Sorry to have to ask this, but I have been finding some very conflicting info. The car that Im building with my son has a 70/71 Ford 200 straight 6. We were given a 73/74 C4 trans. Will these bolt together? And what torque converter will I need to make it work? The Car (61 Falcon) is driving now with the 2 speed in it but the C4 seems like it may be a nice, relatively cheap, upgrade.
The C4 will work. You may have to use a 6 cylinder bellhousing. Check the bolt pattern of the engine mount flange against the C4 pattern. Ford had C4 to 200 6 set ups from the factory in the early 70's
When you are looking for parts, you'll need to find stuff from the 70s or 80s. The C4 number is part of the Ford engineering part number for the transmission, most of the parts on the 60s versions start with C4AP. In 1970, they redesigned several things, including the input shaft spline count, and the parts are numbered D0AP. If you're not familiar with Ford part numbers, C means the 1960s decaded, D means 1970s, E is 80s, etc. The next number is the last digit of the year the part was first used. C4 means 1964 model year part design. A means full size car, P means powertrain. So if you understand this numbering system, you can get an idea what the part was original used in.
As has been mentioned, this was a factory setup for a while. You need a 73/74 6-cylinder converter, and a 6-cylinder bellhousing (and a shifter, or mods to the existing one). Parts from any Maverick with a 200 should do the trick. I am not certain that the flexplate is the same, but here is a C4 one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2710301916...57d66i+RmJ4ftx3AQihP++bJeP5x|tkp:BFBMhqvgi-Zh Here's an example converter: https://floridatorqueconverters.com/Ford-Torque-Converters-26-6.html
Or: https://www.oregonperformancetransmission.com/product/ORE-26-6-10.html Or: TC Remanufacturing FC30. Or one from a yard. To my memory, these have a drain plug, so you can flush it out.
I have a bellhousing and torque converter from a 200 6 cyl ford Fairmont, 1978 year model. The flex plate was broken in 4 places and was scrapped but was totally different than a flex plate for a V8, the ring gear is on the torque converter not the flex plate. I don't know how hard it would be to get it to SoCal, I am in (very near) Salem Oregon.
To my knowledge, that will work just fine for him. UPS or FedEx can ship it, in a sturdy box. @blown240, you should grab these!
Yeah, that is what the flexplate looked like. All that and a case fill c-4 trans and he should be ready to go!
FYI, the 250 was also used in Maverick and Fairmont, and is a tall deck version of the 144/170/200 block but uses the small V8 bellhousing pattern (like the 240/300 big six) and transmissions are not interchangeable with the other small 6's.
I had a 200 with a C4 one time, a 67 model pony. Total slug, wouldn't pull a sick ho outta bed. A manual 3 speed would have been much better. Also had a later 250 with a C4, mid sized car. Very spunky, would have ran circles around my 67. Funny what 50 cubic inches difference will make sometimes.
Years ago a friend and I swapped in a C4 and 200 into his '60 Falcon, it was a huge improvement. Then we replaced a Fordomatic with a C4 in a '63 Comet with a 260, again, a huge improvement. I am not certain, but I have heard that the "last years" of the 200-6, changed the bellhousing to one similar to the 250 or small V8, so it might be wise to double check that the 1978 unit is compatible.
Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it! I’m going to do a bit more research and then see what my son wants to do.
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