I am qorking on installing a Toploader from '70 Torinio 429 CJ in my '57 Bird today. Thought I had measured everything and was in good shape until I discovered that the rear mount on the toploader is about 1" shorter than  the mount on my 3 speed. Trying to figure out exactly what the difference is. Near as I can measure it is 1" shorter. The guy from Toploader Heaven says it is about 1". All I need to make it fit is a spacer between the frame and the rear mount. Have a temporary wooden spacer there now for the purpose of fitting the shift linkage. If it is off slightly it should not be a problem but would like to get it as close to right as  I can. Anybody ever ran into this one and have an exact measurement?

I am running a top loader three speed in my Mainline Ute. It as about 1" shorter than the standard 3 speed, but i managed to mount it to the original crossmember by drilling some new holes.

Regards


Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!

Also can get 5/16" plate 4" x 5" drill both mounting holes and bolt to g/box mt, centralise on X member, mark plate through mount holes, either drill or weld plate to X member.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

I had a similar problem when I put a toploader in my 54. I just made a plate (1/4 inch I think) to span the difference.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Hi Slum,

I have a toploader in my Bird but for the sake of clarity it is a '66 trany and it has a R-11 overdrive grafted to it. I think the advice about making a support plate is Ok but there are a couple problems to face with a Bird that pas cars don't have. I am assuming you do not want to cut the sheetmetal tunnel over the trany.  You should drop the small bolt-in crossmember between the legs of the X by the same amount as the thickness of the plate you are using.  Bolt the plate to trany and use the rubber between the plate and the U shaped bracket of the crossmember, same as the original setup.  This is important because there will be shift linkage issues with the sheetmetal that even a 1/4" will make worse.

I could not use the mounting pad on the trany tailshaft housing (before I had the OD) to mount a Hurst shifter as the shifter will then hit the dash and it didn't come out in the existing shifter hole.  I hand fabbed a mount to hold the 9" Hurst I have (which is vintage 1966) in the original location on the car's sheetmetal tunnel.  This has proved flawless over nearly 12 years so I have no problem recommending it,  it is also how FoMoCo mounted the manual shifters in the original Birds.  I also had to refab. the shift linkage from the Hurst to the Trany using Hurst's trany levers and extending the Hurst rods using 1/4" black iron pipe.  There was a lot of crawling under the car to get it all right

I Also had a new driveshaft fabbed which is 3" dia.  3" does not hit any sheetmetal in my bird and is much stronger than the 1 1/2 or 2" shaft that birds come with.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.

Here is the shifter mounted to come through the stock shifter plate in the flooor.

I have a tried and tested killer drive shaft that was in my 55 Bird. It has a 31-spline front yoke for the top loader and the big rear joint and has been balanced. The yoke can be changed to a 28 spline without much trouble. If you are interested call me at 815-540-5047 I live in northern Illinois.

  Vic Correnti

The guy from David Key told me the heigh difference is 7/8". Will use 1" spacer since this is where I set up the linkage. I had bought a front yolk from Summit that fit my driveshaft and the toploader but discovered that the  front yolk from my old overdrive fit perfectly. Will use it and return the $100 + one from Summit. Never seen a stock drive shaft break ----yet! So will use mine for now. Thanks to everyone for the input. Next step is to try to figure out what cam to use with Mummert heads when I he comes up with them.

Hi Slum



Looks good. The large spline '66 toploader I have was a crate trany bought new from FoMoCo in '65, ($232 if I remember correctly) it was never in any other car. Seeing your picture, I think my tailshaft housing looked a little different from what you have. I was able to use a new yoke with the T bird drive shaft and the Toploader. With the O.D., the back of the trany is completely different now and the 3" drive shaft was needed because the length changed.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.