Truck Stick Vs Auto in a Panther

[marquisman]

i dont think the stick looks proper in a panther, i love manual in trucks and more sporty cars like mustangs.

[Fordman75]

i dont think the stick looks proper in a panther, i love manual in trucks and more sporty cars like mustangs.

What no grampas like slamin gears?

The only thing that's going to resemble a Panther on my car will be the chassis and body shell.

[88Vic]

I want to find an old 4 or 5 speed out of a wrecked F150, rebuild it and put it into a 79-87 MGM with a carbed 302HO how's that for old school?

[Fordman75]

I want to find an old 4 or 5 speed out of a wrecked F150, rebuild it and put it into a 79-87 MGM with a carbed 302HO how's that for old school?

If you need an old truck 4spd come on up. I've got a whole collection of them going in my garage. I've got T-18's, NP435's, and a couple big block T-19's.

I'd be more then happy to sell you one or all of them.

[interceptor1985]

We have Four speeds in the three Capri's and we would KILL to get a good five speed in them. On the high way they stop out and then it feels like it needs to shift, we cant and it sucks down gas in forth You really should get a five speed up in there don't bother with the four speeds. there is a reason cars today don't use them

[nitroracer]

I thought about running an M5R2 trans in the red tudor I had for a couple months. The prices and selection were right, but the shifter location was not. Now that bronco setup has me thinking.

[Fordman75]

I thought about running an M5R2 trans in the red tudor I had for a couple months. The prices and selection were right, but the shifter location was not. Now that bronco setup has me thinking.

That Mazda transmission is one I would avoid. They are one of the worse truck transmissions I have come across. If you want a 5 spd and can't afford a Tremec then the ZF would be a better choice then the M5R2.

[nitroracer]

I hadn't done a whole lot of research on it, but I traced it to the thunderbird supercoupe so I knew if could handle the power and the SC has the shifter mounted right. ZF would be a better choice.

[Chuck Norris]

If this vehicle is mostly just for the fun of it, and not daily driver duty, I agree with the 4 speed. I've owned one 4-speed vehicle, and it was the most fun automatic transmission I owned. I've had a number of 5-speed, but they just aren't the same. However, in general, I do not like truck transmissions in manual form. The are typically very stiff shifters and not very fun (in my experience.)

[Fordman75]

I hadn't done a whole lot of research on it, but I traced it to the thunderbird supercoupe so I knew if could handle the power and the SC has the shifter mounted right. ZF would be a better choice.

I'm not too familiar with the SC transmission. I thought you were refering to the F150 5spd. The SC 5spd would have much better gear ratio's and better shifter location. But I don't think it would be better then a WC T-5 and I don't think the T-5 is worth messing with. But for a stock or mild 5.0L the SC 5spd may hold together if you aren't too hard on it. Worse comes to worse you grenade it and have to rebuild or replace it.

But for me being a broke ass fool, going with a fairly strong big block ( And I plan to beat the hell out of the car ) I need to go with the strongest cheapest manual transmission I can get. That's why I'm running the big block T-19. It's the best compromise for my project for now. If my finances get better in the future I can always swap it out for something better.

[Fordman75]

If this vehicle is mostly just for the fun of it, and not daily driver duty, I agree with the 4 speed. I've owned one 4-speed vehicle, and it was the most fun automatic transmission I owned. I've had a number of 5-speed, but they just aren't the same. However, in general, I do not like truck transmissions in manual form. The are typically very stiff shifters and not very fun (in my experience.)

Non of my truck shifters have been stiff. If anything they are on the sloppy side. The main down side is the real long throws. But the Gear banger shifter should help that out quite a bit.

[Chuck Norris]

What about the clutch action? I used to drive early to mid '80's Fords for a pressurewashing business, and my LORD they had brutal clutches. That's really what I meant in my post before, I guess being tired and relatively car illiterate I said stiff meaning the clutch. However, I generally don't like the feel of the stick either, feels a bit less "connected" or direct in most trucks, like you said, kind of sloppy.

[Fordman75]

What about the clutch action? I used to drive early to mid '80's Fords for a pressurewashing business, and my LORD they had brutal clutches. That's really what I meant in my post before, I guess being tired and relatively car illiterate I said stiff meaning the clutch. However, I generally don't like the feel of the stick either, feels a bit less "connected" or direct in most trucks, like you said, kind of sloppy.

What size trucks are you refering to? Starting around the mid 80's they changed over to an hydraulic slave cylinder set up on the trucks. Before that they use the solid linkage with the Z-bars. But the pedal effort has a lot to do with the style clutch pressure plate and the pedal ratio. If it has the mechanical linkage with the old "long" style pressure plate instead of a diaphram style pressure plate then it could have a clutch pedal that requires a more pressure. I'm going to use a Wilwood clutch pedal with hydraulic slave cylinder in my car.

That's funny you saying the stick feels less connected to the truck. Maybe less connected to the steering column! A manual transmission is more connected then an automatic. A manual transmission is gear on gear. The automatic requires hydraulics.

[interceptor1985]

Actually I like the idea of that "gear banger shifter" even with a T5 or TKO that would bring the shifter right up beside the seats so you would not have to use that Gigantor shifter Cool beans.

[Chuck Norris]

The trucks I was driving were F150 or F250. One was a four speed manual plus overdrive, the other was four speed without overdrive. I think one was a 1985 and the other a 1983, but I can't be certain as that has been many years ago. Of course, they were also set up for carryin super-heavy water tanks, so he may have made alterations to the truck's equipment. But I do remember they both had clutches that would put tears in your eyes. And actually, I drove a 1992 Explorer Sport that had a similarly brutal clutch... but it had been in an accident, so maybe something was damaged (?).