Hot Rods I have a ford/merc overdrive question

I was wondering if the 49/50 merc overdrive transmission is the same as the ford? can you take the 2 piece bell housing from a merc and put it on a ford transmission? I am asking because I dont have a merc in front of me and I found I can get the merc bellhousing cheap. I was hoping to avoid bringing home another transmission, havent been able to sell the ones I have.

I guess I should clear up a little more of what I am trying to accomplish here... I am replacing the 8ba in my coupe with a 59ab. I presently have a ford overdrive transmission and it wont bolt up to the older flatty.

 

If I understand you correctly, you will need a '49/'50/early'51 Merc trans. To the best of my knowledge, there is no stock Ford/Merc part that will accomplish what you want to do.

However, the clutch operation on the '49/'50 Merc units works like the earlier Ford/Merc cars ('48 back) in that the throw out arm rotates in the trans case and isn't like the lever style used on '49 up Ford cars.

Are you SURE you want to switch from an 8BA to a 59A style ?

Edit:
There is an adapter for the 59A style block (or Merc bell housing) to GM/Chevy trans and an additional thin adapter plate to go from Chev to Ford '49/'64 trans that could get this done. All this is available from Speedway.


Ray

 

Found this searching for overdrive info. I tried to find this adapter in the catalog but didn't see it. I'd like to the same thing eventually in an up coming project. Thanks for the info, I'll look again!

Hi Jeff!

 

simply put: the Merc transmission has the integral bell like the the early Fords/Mercs. The '49 & up Ford transmissions have a modern 4 bolt pattern where they mount to the bell housing. If you want to mount the Ford to the back of a '49 & up engine, you need the Ford Bell housing. If you want to mount the '49-early '51 Merc transmission to the '49 & up engine, you need the Merc or '48-'50 F-1 bell housing.

 

He's trying to go the other direction......the 'modern' 4 bolt trans case to an early block.......

Ray

 

Jeff,

I have the 50 Merc motor/trans that we can look at for reference. Call me Sunday if you have time and we'll take a look. You can have the tranny if you need it.

Dan

 

The '50 Merc trans will work with the 59AB engine.....BUT....the clutch throwout arrangement is different than with your 8BA style bellhousing. solve that and you're in business!


Ray