Would Fordomatic transmission from 1955 fFairlane 292 work in a 1956 Thunderbird 292

[zuburg]

Wondering if a fordomatic transmission from a 1955 Fairlane 292 work in a 1956 Thunderbird with a 292.

[Hoosier Hurricane]

The shift lever will be wrong, the '55 is column shift, the Bird is floor shift. Not sure about the rear mount. John

[dmsfrr]

I'm not all that familiar with transmissions, but here's what I think I know.....

A '55 trans is air cooled, '56 was the first yr of fluid cooled, with lines to the radiator so those wouldn't be hooked up.
The air/fluid cooled torque converter bell housings will be completely different.
IIRC, the tailshaft and/or overall length of a T-Bird trans is shorter than one from a full sized car.
An air cooled trans is less 'beefy' than the fluid cooled ones. That was part of a factory upgrade in '56 for the larger (292/312 and E & F code) engines.

The torque converters, flex plates(?) and pump drive(?) will be different styles from '55 to '56.


.

[V8 Bob]

There were some '56 T-Birds that had air cooled Fordomatics, like a friend of mines, so that may not be an issue.

[darrell]

im thinking that the tbird used the medium case mercury transmission.

[zuburg]

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Thanks for all the posts. I have to crawl under the car and check if I have the air cooled or water cooled. I think I have an early bird with air cooled. Plus, it's not the original transmission so it may have come from an air cooled car

[darrell]

as far as water cooled or air cooled their is no difference.just go with whatever your car is now using your own bell and torque converter.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by zuburg

Thanks for all the posts. I have to crawl under the car and check if I have the air cooled or water cooled. I think I have an early bird with air cooled. Plus, it's not the original transmission so it may have come from an air cooled car

The air-cooled transmission bell housing is real easy to spot, it has a pair of large air vents, one on each side near the bottom.
The fluid cooled trans will have a pair of 3/8(?) or 7/16(?) steel lines coming out of the passenger side, for the trans fluid to go up front to the radiator.

Is there something wrong with the trans that's in the car, that you're considering changing it?

[zuburg]

Yes. Two issues. 1. It is leaking fluid like crazy. 2. The idle has to be at 1,000 rpm or slightly higher, or when you put it in Drive, the engine dies. Before I knew about the engine dying issue, I was hoping the leaking is just caused by bad gaskets and seals. I understand the torque converter could be the problem with the engine dying, maybe not free wheeling correctly. In reading up on torque converters, they look fairly simple, so maybe it can be repaired fairly easy? Maybe I can buy a book on the Fordomatic and rebuild it myself to replace seals and the soft components?

[dmsfrr]

Seals and gaskets should be relatively easy. (said with a bucket load of optimism)
But given the leaking problems it probably hasn't been repaired recently and will likely need other attention, parts and internal adjustments.
I got a recommendation to a transmission shop from a local restoration house and let them deal with mine.

There are 2 directions to go when considering freewheeling in the torque converter.
1. The internal mechanism can be bad and need to be repaired/replaced.
The T/C can be opened up, unlike some others, but replacement parts can be hard to find.

2. If something is causing the engine to idle too high (factory spec = 500 rpm) the T/C will be fooled into thinking you're wanting to 'drive' so it starts to lock up, as it's supposed to, causing it to load down the engine.
So it can actually be more of an 'engine' problem, not a transmission problem.

I'm assuming this is on the '54 EBU engine with a '56 ECZ-B intake manifold?
The '55 and newer intake manifolds don't usually fit well on '54 heads.
If it's currently running check to make sure you have 18/20 inches of intake manifold vacuum at 500 rpm, trans in neutral. A vacuum leak or carburetor problem that makes a higher idle necessary will also let the engine die easier than it should, when putting the trans in gear.

Find some other y-block owners near you for hands-on help, it's well worth it.

.

[zuburg]

I actually have the ECZ 9425 A intake manifold so maybe it fits the '54 heads OK?
I checked the vacuum awhile back and it was in that 18/20 range but the needle on the gauge was shaking back and forth (from 18 to 20) very quickly. Don't know if that is an indicator of a problem or just the nature of a cheap vacuum gauge?

I can adjust the idle/mixture screws on the carb and/or the other idle screw on the passenger side of the carb (can't remember what it was called) to get the idle down to 500 and it idles just fine at 500. It just dies when you put it in Drive so I set it back up so I could back the car out of the garage to start it and keep the smoke and exhaust outside.

I'm now making compression tests on the cylinder. I need to redo it because I forgot to press on the accelerator to full open. I couldn't get the compression test hose inserted in cylinders 6-8 because how tight it was with the steering column. I'm going to try again when I redo the test. It takes me so long to get the plugs out and do the test in each cylinder, I swear it's no longer at driving temp by the time I get to cyl. 5-8. The first test showed compression of about 135 in cyl. 1-4. I think I got just 50 in cyl. 5, so I figured I had a major problem but I'm going to retest.

I've talked with RodRocket about his 292 in his '37 rod and hopefully will be able to acquire his engine to replace my 239. Don't really want to spend any money on fixing the 239 as I will eventually want a 292 so might as well bite the bullet now while I have to pull the tranny.

[dmsfrr]

Sorry about the A & B manifold typo on my part. I knew you have the A and put B by mistake. Yes they have different alignment on the ports than EBU '54 heads. (the 'ECZ-B' manifold is from '57)

Your vacuum @ 500 rpm sounds good to me so maybe it's looking a little more like a torque converter/freewheel problem?

When you do the compression test this time you can start on the other side of the engine first and average the results. The most important thing you're looking for is a more than 10% difference in the hi & lo readings. The 135 you got is a decent reading.

Since you're already looking to replace the engine, if you get bad/low readings it's not that big a deal, and not like you're checking to decide what rebuild work the engine might need.

Re: RodRocket engine. I hope that works out, for both of you.

.

[zuburg]

It's so nice of him to sell his engine when he is going to sell his rod anyway. He could sell it the way it is. He has some other engines he can put in there. I feel very blessed.