1971 F250 Camper Special - C6 Swap Advice

[entrican]

I've been looking for a sticky in the forum and other resources, but I just can't seem to locate any information or experiences swapping the from manual to a C6.

We have an original 1-owner 71 F250 w/73k OG miles, and the clutch went out. It's my sons first car and it's a beast to drive. We're at the point where we'd like to swap with a C6 so he can enjoy driving it a bit more.

I'd like to see what others have done to accomplish this and in particular what they've decided to do about the drive line. I have a 2 piece driveshaft.

I would really appreciate any ideas, thoughts, and comments.

Thank you

Robert

[390FE1972]

I have a 1972 F250 that has a 390 engine, duel drive shafts, C6 transmission and a Dana 60 differential. I know you will need the auto transmission pedal assembly (no clutch pedal), my truck has the high hump plate over the floor board where the transmission is (for more clearance). The auto transmission has a special support on the frame (you can buy a new one). Your steering column is different on a auto transmission, it has the neutral safety switch on the lower part of the steering column. That's all the comes to mind at this time. My truck came this way so I did not do the swap, maybe someone who has done this swap can chime in. Here are a couple technical articles that might help:

http://www.fordification.com/partnos/driveshafts_02.htm
http://fordification.com/tech/clutch-brake-brackets.htm .

Regards

[entrican]

Thank you - i'll check them out. If I could even make the current setup more pleasant to drive, my son would enjoy the truck more.

At the moment, it's running the stock setup with a T18 dana 60/3.73 but I have no idea what's in the transmission.

The gears are so tight that you can barely reach a comfortable freeway speed in 4th. So ... i'm faced with moving to a C6 or trying to squeeze some RPM's out of the drive ratios ... I'm just not sure if I have to do it with a transmission swap or if swapping the ring/pinion are my best bet.

[sargentrs]

The easiest and cheapest route would be the ring/pinion route. Mine originally had 3.25 gears. They exploded on me and I replaced them with a pumpkin out of a '66 with a 3.89 gear set. Really woke her up. After a couple years of driving her though, I longed for those 3.25's. She was turning 3000 rpm at 65 mph and I quit even trying to listen to the stereo.

[DuckRyder]

I assume its a 2wd truck...

Don’t suppose you are near ATL, cause I’d kinda like a stick...

However: unless you have a very strange manual trans it is a 1:1 high gear just like a C6 so a transmission swap won’t help your highway RPM...

American Powertrain sells a fiberglass high hump if yours doesn’t already have one. They can also help put a 5 or 6 speed manual in it, but that’s not cheap.

[Twisted_Steel]

Robert,

What engine are you running in the Camper Special?