Automatic to Manual Conversion

5

55Merc

Junior Member
Guys,
I have a spare Ford top loader 4 speed ****** that I'm thinking about Installing in my '55 Automatic equipped Mercury Montclair. I think we all know that Fords and Mercs have always shared about 90% of their platforms so due to shear numbers, I'm looking for Ford donor parts more than I am Mercury. #1, I need to confirm what other year Fords share interchangeable clutch and brake pedal asssmblies with a '55 Ford/Merc. I have located a 1957 Ford Fairlane assembly along with a bell housing and flywheel from the same car. The problem with acquiring the required parts piece by piece is availability. #2, I prefer to locate a complete manual transmission equipped donor car with 12 volt electrical system ('56,? '57?)as I am also planning to make that conversion as well and could use interchangeable parts for that purpose as well. Any help or suggestions appreciated.
 
Electrical...
The 55, 56 & 57 dash gauge-sensor pairs are 'one year only' parts, not mix & match. If the '55 versions you have are working well as is, you should be able to keep using them.
"The ('55) fuel and temp gauges will work on 6 or 12 V and are not polarity sensitive."

Except for the ('55) ign coil, radio and clock, most other parts aren't as picky.
FYI: the '55 & '56 water temp sensors in the head are a larger size than the '57 version. A '56 or '57 temp sensor will not work correctly with a '55 gauge.

Read the 6v/12v conversion info at this link.
It was written about '55 Tbirds but should be 99% the same as your '55 Merc.

https://www.ctci.org/gilsgarage/6to12.php

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The pedal support is exclusive to the 55/56 Merc.

Looking at the pics in the Merc parts book , its hard to say if the 57 Ford support can be finageled in there to do the job.

I"d be looking for that donor car and I"m sure those are not easy to find. :confused:

Good Luck,Oldmics
 
If you change the complete pedal assy. it will need to be the 55/56 Mercury as the firewall distance to the dash is almost 2" greater than the Ford. You may use the 55/56 Ford pedals and the large spring and parts to your existing hanger assy. with no problem. The z-bar and brackets are the same Ford or Merc.The 57 bell housing and flywheel are a good start... The 57 pedal an dZ bar is completely different.
 
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another thing you need if you are unaware is the crankshaft bushing.small bur needed part.
 
Back in the 60's I did an auto to a T-85 od in a 55 bird. Used a standard Ford clutch pedal that cleared, and I don't think I had to change the brake pedal. Then I used a hydraulic clutch link. I made a bracket to mount the slave cylinder, and cobbled it all together. I was 17, and among other things didn't know how to properly size the master slave. It worked for years till I found a manual 'bird being parted out. I'd consider that as a last resort.
 
Thanks for all the great input guys! Research hasn't turned up much information on the pedal assembly options but I could definitely determine from a photo that the '57 Ford pedal assembly was not going to work. I think I need to try to find a donor '55 or '56 Merc with a standard transmission in it and just forget any other year or model Ford/Mercury. It definitely will not be easy and the only one I have run across was a '55 Monterey 4 door with 3 speed and overdrive but the guy wanted $3800 for it and I can't go that high just for the parts I need. Also, it's still a '55 with 6 volt system so ideally, I really prefer a '56 so I can swap out the 12 volt electrics. Thanks again for all the replies and helpful information.
 
If it helps any, when I was young ('68) I swapped a '55 Mercury Mercomatic with a three speed manual. I got all of the parts needed from a '55 Ford in the junkyard including pedals, linkage brackets for Z-bar on engine and frame, along with the Z-bar, bellhousing and clutch fork etc. Everything fit great, but had to get a different drive shaft. Forgot if it was longer or shorter.

Sal
 
What you will find out is that the rear end with the Ford A Matics and Merc A matics are an extremely high ratio! I did this swap back in 1958 on my 55 Club Sedan when i was 16 years old and found that you could not release the clutch with out the car shuddering badly. I had an overdrive and the car would bury the Speedometer in second gear overdrive.
 
Yes, the rear end ratio is high, but a good clutch won't chatter. In my day it was easy to find a Dana 44 rear out of a 6 cylinder O/D wagon. Needed lowering blocks, but other than that it was a straight swap. 4.27:1 rear gear. Surprised a lot of 283 vettes, and the odd 327 ones. I was 17 then.
 
triumphleroy said:
What you will find out is that the rear end with the Ford A Matics and Merc A matics are an extremely high ratio! I did this swap back in 1958 on my 55 Club Sedan when i was 16 years old and found that you could not release the clutch with out the car shuddering badly. I had an overdrive and the car would bury the Speedometer in second gear overdrive.
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That's one thing I should have done on my auto to manual swap. The rear axle was probably around 3.00 : 1. With the manual it wasn't too quick from a dead stop. But being a stupid kid, I just continued to hop up the 292 with a '57 intake, lrger carb, Jahns domed pistons and Isky RPM 300 cam. Still with the 3.00 : 1(or what ever) rear gear. I actually butchered up a valuable first year Montclair 2 door hard top.

Sal
 
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