Hello all: I am new to the forum, and was referred here from the Longevity Freewelding forum. Amongst other things, I have a Plain Jane '62 Thunderbird hardtop. - 390, power steering, power brakes, leather interior, radio - that's it. Kind of the way I like it - what you need - nothing else. Anyway, I've never liked automatics, and since mine needs a bit of work anyway, I'm thinking of changing over to a 4 speed. - Maybe sounds a little silly in a car like this, but I think it would be pretty neat, and a lot more fun to drive. Has anyone ever done a swap like this? Cheers, Art R.
Welcome to the HAMB. I was considering doing the swap to a 61 Bird I had but sold the car. It should be a faily straight foward deal once you get the proper pedal setup. If you're gonna run a later model sbf the t5's use a cabel operated clutch system. If you're gonna run the FE 390 the top loader is your trans of choice. If you run a hydro throw out bearing it would save you the trouble of a linkage set up. Just my 2 cents. Good luck. Post some pictures of the ride. Please excuse the non HAMB friendly wheels. New owners coice.
Resq'd: Thanks for the tips. I'm going to keep the 390. The hydraulic throw-out bearing is a good idea that I hadn't thought of. I'm dsthinking of using a race car pedal assembly. By the way - what's the picture in your avatar? It looks really nice. Cheers, Art R,
Resq'd: Any ideas on what I will need for bellhousing, flywheel etc.? Also, do you know if the pilot bearing in the end of the crank will have to be changed? Thanks, Art R.
The Shelby Cobra guys got it all figured out. Check their websites. It's been done before and the FE has a new level of popularity with all the new aftermarket parts. I have a FE bellhousing on That E auction site I don't want to mention here. HAMB members have tons of good info. Between this site and others you have the world at your fingertips. Aftermarket flywheels are available for street or racing applications. Bellhousings and everything else is out there as well. Best of luck and post some pictures when you can. Keep in mind that you may want to keep the auto and step up to a C6. Also my car was an open air roadster with no side glass so I installed a roadster steering column. What becomes of the swing away steering column if you get ride of the auto?? You also got to think how far the budget goes. Do you want to run a toploader 4spd. a T5 5 spd, or a T56 6 spd? Any of them can adapt to the FE.
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