Newer Overdrive in a ‘50 Ford?

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Prairie Viking

Junior Member
Newer Overdrive in a ‘50 Ford?

I’ve got a ‘50 sedan with V8 and 3-speed manual column shift. A friend has graciously offed a manual OD transmission from a ‘59 Custom 300 with a straight six. This is my first Ford, so I am not too familiar yet with what components are compatible with what years.
Will this transmission bolt up to the flathead bellhousing? I realize that I may have to have the driveshaft shortened, find a V8 specific carb linkage, as well as a lower ratio rear end gear set. But if the transmission won’t bolt up to the engine, there is no point in doing any of the other stuff...
Thanks for your input! 😀
 
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Re: Newer Overdrive in a ‘50 Ford?

Is it a top loader T86 or a side loader T85? It could also be a T259 series. The T85 has a rounded lower edge on the side cover. The 259 has a flat lower edge on the side cover. All of these transmissions were around in 1959. The 223 likely had the T259 but you never know with Ford.

The 1949 thru 51 Ford cars have a special trans casting that has the post on the left side for the clutch mechanism. The later cars & pickups didn't have that feature. A mount would likely have to be fabricated to perform this function. This is if the transmission has the narrow Borg Warner pattern. If it has some other pattern then it would need an adapter. There are a lot of 49 though 51 transmissions out there that will bolt right up. Mabey you could do some horse trading for one. The 51 transmissions have a different gear set and aft mount so I'd look for a 49 or 50 for an easy fit.
 
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Re: Newer Overdrive in a ‘50 Ford?

Ok, thanks for the information. The '59 transmission is still in the car, so I'm not sure which one it is. But, I think I will try to locate the correct 49-50 unit to reduce fitment headaches. I would rather spend my time driving than trying to fabricate something that might be questionable at best. Thanks again!
 
Re: Newer Overdrive in a ‘50 Ford?

Ford changed the input shaft from 10 splines to 23 splines in 1958 so the clutch disc would need to be changed. The 1959 overdrive transmission is almost certainly the T-86 top loader trans which isn’t a problem in itself. The big issues are the lack of a place to mount the clutch release linkage to the side (where the 49-51 Fords had it) and the additional length of the 59 transmission.
 
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