ford-o-matic parking pawl

[Skookum61]

Hey Everybody,

A mechanic told me my bell housing was cracked (as the reason I'm occasionally having trouble getting into and out of park) and he could weld it for me for "no more than $1200", I got under there and not only does it look fine, it looks like it's cast iron! Maybe it's the parking pawl? On a 1961 2-speed ford-o-matic is it just above the trans. filter (as a friend suggested)? Don't really want to get into the transmission unless I know what I'm doing.

Thanks,
Grant

[falcon cobra]

I could weld up the crack in his head for half of that, did the big dummy look at the motor mounts? that can mess with the shift linkage, I don't know why they call themselfs mechanics...jh

[redfalken]

I thought the bellhousing was aluminum but you could take a magnet to it and at least find out if it's ferrous or non-ferrous.

A broken pawl would probably just cause it not to engage in park so the car would roll easily. I suppose if the broken piece went somewhere it wasn't supposed to go that might cause some problems.

I had a tough time shifting once and discovered the shift collar was broken. Here's a write-up on that -

http://www.rainierfalcons.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1125

Aren't you about ready to head out on your big adventure soon?? If you end up taking it somewhere or looking for parts, I've only dealt with one tranny shop in Seattle. Clary's at 97th & Aurora. They seemed pretty honest but I was just buying parts.

[pbrown]

Grant,

You need to have someone in the club take a look. We often hear stories about mis-diagnostics of these old cars. I don't know why people have forgotten how to fix old cars. They are not that complicated.

[Luva65wagon]

Weld up an aluminimum (that's the British version) bell housing for $1200? Is that with a rebuild included? That would be a good deal. Otherwise, tell them thanks, but now thanks - and you'll make sure all them fancy on-line referral services will get to know who they are.

I don't have any experience with a 2-speed automatic, but usually the bell-housing doesn't have anything to do with park being hard to find. If the entire transmission was rotating because of it, then that could bind things up, but I suspect there would be a lot more serious symptoms. It might be a pivot the linkage is attached to - but I think it's steering column to tranny. You should also see if you just disconnect the linkage, will it go into park. Just jack up the back end so you can rotate the drive-line. Should be an obvious CLICK when it falls in.

I'd seriously consider getting a second opinion though if you're not comfortable with this sort of work. You can't really get to the mechanism without pulling the pan, for sure, but it will probably be easy to see when the pan is off and you shift the thing into park. There is usually a lever or pin that engages near the output shaft of the tranny, so it's usually rear-ward - and physically driven by the shift linkage.

I couldn't find a 2-speed image, but this should give you some clue of what you're looking for.

[Luva65wagon]

Wow, did a little more searching and I can't find a thing about the 2-speed Ford-o-matic parking pawl. It's like it doesn't exist.

I fond this page, if it helps. Good pictures.

http://www.charlietranny.com/2speedPARTS.htm

[doghows]

I have a spare fordomatic in the 61 donor car. If you talk nice to Roger I am sure we could pull it out and send it back with him if you need it for parts??? Maybe cover his ferry fee for his troubles???

[Skookum61]

Hi everybody,

I really do appreciate the advice. I had to take off on my trip before I had a chance to really fix the "park" issue.

The good news: It hasn't been an issue and thus far the trip has been really amazing.

The bad news: Last night the engine crapped out on me. I'm in Tucson and have a trusted mechanic of a friend down here looking into a rebuild for me, but I'm wondering if any of you might have suggestions. I already emailed the AZ chapter so we'll see what they say. Just putting it out there. Thanks.

From the Grand Canyon State,
Grant

[pbrown]

Hop on Craigslist and find a 200L6/C4 combo that someone pulled from an early Mustang and put it in your Falcon. If you need tranny work AND engine work then you should seriously consider the swap to newer late 60s technology.

[redfalken]

Bummer Grant! What specifically happened? Other than a rebuild I would say craigslist too. Maybe you could also search ebay and see if there's someone near you selling Falcon stuff. You can filter the results by "distance from" your zip code.

Hopefully this will take care of things for the rest of your trip!!

[Skookum61]

Hey,

The saga continues. So the guy working on the car here in Tucson says that the car needs a new "flywheel"(flex plate). He showed it to me and it indeed is totalled. This would correspond with the sound and location of the rattle the car was making before it crapped out. He thinks that is the real problem and the crack he saw in the block may be superficial. Of course he can't check the block without first replacing the flex plate and starting the thing up.

I found a whole rebuilt 3-speed Cruise-o-matic transmission from a '61 T-Bird with 0 miles on it that the guy has been sitting on and will get rid of for $100. He swears it will fit my car but when I went to look at it, it looked huge (esp. the bellhousing) in comparison to the 2-speed Ford-o-matic in my Falcon. The price is right, but I don't want to spend a $100 on a transmission I can't use. That said, if it does fit I would probably save the money spent on gas with a 3-speed. I attached some photos of the Cruise-o-matic. The dimensions of it are roughly 35" long, bell housing 20.25" X 17" in diameter (the two measurements account for the flange).

Any advice would be great. Thanks a ton.
Grant

[redfalken]

Do you know what engine it was bolted to on the T-bird? I'm guessing a 390 V8. You would need to find a bellhousing for the six. The input shaft may be different as well. I'm also guessing the mount from your current tranny won't work or will need some creative adapting. Sounds like a good deal though if you can get it to work.

Anyone know if the Cruise-o-Matic is just an earlier version of the C4??

I'll try to do some more Google searches and see what I can find. Here's some info on the C4 I put on my `68 200 block and what it took to adapt it.

http://www.redfalken.com/pages/c4.html

[pbrown]

Find a C4. You'll be happier in the long run. The tranny in those photos is the what the C4 evolved from.

[Skookum61]

Thanks guys. Of course I didn't think to ask about what engine he had in the T-Bird but Kenny I think you're probably right - I'm guessing it wouldn't have been "downgraded" to a 6 cylinder. Was thinking the 3-speed would save me $$ on gas, but sounds like both the Cruise-o-matic and Ford-o-matics are both 3-speeds that start out in 2nd so, since all I REALLY need is a flex plate and the conversion sounds like a hassle for not a whole lot of gain (especially since I'm in AZ), I think I'll just stick it out until the beginning of the work week and try to track down a flex plate that will fit my trans as is.

The bell housing is totally fine, by the way - no cracks......

[pbrown]

The Ford-o-Matic is a 2 speed and the Cruise-o-Matic and C4 are 3 speeds. All have a top gear ratio of 1:1. You won't get any fuel saving by changing the tranny alone. Now if you change to a C4 or similar 3 speed you'll be getting a much lower 1st gear. Your Ford-o-Matic 1st is close to a C4 2nd. The lower 1st gear when coupled with a 2.79:1 or 3:1 rear end gear ratio provide a good cruising setup. You factory rear end probably has 3.5:1 gears.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[redfalken]

This is true! The C4 is nice but a C4 with a 2.79 8" rear end is where it's at. When I put in a 2.79 to replace my stock 3.5, the RPMs decreased an avg. of 21.5% in the 50-75 mph range.

Yep, 75 mph! My six would have exploded if I tried that with the stock rear end. :WHATTHE: It is a great highway cruiser and I rarely gun it from a stop so the loss of power taking off doesn't bother me. Hardly noticeable.

Flex plates can make real nasty noises when they go south and I would consider them a cheap fix. Hope that takes care of it!

[falcon cobra]

That is a FMX they have a cast iron case , made by borg warner for ford they were used in all kinds of fords,mercs, t birds,and what ever, ...jh

[Luva65wagon]

I once helped a friend in high school build a 351 Windsor and FMX tranny (like this one). We put a B&M shift kit into it too and wedged it into his 63 Falcon hardtop. Tight fit... He would rev up to about 5000 RPM in first gear and drop it into second and the car would go almost side-ways doing almost 50 miles per hour. Great fun. Stupid kids. :D

That's a great transmission if you have a lot of power and torque - and don't care that they weigh 500 lbs. It's not exactly that heavy, but it might as well be when you are on your back bench-pressing one of them. Definitely not a 6 cylinder transmission. That's for sure. A C4 is ideal.

[Luva65wagon]

Oh, and as for the bell housing on that particular transmission in the picture -- that's for an FE motor (352, 390, 428, side-oilers, etc.) Mid to Pre-70's Big block Ford.

[jukeman]

Hey,

The saga continues. So the guy working on the car here in Tucson says that the car needs a new "flywheel"(flex plate). He showed it to me and it indeed is totalled. This would correspond with the sound and location of the rattle the car was making before it crapped out. He thinks that is the real problem and the crack he saw in the block may be superficial. Of course he can't check the block without first replacing the flex plate and starting the thing up.

I found a whole rebuilt 3-speed Cruise-o-matic transmission from a '61 T-Bird with 0 miles on it that the guy has been sitting on and will get rid of for $100. He swears it will fit my car but when I went to look at it, it looked huge (esp. the bellhousing) in comparison to the 2-speed Ford-o-matic in my Falcon. The price is right, but I don't want to spend a $100 on a transmission I can't use. That said, if it does fit I would probably save the money spent on gas with a 3-speed. I attached some photos of the Cruise-o-matic. The dimensions of it are roughly 35" long, bell housing 20.25" X 17" in diameter (the two measurements account for the flange).

Any advice would be great. Thanks a ton.
Grant i would love to buy that transmission has he still have it?

[jukeman]

has he still have the tbird transmission?..it`s just what my 62 mercury monterey needs..