Good Evening
    I am trying to put 4 speed toploader behind the Y block in my chopped '35 coupe.  However, the input shaft on the tranny seems to be 3/4 to 1" too long.  Someone (with questionable background) told me the big block toploaders had short input shafts and the toploaders from small block motors had longer shafts.  This trans was originally behind a 351 W.  Can anyone enlighten this person (me) who has less knowledge than the guy with the questionable background. Any info or insight would be much appreciated.
        Midwest Mike
  I'd rather be lucky than good
   but good ain't bad.

I haven't done this but they tell me you can cut the tip off the input shaft to make them fit.

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

____________________________

Thanks Y guys!!!
 Midwest Mike

I put a toploader to my 312 in my 54.

Yes, you have to cut the tip some.  I cut mine about 3/8 of an inch.  I advise anyone that does this to measure before cutting.  Remember to slightly bevel the end after cutting to make it go into the bushing easier.  Check the front part of the splines to make sure they don't hit the bushing.  Mine looked to close for comfort, so I slightly beveled the bushing

My toploader came out a a small block.. The big block input shafts are shorter, but I do not know how much.


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

Thanks Paul
 Mike

I don't remember the difference being that much but the all syncro 3 speeds had the same issue. When I put one out of a small block in my '58 Ford 292 back in '64 I used wheel alingment shims between the bellhousing and the transmission. It was still working when I traded the car off for the '57 Bird that I still have. I went to an all syncro out of a 390 for the bird and on the last go around a couple of years ago went with a large input toploader 4 speed. Length was no problem. The clutch release fork had to be modified though and had to have the right throughout bearing and clutch to fit. Works great. Sould have done it 40 years ago.

i installed  the 4speed(4is od)in my 49merc pickup with 292y. i used a 3spd y bell housing. my issues where input shaft 2 short. had to have a cit off the face 1/8th in.,also had to drill for 2 bolts inside the bell housing. also machine front bearing retainer to fit the hole in bell housing. the trans i used has a fine spline so replaced the disc.i used the ford slave cyll and a old mastercyle.
down side is trans and bell must be removed as a unit. thereat dif is 3.7 which  is a bit low,3 0r 3.5 would be better. so far works ok

The depth of a FE and Y block bell housing must be close to the same. I used a T10 from a 62 Galaxie with a 406 behind a Y and it bolted right in..

As 2721955meteor said, when I did my swap I also had to trim the front bearing retainer a bit to make it fit into the YBlock bell housing.

As far as I know, toploader came with three different bolt patterns for the bell housing.  The early ones came with the same pattern as the YBlock (I have one of these).  The second had a dual pattern at the top ( YBlock and a wider pattern) while the later ones only had the wide pattern at the top.  My understanding is that the one with only the wide pattern could be drilled for the Y spacing.

If you have a big block top loader and the input shaft is too short, you can make a custom bushing to account for the difference.  I had a model A with a 302 and used a FE toploader behind it - I had to make up such a bushing.  It worked  very nicely.  I still have the brass material that the bushing was made from.


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