I have a 73 Comet GT that I am trying to restore but would like to put a 4 speed manual transmission in it instead of the original 3 speed. What would be the best 4 speed to put in it without a lot of altering? It has a 302. Need Help please.
The toploader is a bolt in deal. All you have to do is cut a hole in your floor and get a longer speedometer cable because it connects on the right side of the transmission.
Gotta get the reverse cut helix gear for the speedo too! The teeth are cut in the opposite direction from the 3 speed and autos. They run about 10 bux though, no problem. Short tail toploader, shifter, cable, gear... and you're done. Keep your bell and all just as-is from the 3 speed, no driveshaft or crossmember mods either. Not much more work than converting your 3 speed to a floor shift. Edit: If you don't know alot about toploaders... Make sure to look for a short tail, long input, wide ratio version. Long tail is meant to replace a C6, so that won't work. Long input nose is for an SBF. The shorter version looks almost identical, but won't reach the crank bushing on an SBF. The wide ratio is the best for street use. Close ratio requires more shifting and has a high first gear that would require a lower rear gear to match the wide ratio performance.
Can anyone out there running a toploader tell us which shifter installation kit # you need from Hurst to use a Competition Plus shifter in a Maverick? Thanks. John B
I've never had to do that and mine work fine. I'm not sure which is which but one of these is the shifter and the other is the install kit. Part numbers I used are 391-3180 and 373-3185.
The transmission that was in the cars was a 3 speed on the floor. Where would I find a 4 speed that would mount up? What type of car would have the correct transmission that I need with the front shaft that is the correct legth? Or what would I have to change out the front input shaft? 302 eng.
The easiest way to look at it is 65-70 Mustang. There are others, but with the popularity of Stangs, this keeps it simple. Engine sizes that are compatible from those cars are: 289 302 351w 351c Boss 302 IMO, the 70 Toploader is the best fit. I used a 70 B302 wide ratio in my 75. The stock Hurst shifter fit like a dream. I use a 65 wide ratio in my 72, and the shifter mounting position is a little less to my liking. As far as the speedo gear goes, I ran the C4 gear in my 75 for a long time. However it eventually did strip because of the reverse helix. I guess the tension between the gears let it spin as though it was working for a while... but it wasn't right and did let go. I didn't know there was a difference when I did that one. Link: http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/mump_0606_calibrating_ford_mustang_speedometer/index.html
Thats the first I heard of that. I've put toploaders and T10s in quite a few cars and never had an issue. I always figured the gear on the trans was cut in the opposite direction to work. Weird stuff.
The drive gear for the speedo cable is a plastic replaceable one. These come in two bias cuts for different applications. Most Toploaders have the speedo hole on the passsenger side, but some have em on the drivers side too, the long tail Galaxie Toploaders are this way. Hurst install kits are tailshaft housing specific, you don't want to order a Mav/Comet install kit and have a different tailshaft housing for some other application, like the Toploader in my Ranger. It's a small block wide ratio but I swapped the tailhousing to a 390 specific toploader tail to move the shifter forward. I used a 390 install kit to mount the shifter.
i use a toploader from a 65 galaxie and a hurst street super shifter. great shifter w/ really short throw. just had to widen trans tunnel with a bottle jack to get it to clear with that year trans. shifter kit a with 2in spacers to go between the tailshaft and shifter. which puts the shifter arm right next to my mid thigh. big hole to fill after that swap
