Ok my Maverick family, i got a lead on a 4 speed top loader that i hope to get to look at soon. I have a 71 Mav, 302, 3 speed all original, except i have put the shifter in the floor. What should i be looking for in this 4 speed top loader that will tell me it will bolt up with minimal mods? 28 spline, 8" rear w/ 2.79 gears.. will my current bell housing work ?
Your original 3 speed is manual or auto? Make sure it has the longer small block input shaft. Grab the ID info off of the main housing tag if it has it and decode them. Grab the main housing casting numbers and decode them. Grab the tailshaft housing casting numbers and decode them. From there, you will have a good idea of what you are looking at and can start to figure out what kind of shifter mounts you will need.
You guys are great!!!! Its a 3 speed manual by the way.... anything else i need to know or look for? Will my current bell housing work?
Make sure the 4 speed that you find is the same length front to rear as the 3 speed that was in it because there is a short tail shaft top loader and a long one - I have the long one out of my 72 Gran Torino and it causes me to have to run a shorter driveshaft
I also bought parts from David Kee to rebuild my top loader. Very knowledgable and easy to deal with.
There's actually three length Toploaders, the third though is a hard to find unit. Don't recall offhand what the length though was. Thinkng this was the one's used in the Sunbeam Tigers.
There's one thing more..........the speedo cable. Toploaders can have this plugged into either the drivers side or passenger side. The 3 speeds were on the driver's side.
Well no luck with the 4 speed, the guy sold it and a 5 speed together.... Thanks for all the help an information, I AM A PROUD MAVRICK OWNER!!!!
We have one of those Ford V8 powered Sunbeam Tigers around at our local car shows - I have no idea where they found the space for the V8 let along a top loader
