Hi everyone,

I am looking at buying a 1955 Ford Townsedan parts car to work on my own Townsedan.  One of the things I'm thinking about doing is changing out my three-on-the-tree for the automatic in the parts car.  This would be a straight swap from one to the other, but are there any pitfalls to doings this?  I thought about the fact that my car wouldn't be original, but it's not like it's a Crown Vic, just a car that's been in the family for about 45 years.  Currently, I am the only one who can drive the car, but one of my daughters would like it if it were an automatic. I'm getting ready to do a ground up restoration on the car, so it seems like the best time to do it.

So what do you guys think?  Thanks in advance.

Mike

Just pull the pilot bushing out of the crankshaft and switch all the parts over from the parts car.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

One other thing you should check is the differential ratio as the automatics in 1955 were 3.30:1 or 3.55:1 and non overdrive standard transmissions were 3.78:1 or 3.89:1



If you install the automatic your speedometer will read to fast for the speed you are traveling and gas mileage will be down

marv

Mike: If your Daughter wants to drive your vintage Ford, it would be a lot easier & cheaper to teach her to drive a standard..

Paul

My plan is to also use the rearend from the donor car as well as the steering.  Also, the car has some additional parts that I will be able to use, like steering wheel and linkage, radiator, some moldings, exhaust manifolds and a rear bumper.  Since my car is going to be taken down to the frame, this seems like a good time to do the updates.  Sorry I wasn't more clear about how far I was going with this swap.

Mike