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trans help and advise needed...

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mike22
Junior Member


Joined: 19 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
Location: north carolina
trans help and advise needed...

Hi guys,
Im looking to upgrade my trans in my 67. Curently car is a fairly stout 289. alumn. heads and intake, 650 holly, .488 cam, hedders ect. Not crazy but but plenty for me. Its a 3 speed in the floor and Im looking to go with a four speed. I know top loaders were the thing but things are high$$$. I guy I know has a borg-warner 4 speed that he said came out of a 289 mustang but was not in the car when he got it. Question is, how can I tell if its in good shape, and if it will fit??? Will I have to relocate my shifter??? Or will I have to have another hole cut and then buy more carpet???? And is Borg-warner a good trans or crappy???? Said he'd take 500 bucks for it, I dont even know if thats a good price... Any advise/sugestions would be great!!!! thanks

Post Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:53 pm 
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GerryProctor
Senior Member


Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 660
Location: San Antonio, Tx

You're going to have to do some research on this one, but I can give you a headstart.

T10s were used in early Mustangs. Though the toploader was available in '64, there weren't enough of them to go around so Ford used the T10 in many applications while the assembly line got up to speed.

Mustangs before '66 used a 25-spline output T10. In '66 they switched to a 28-spline output, which is the same as your 3.03 three speed uses. If this is an early T10, then you'd have to get the 25-spline trans yoke. The good news is that both the 3.03 and the T10 used the same bellhousing.

Mustangs and Fairlanes had a different shifter. Fairlanes used an adapter plate to move the shifter forward. It's not even a option to use the Mustang location as it is too far to the rear. I can't say what the availability of the parts to put the shifter in the right location would be. That could be a rough patch in the conversion.

Other issue is the speedometer cable. The 3.03 cable exits on the driver side and is a clockwise rotation. The T10 (as well as Fairlane toploaders) exits the passenger side and is counterclockwise. The T10 also used a steel drive gear. You'd have to get the right speedo cable and hope you can get the right drive/driven gear combination to make your speedo work correctly.

All of this assumes the trans is actually out of a Mustang and not something else.

The T10 is plenty strong enough for your application. A thorough inspection would be in order before being placed in service, though. Unless the trans has been recently rebuilt, you should strongly consider replacing the soft parts such as the bearings and syncro parts. Early T10s do have failure-prone syncro keys and those should be replaced. Detent springs are also on the weak side. You can find examples of good and bad hard parts, like the dog teeth, online and compare them to what you have.

If it were me, I'd hold out for a toploader that fits your application and avoid all the potential pitfalls of the T10.

Post Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:27 am 
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Scott66gta
Senior Member


Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 286
Location: syracuse, NY
T-5

you could get a decent used mustang t-5 for that money and have OD, and modern tranny. You would need an adapter plate, and shifter... just a thought... t-10's are good trannies, more of a bolt on..

Post Tue Feb 10, 2009 10:58 am 
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mike22
Junior Member


Joined: 19 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
Location: north carolina

Gerry, so what Im gather is that it may be more trouble than its worth. A toploader should bolt right up with current shifter location, only the speedo cable being on the other side. Doesnt sound like thats to big a deal. I see some toploaders totally rebuilt on E-bay for round 1500, is that a decent price or can I do better???? Or would I be just as well off money wise with a tremec 5 speed??? Would there be lots of work to get one of those in? Hoenstly Im not really crazy bout buying used transmissions unless they been totally rebuilt. Like what I see on E-bay.

Post Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:37 pm 
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GerryProctor
Senior Member


Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 660
Location: San Antonio, Tx

If I had to walk a mile in your shoes, I'd take Scott's advice and just convert to the T5. You can search this site for folks who have done it and it's not much more work.

All toploaders are not created equal. It would be s simple plug and play if you got the right toploader. You can see the iterations of the toploader family on David Kee's site: http://www.4speedtoploaders.com/ If you got the wrong toploader, it would be a near mission impossible.

If you did go the toploader route, I would buy one only from a reputable source, like Kee. I question eBay rebuids as many are not properly serviced -if at all. eBay is more a haven for thieves and con artists if you don't know who you're dealing with and know what you're looking at.

Post Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:44 am 
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mike22
Junior Member


Joined: 19 Apr 2008
Posts: 46
Location: north carolina

Ok guys thanks for the advice, Ill do some more researching. Anyone else with ideas and experiences feel free to share.

Post Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:28 am 
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