Morning all. I have read a lot of the posts on this topic and I will try to narrow it down for simplicity. My 57 has an original 272 Y block with a 3 speed non overdrive transmission. At 70 mph it revs at about 3000 rpm with my BFG's 3.89 rear gears. I want to replace the trans with a top loader 4 speed. Not interested in a 3 speed with OD. Is there a direct bolt in top loader out there I should be looking for. If so what code on the tag will make it work. Also I am entertaining dropping an FE in at a later date so would use same transmission with it as well. Hope I'm not complicating the issue too much. Thanks :canada:
Mid 80s light trucks had a top loader 3spd/od. Not sure of the bolt pattern to bell but I put one behind the 48 1/2 ton with a 390. 1st law way down there but the od was great as 65 turned around 2250 rpm. The case is aluminum and the shifter was in the top cover. I think they were in Jeeps as well.
Are you looking for a 4 Speed with a OD 4th (I am assuming you are).
Here's a link to a page on David Kee's site that shows the toploader with od versus the normal toploader 4-speed.
Looking for a straight 4 speed. No Overdrive. Compatible with an FE if I go that route. I have 3:89 gears in the car now. May wind up being a weekend warrior drag car if I go FE.
My apologies for not including the link. http://www.davidkeetoploaders.com/imposters.htm
Sorry, I can't help with fitment on the trans. My only experience was a T-10 that bolted up to my '57 312.
As said, reach out to David Kee in Texas, he will point you in the right direction and hook you up with what you need. I have dealt with him in the past and purchased a few large spline toploaders from him.
https://www.4speedtoploaders.com/
(https://i.imgur.com/mpYZDJf.png)
I put a T-10 behind an FE in 1967. It bolted in...drive shaft, mount, everything. It went in in place of a stock three speed, of course the floor shifter was necessary. The Toploaders are stronger. I have a Toploader behind an FE in my Custom now. It is the short version 24" or so (same as the T-10) it has the dual pattern so it would bolt up in place of the stock tranny. It does require a minor mount adjustment and I believe that stock drive shaft might work...
I have a Toploader 4 speed in my 59 2 door sedan, with a FE 428 Cobra Jet engine, I am running a 1966 Fairlane 289 wide ratio transmission, which puts my Hurst Super Shifter about 2" ahead of the factory bem]nch seat. The Mustang transmissions have the shifter about 3" further back. I am running a factory early narrow pattern only bellhousing, from a 60 or 61 Ford car, which works with my dual pattern Toploader case, although the early bell has a smaller bore for the front bearing retainer on the trans. 3 ways around that, either find a 1964 only Toploader retainer, which is the smaller size, had the larger retainer machined down to size, or as I did, have the bore in the bellhousing enlarged to fit the later retainer. For the trans mount, I retained the factory saddle style mount, and ground the saddle width, and U shaped retaining strap, to work with the narrower bolt spacing on the Toploader, (or later automatics as well). That said, the Toploader 4 speed will not lower your highway RPM at all, as 4th gear is still 1 to 1. I have 28" tall rear tires, (275/60R15 BFG T/A radials), and my "normal" gear ratio, is 3.50, which puts me at about 2600 RPM at 60 MPH. I really like the Toploader, and I have 2 other rearend center sections set up (2.91 for the freeway, and 4.33 for the dragstrip), but although I can change the rearend "chunks" in about 1 1/2 hours, I am considering swapping to a mew Tremec TKX 5 speed, to make the occasional 2 hour freeway trip more enjoyable, without changing the rear axle ratio so often. I originally had tried mocking up the Toploader with both a C5T PU truck bellhousing, and a Lakewood scattershield, but in both cases, the clutch fork was on a different angle, about 1 1/2" lower than the early bellhousing, which prevented the factory style mechanical clutch linkage from working. Also, the Lakewood bell interfered with the FPA headers.
Oh, and by the way, back in the late 70s, I had a 57 Custom 4 door sedan, with a 272 V8, and I replaced the factory non syncro 1rst , 3 speed manual transmission, with 3 speed Toploader, from a 67 Comet 289. It had the dual bolt pattern case, which bolted up to the factory Y Block bellhousing, it was so long ago, that I don`t recall if I had the same issue with the front bearing retainer on the Toploader 3 speed, that I had with the 4 speed, or not. So the Toploader 4 speed should also be doable with the Y Block bell as well. And since my 57s 3 speed had the same size 1 1/16"x10 spline input as the Toploader, I retained the Y Blocks original flywheel, with the same clutch assembly. I used an aftermarket floor shifter when I swapped the 3 speed Toploader into the 57, but I imagine , depending on the levers on the trans, the column shifter could be retained.