The Ford Barn

jonahboo · 02-24-2026, 10:27 AM

thanks guys

yeah, my head is swimming with "what do i do"

1. repair existing - find a trans shop to swap gears assuming i can locate
is this cost actual make sense?

2. find a direct replacement

3. find an Overdrive Trans and swap in and deal with some modifications

......meeting a guy this weekend who has some transmissions in his shop....wants like $150 for one....that's fair, assuming i can find one that will work for my application...(old Ford 3 speed ones)

or

4. the T5 swap
here's my discovery in doing that
53 bell housing has 2 supports points that secure the rear of drivetrain (from rotation) and 1 mount under water pump - leaving front outer engine mounts unused
so....id have to do the following
obtain 3" stamped bellhousing and attach 2 mounting locations to take place of original (to be removed
get Speedway or equal trans to bell house adaptor
get T5 (S10 with shifter forward) - non world class is fine
somehow create an attachment of clutch Z bar to trans or nearby
crossmember for trans support - with hopes it doesn't interfere with gas tank

or
T5 option????
is there some sort of mounting plate that allows me to retain the original bellhousing and goes in-between the orig BH and new Speedway adaptor?

feel free to weigh in and thank you thus far

02-24-2026, 10:27 AM	#21
jonahboo Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Hunterdon County, New Jersey Posts: 11	Re: What is a compatible transmission for 1953 F100 thanks guys yeah, my head is swimming with "what do i do" 1. repair existing - find a trans shop to swap gears assuming i can locate is this cost actual make sense? 2. find a direct replacement 3. find an Overdrive Trans and swap in and deal with some modifications ......meeting a guy this weekend who has some transmissions in his shop....wants like $150 for one....that's fair, assuming i can find one that will work for my application...(old Ford 3 speed ones) or 4. the T5 swap here's my discovery in doing that 53 bell housing has 2 supports points that secure the rear of drivetrain (from rotation) and 1 mount under water pump - leaving front outer engine mounts unused so....id have to do the following obtain 3" stamped bellhousing and attach 2 mounting locations to take place of original (to be removed get Speedway or equal trans to bell house adaptor get T5 (S10 with shifter forward) - non world class is fine somehow create an attachment of clutch Z bar to trans or nearby crossmember for trans support - with hopes it doesn't interfere with gas tank or T5 option???? is there some sort of mounting plate that allows me to retain the original bellhousing and goes in-between the orig BH and new Speedway adaptor? feel free to weigh in and thank you thus far Last edited by jonahboo; 02-24-2026 at 11:58 AM.