Hot Rods Professor Ford

Question for our Ford fanatics.Im considering buying a 63 fairlane that has a 221 inch v8.Same family as the 260/289.It has a 3 speed manual trans on the column.New clutch ,pressure plate.If I go to a 289 engine will the trans bolt up.Im getting confused by 5 bolt and 6 bolt bell housing mounting bolt holes Ive read about.

 

Early 289 I believe pre 64 ( maybe pre 65) would be a bolt in, if you go with the later engine you will have to go with the later bell housing.

Simple solution is count the bolt holes on the back of the block before you lay down cash. 289s from your era are hard to come by and when you do they are thoroughly thrashed as a rule.

 

I believe all 260's had a 5 bolt bell housing pattern the 289's had a 6 bolt. HRP

 

If you go with a newer 289/302 make sure the bellhousing has the correct transmission pattern. There two different ones(a "wide pattern" and "narrow pattern". Some bellhousings have both patterns in them. A 5 bolt motor as HRP stated will be hard to find without needing a rebuild at the very least. Good luck.

 

Porkn******,Do you think i can get a bellhousing to mate the 3speed to a later 289/302?

 

That bellhousing shouldn't be too hard to find. I think I used a fairlane one on mine. 6 bolt 289, 302, 351W and 351C all share the same 6 bolt pattern so it's up to whether it matches your ****** or not at that point.

 

Where is Aston, PA at. I am located 40 miles north of Harrisburg, PA.

 

You may need a light truck bellhousing as not only is the trans a narrow bolt pattern but the bearing carrier is a different diameter.64 289s are a 5 bolt block,,some very early 65s were also!If you want to keep it a three speed,a later all synchro three speed on a later 289-302 will work! ROY.

 

Roy thanks for clearing that up I thought that the change didn't happen until '65 but I was not absolutely sure.

Some of the Mustangs had full syncro 3 speeds.

 

When new, a 65 with a generator had a five bolt bell, an alternator equipped car had a six bolt bell.

 

I replaced the 221/3 speed in my 63 Fairlane (many years ago) with a 67 289 3 speed (6 bolt bell housing). I didn't try very hard to find a bell to mate the existing 3 speed since the 289 came with a good transmission. Easy swap, had to modify the Fairlane transmission crossmember to bolt up the Mustang mount, driveshaft length was perfect but I had to swap the output yoke from the 67 as the output shaft spline count was different. Clutch bar lined up perfect as was. Used a mix of the Mustang floor shift bracket and rods with a universal style Hurst/Indy shifter.

Of course finding a good 289 will be much harder now than it was then.

 

The 221s and 260s were all five bolt, the '63-64 289s were also. '65-up SBFs (except for the last of the 260s) were all six bolt. Phillips has the straight deal, use a later 3-speed out of any SBF-equipped Ford except for a full-size. Your '63 transmission won't fit the six-bolt bell without mods to both the trans and bell. Five-bolt blocks are getting really hard to find, I know guys that are sleeving all eight cylinders to get a usable block....

 

Ford changed to 6 bolt 289s about the same time they changed trans patterns. The right bellhousing may be out there but I've never seen one. But Lakewood does I got one off Ebay for $130.

 

Thanks for all the help.This is my wifes new project and she finally decided to go to an automatic trans.Probably going to go to a 302 also.Thanks again