My old three speed has kicked the bucket and I have decided to throw in a new ******. I got a hold of a 3speed + OD RUG top loader "impostor". I was wondering if there is a adapter kit to that would work to bolt this up to my stock V8 272. The original bell housing is also pooched and will have to be s****ed and replaced. If anyone has any ideas or point me in the right direction that would be great.
You actually don't need an adaptor. Get another Y-block bell, turn the trans front bearing cover down slightly to fit the bell, and drill the 'old' bell pattern on the new trans case (there's room). Bolt together....
Steve is correct, The imposter transmission will probably have the wide Ford bolt pattern but it can be drilled for the narrower Ford pattern of the Y-Block bellhousing. If this is for the truck in your avatar you should buy a truck bellhousing as it will bolt to your trucks transmission crossmember. 1957 to about 1964 bellhousings should work. Check the length of the two input shafts (old and new trans) to see if they are the same, you may need to cut a little off of the new transmission. Also check the diameter of the two shafts, if they are the same all is good. if they are different you will need to change your clutch disc to match the new trans.
Input shaft diameter is the same but it does look a bit long. Can I trim it with a cut off disk. I also noticed it is tapered. Should I taper it after I cut it.
I have the same combo in my 48 Tudor sedan. Bottom bolts line up fine. If you want the narrow pattern bolt holes up top you'll have to drill and tap the trans case and bolt it up from inside the bellhousing. Driver side upper outter bolt hole required us to spot face the bellhousing and use a spacer. Right side wasn't a problem. I can get you pics when I get to the shop this weekend. Input shaft length was fine on mine. Turn down bearing retainer OD to fit the bellhousing as others pointed out. Use ****on head cap screw bolts on it. To use the truck clutch fork and TO bearing we made a thick sleeve for the bearing retainer.....if your original is aluminum it may be galled anyway. Used a stock 57 truck 11" pressure plate and 11" Ford clutch with the 1-1/8" 10 spline hub along with the OEM hydraulic linkage in my car.
Ended up finding a bell housing from a 1959 Mercury truck. It had a 233 inline 6 in it. Brought it home to discover that the top two holes on the bell housing do not match up with the holes on the engine block. Is this bell housing still adaptable to fit the V8 block?
Here's a few shots of these transmissions. The front shot shows that both bolt patterns are in the rough casting. Both wide and narrow patterns are usable on the bottom but the the narrow pattern up top is now inside the case on the left side and not drilled out on either side. These are usable if you want to drill/tap the case and bolt the bellhousing on from the inside or you can do what we did. If you look at the shot of the trans in my car you can see that we made a spacer for the left side outer hole and drilled tapped the bellhousing. For the right we used the inner hole and spot faced and drilled the case. If this was a high horse application we would have made the spacer out of iron/steel and welded it to the bellhousing.....an we wouldn't be using this trans.
A typical V8 Y-Block bellhousing will not need to be modified to accept a toploader imposter. The one on the bottom is the imposter and the one on top is the toploader;
Hey Mark Thanks for all the great information. After some searching I was able to secure an original bell housing and I have made it to the clutch disc issue you have outlined above. The original clutch disc from the old transmission is 10 spline as is the new impostor top loader transmission input shaft, but the original clutch disc is the wrong diameter and does not match the input shaft of the new transmission. Will a clutch disc for the new transmission fit the original engine. I have made some calls to local suppliers and have not had much luck.
A clutch disc for the new transmission should work as long as the diameter is the same, at some point Ford went from a 10 spline 1'' input shaft to a 10 spline 1 1/8'' input shaft. I'm currently adapting a T5 transmission to a Y-Block, I'm also using the truck a bellhousing. I ran into the same clutch disc issue, I bought found one with the correct spline diameter and tooth count and also the correct outside diameter, its a very common Ford p***enger car and truck disc from the 60's and 70's.
The Jalopy Journal
