I have two questions: Will any 4 speed toploader work (with the correct bellhousing of course) with a 351w? The reason I ask is because some serial tag #'s are NOT for mustangs, but for other Ford cars, but the transmissions look identical. ALSO, is $350 a good deal for a toploader with worn brass synchro lockers?

 

To your first question....yes and no. Any small block toploader will have the proper input shaft and bolt pattern to fit your 351W. Big block toploaders have a slightly shorter shaft, but you can get a special longer adapter pilot bushing for this conversion, so it's not a huge deal.

The problem is the shifter placement on the tailshaft. Mustang and Cougar toploaders are unique in that they place the shifter at the rear of the tailshaft. Other models have bigger cabs and will have the shifter mounted farther forward. Obviously you can't use the tailshaft from one of these transmissions as it would put the shifter too far forward instead of in the middle of the hole in the tunnel where it needs to be.

If you've found a toploader with the wrong tailshaft, there are two options. 1) Keep looking. 2) Talk to David Kees and see if he can get you a new tailshaft. Keep in mind that you're going to pay a good chunk of change for one, as they're not super common.

To answer your second question, $350 for a rebuildable toploader isn't too shabby, assuming the gears are all ok. Gears get expensive very quickly.

 

I believe the big block toploader is a 1 3/8" input shaft while the small block is a 1 1/16" (clutches and flywheels are different). As Star said, there are also different tailshafts.

David Kee is a really good guy. He is a local, for me, and has taken very good care of me during my breaking stuff phase. My David Kee toploader is with him right now so he can check it out and fix what I broke when my clutch blew up. Give him a shout if you need help finding something. He is generally very quick. He will also make you a toploader to your specs if you want to go that route.

 

i dont see why you cant make a adapter plate for the shifter location?

 

Also note that the 351w should have an 11" clutch and pressure plate which do not safely fit in the stock bellhousing. You have 2 choices here.. a) move to a 10" dual clutch setup which start around 800.00 and up or b) buy an SPI explosion proof safety bellhousing, 11" clutch and pressure plate and new flywheel which just happens to come to around 800.00 bucks.

I went the later for the added safety.

 

The biggest thing to be aware of with toploaders is that the input shaft for a 390 big block transmission is a shorter length than the small block input shaft. It has the same size input shaft, as opposed to the 427/428/Boss 429 "big input" toploaders. If you try to use the 390 toploader behind a small block and don't buy a special pilot bushing to make up the difference you will wind up breaking the bearing on the input shaft and causing catastrophic damage. If you get a toploader out of a full size car like a Galaxie you can't simply change the tailshaft housing to run it in a Mustang, the output shaft is also longer and would need to be changed out. Total length for the full size toploader is 27" vs. 24" for smaller and midsized car toploaders. For a Torino or Fairlane sized transmission you can either replace the tailshaft housing or buy (make if you have the skills) a bracket to move the shifter further back to fit in the shifter hole in the tunnel. Hurst makes an installation kit for various applications if you are going to run a comp. plus shifter. One last thing that some people learn the hard way. There were 3 speed overdrives produced in the 70's for trucks. They look just like toploaders until you look at them a little closer. The giveaway for these transmissions is either the word "Orion" cast into the front case, or a thick "band" of cast iron under the belly of the front case toward the front. The extra material is there to clear the larger overdrive gear in there. If you open the case you can see that the third gear is tiny compared to the input shaft gear. These are not performance transmissions and would a real dissappointment if you discovered your mistake after installing it.

 

I was under the impression that the 3sp SROD trannies only had two shift linkages (like the 3.03 3sp), as opposed to three linkages for the 4sp toploaders, which have a separate reverse linkage.

 

Okay thanks guys, so I guess I should go for it (after examining it thoroughly to make sure it is what the guy says it is). Thanks!

 

Starfury, They do have 3 shift linkages on them. My father recently bought one by mistake and didn't figure it out until a week later when I checked his tag number. David Kee has a section on his website about them, it's under the heading Toploader imposters. Side by side with the real toploader my father ended up getting they look the same from 5 feet away. The front case is almost the same casting. At least for my dad's sake he got the right shifter and linkage off the imposter so it wasn't a total loss for him.

 

weird, but good to know.