Technical Automatic to manual transmission swap

Automatic to manual transmission swap
I wanted to know what you think is a good, new, manual transmission for my 59 galaxy if I want to retain shifting on the column?

 

I don't know if any such animal exist's...

 

383 Mopar or Chevy?

 

Saginaw 3 speed.
Ford column shift column
Fab/modify the linkage
Locate a manual pedal assembly.
I like 3speeds but if I do all that itta have more than 3

 

Chevy

 

Sure, buy a new Muncie 4 speed, and get the steering column from an early Econoline van with the 4 speed, and do all the necessary modifications to your Galaxy column.

But seriously....get a Saginaw 3 speed, it's a lot easier! it won't be new, but they're still not too hard to find, I think. I gave away the ones I had, not too long ago.

 

I'm totally with you in the stick swap, as difficult as it may be, but you might save yourself a good bit of grief if you relent to a floor shift & bag the whole linkage insanity. They were notorious for jamming up, even from the factory. I had a neat little Studebaker Lark V-8 convertible, with a 3-speed on the column & I was always on the side of the road unjamming the greasy linkage under the hood. I even carried a set of gloves in the trunk, just for that. As long as you're going that route, I agree with Anthony about more speeds than three. Good luck...you're gonna need it. But, do it.

 

59 galaxie with a 383 sbc? Am I missing something here?

 

I betcha someone, probably here, would like an auto column and pedal for a galaxy

 

I had a 59 Edsel, which was mostly the same car as the Galaxy. The three speed column shifter on that car was excellent...nothing like the crap I've experienced on GM and Mopar, and later Ford, column shifters.

 

Jeff Norwell put a 4 speed in a '57 Ford and used the original column shifter, repurposing an overdrive cable to operate reverse gear, and apparently it works really well, so a 4 speed on the original column shifter is apparently not out of the question, although the trans still wouldn't be new, and either way you'll have to find a column from a manual trans car.

I don't remember if this is the right build thread, he's got another '57 going on so you'd have to look.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/57-ford-build-2-glutton-for-punishment.1245146/

Good info on hooking up a non 3 speed to the original stick column.

 

I have a 59 Galaxie which had a 2 speed auto in it. I put a 3+OD 1978 Granada transmission in it.

If you have a chev in your Galaxie, well you'll have to look elsewhere for suggestions.

I put a Ford manual colum in it, the auto won't work. As @squirrel said, the pre 1965ish Ford colum shifts are very well made and robust. It is not a floor shift, but it'll never jamb up like all the stamped steel crap colum shifts did.

You'll need a bell housing pedals and clutch linkage. I had a new driveshaft made as the manual was 4" shorter than the auto, so I need a driveshaft that was 4" longer with the correct 28 slpine slip yolk for my chosen manual.

 

It would help if we knew what motor you have. You won't find any 'new' three speeds, but good used units are still out there. Finding the manual column will probably be the toughest part. As several have mentioned, the Ford linkage in that era was very good and rebuild parts (bushings) are available.

 

'62 Falcon. Column shifter worked just fine as long as you could keep the shifter stalk in the column. Making shifts, you had to actually shove the stalk into the column and keep pressure on it while you shifted. Solved the problem with an El Cheapo floor shift.

 

It’s my only car thats on the road right now, i need to swap the engine out and i cant find a BP ford anywhere. In fact a 383 is all that is available right now.

 

Probably not widely available in your neck of the woods — they're all over the place here — but there is a side-shift Toyota 5-speed specifically for minibuses with dash-mounted shifters. It's a strong 'box too, stronger than the W5* derivative it replaced, and that was already usefully stout.

It shifts on the right side of the case, though. In any event, making up a linkage is going to take some head-scratching and lateral thinking.

 

It's called an R351 and it looks like this:

Note the way the rear mounting bolts to where the rear/top-shift version's shifter goes.

Not sure if they're in anything sold in North America, though, as I said.

 

The top mount was for Toyota Dyna [Toyoace] Cab over trucks.
The Toyota Hiace Van gearbox can swap internals with the Toyota Hilux and Supra.

We swapped casings on a Hilux race truck to convert to cable shift [this was needed because of the huge engine set back we ran]
We use a Hiace van cable floor shift instead mounted on the engine cover ["dog house"] instead of using the more common Hiace column shift.

They are tough gearboxes

 

Not sure about the pedal assembly in your Galaxie but back in HS I converted my '65 Falcon 2 dr. wagon from an automatic to a stick. I had the complete pedal assembly from a Comet so it was a bolt in job. BUT there was a big ass spring for the clutch pedal that mounted in the bracket under the dash. Somehow this no nothing kid managed to get the spring stretched to hook it to the mounting hooks without loosing any fingers. Years later my old boss did the same conversion in a Ranchero.. He stretched the spring before installing it and inserted flat washers between the coils of the stretched spring so he could slip it in the bracket. He then proceeded to remove the washers so the spring could return to the correct tension. Apparently some of the washers didn't come completely out because for sometime after wards a washer would fall out on his foot when he pushed in the clutch. Just a thought it you have a spring issue involved in the conversion. Or not.

 

So time is an issue cause you need it running?
To do the SBC, now your building mounts, rounding up brackets, radiator, locating a trans plus all the other stuff.
What engine is in it now?

 

If it’s got a 352, a 390 would fall right in.
Personally speaking, id take a 352 -390 over a sbc.
If it’s a 292, we’ll, Ive swapped one for a 350 once.

 

Just rambling thoughts here.

If time is short, ford drivetrain may be best solution.
There's a lot of little things that will snag you up on a sbc with manual trans, going into a ford. Starter, headers, oil pan, fuel pump clearances, how's your wiring skills?

If you go manual trans on column, having a donor car or all the parts is key, not only from availability, but to see how it's all set up. Linkage from ford column to trans with chevy ? If the chevy conversion moves the engine forward or rearward, could be alignment issues. Floor shift would definitely take some complexity out to get it driving.

 

A 4 speed on the column in a 59 Ford is no big deal. You just have to be able to think past the Factory instructions. 59 was the second year for 3 speed automatic trans if you had 332 or 352. Y-Block was still a 2 speed auto. Pending you round up mating parts you should be very capable of doing the change over on any 2 day weekend no matter what motor is in it now as long as it's still FORD.

 

P.S. If you're installing a S.B.C in it you deserve all the headaches in store for you.

 

I'll add to this and say, I have done this several times with 1957/58 Factory Ford parts.

 

You are correct mostly. There are no modern 3 speeds if you consider modern to be newer than the '80s. In the late '80s ford was making a 1 ton van with an injected 300" 6 and a 3 on the tree. The tranny was full syncro and pretty stout.

You do need a manual column. There is no way to convert the automatic column. But you can go 4 gear with a 3 on the tree column. Your reverser needs to be a separate lever. You can do that through the floor or under the dash using a handle like an E brake handle. You have to know a little bit how to drive. you must be in neutral before trying to engage the reverser.

Now for my official disclaimer. Someone is going to say that it cannot be done (this is not directed at my friend @Moriarity he is actually extremely intelligent), just because you can't do it does not mean it cannot be done. I have done it before (1962 unibody Ford pickup).

 

If you have a Chevy engine/ manual trans from a donor, well then just do a floor shift. You'll have to figure out the clutch linkage, which is pretty straight forward. And motor mounts, driveshaft, all the rest that goes with it.

Honestly, I think most GM engines in other makes with automatics are just done out of not having to figure out clutch and a shift cable to an aftermarket floor shifter to make it look like a real man's car with a manual.....

But I digress.....