I was wondering about the differences of the T85.  I’ve seen T85B and T85C. Also you have long tail shaft and short tail shaft.
must be a difference between T-Bird, Truck, and passenger cars.  

There's precious little info on the web about all the variations. Here's a Hemmings article that has some of what you may be looking for.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/warner-t-85-t-89-three-speed-transmissions

I'm using a T85 from a 1961 390/401 hp. It uses a 23 spline input shaft. The output shaft and yoke are the large one. Back then it was the only trans using the large output so you had to get the matching yoke. A few years later came the C6 auto and it used the same large yoke and they are easy to find. Then you just use a combination U joint to mate it to the driveshaft.

Oddly enough, the articles says nothing about being used in Ford cars.  Trucks, certain Merc's- yes





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

I ran a T85 that came out of a '59 T Bird for many years in my 57 T Bird. It had the large output shaft that required the large driveshaft yolk that I later discovered is the same one used on the C6 and the large output toploader. Its still in my T Bird with the toploader. I got it with the T85.

I have come across T-85’s with both different front input and output shafts in both size and spline count.  The T-85 3 spd O.D. that is currently in my ’55 Ford was originally out of a ’63 Galaxy with a 352 FE engine.  The output shaft in that particular transmission is the same as a Ford C6 automatic which if I remember correctly is 31 spline. I have had them in the past with a very coarse 10 spline which I assumed at the time was out of an early Lincoln.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Hello  Ted  The 1963 t-85 you are using in your 55. Does speedometer work, as the port on  the housing is above output shaft vs below on stock, or does it matter?  Do you just use a later type (57 later) speedometer cable?  Bill Oregon

The speedometer cable on my ’55 Ford is a parts store replacement for a 1957 Ford which fit perfectly at the 1955 speedometer end.  At the time I installed that newer transmission, the cable housings were available in a variety of lengths depending upon whether the gear comes in on the left or the right side of the transmission.  While I don’t recall the tooth count on the gear I ended up using, it is correct helix for a 1963 O.D. transmission and with the appropriate number of teeth so that the 1955 speedometer reads correctly with the 3.56:1 rear gears that I’m using.
 
While the speedometer gears became somewhat standardized on the 1957 and newer transmissions for the next 30+ years, the gears are available in either a right hand or left hand helix.  The speedometer gear helix direction depends upon the helix direction on the output shaft gear and/or if the distributor gear in coming in from the top or the bottom of the output shaft centerline.  When getting those transmissions from the wrecking yard, I try to also get the last few inches of the speedometer cable so that 1.) the speedometer hole is plugged so as not to spill the oil during transport and 2.) I'll know which direction the helix is so if needing to replace it with a gear with a different tooth count, I can keep the left or right helix direction correct.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)