  11. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    Someone else told me something similar. That person suggested using GM posi additive/friction modifier to quiet up OD. Noise is not obnoxiously loud or anything. May have something to do with the fact that this is a truck trans?? Again, on my tool around the block {unregistered mind you} I am unsure if I even got to a speed that required OD. My wagon is sans tachometer {for now} so I am not aware of my actual RPMs when I made the shift to OD.

    Thanks for your input! I will seriously re-consider the gear weight oil. I'll try it for a season with ATF.
     
  12. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    I ordered a front and rear spring kit from Canuck Auto. 1.5" drop front and rear. They had lower kits but I want to be able to drive over a speed bump without fear.
    Impala SS springs will do very close to the same but they are obsolete through GM and OEM ones should be getting tired.
     
  13. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    I came across a thread for adding a sway bar to my wagon from a Ford. Wow, it did work great. Plucked a sway bar from a full sized mercury, bought some 3" exhaust clamps, sway bar end links and went to town.

    Went in easy, seems to work as intended was cheap as dirt. I cut my exhaust clamps in half and welded in a new center effectively widening the piece. These modded pieces were welded to the axle tubes and the bushings were bolted on.

    I ended up rotating the bushing position rear ward on the axle tube. This made my end links more vertical at ride height as well as limiting the axle droop. Limiting droop is beneficial for my application as my shorter drop springs will fall out at full axle droop. First picture you can see the bar contacting the axle tube stopping it from drooping further.

    At ride height the bar sit up nice and parallel to the ground. wagon sway bar 3.jpg
    wagon sway bar.jpg wagon sway bar 2.jpg
     
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  14. cutlassmike

    cutlassmike nothing is easy, everything is hard.

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    I dug deep and found that GM, does in fact, spec DEX2 ATF for their NPA833/MV440 trans. I did add some Lucas ATF trans fluid additive. Looks like thick ATF. Is supposed to help with wear, slipping clutches, leaks and heat. Tossed in about a 1/4 of the bottle and it seems to help with the gear noise inside the cabin.

    I have put on about 500 KMs and every thing seems to be working as it should. No major leaks {trans sweats a bit out of the speedo} no ugly sounds.
    The fuel milage is not near what I would call good. I am getting around 12MPG {21 l/100 KM}. I figured I would be getting better numbers with my stock 2:90-something rear gear and .73:1 over drive. I want to blame the carb?? Stock Q Jet with electric choke {which does work}.
    wagon outside.jpg

    Here she is in her natural habitat.
     
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  15. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    The problem is that, between the rear diff ratio, the tire diameter and the OD ratio, you're lugging the engine. You need a combo between the diff and tires that, at 60 MPH, the engine is turning 1800-2200 RPM. Assuming that your ignition and fuel is in tune, you should be able to get better highway MPG, which will raise your overall MPG a point or three....
     

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