Inliners International Forums General Discussion Ford Best 5-speed tranny for 300?

i know a fellow who's interested in building a moderately modified 300 six-powered street rod, backed by a 5-speed tranny. he asked about which transmission would be the easiest to use. not having much experience with OHV big-block ford sixes, i figured someone here could advise us(I volunteered to help him) so, is there an easy ford tranny that will fit the 300 without after-market adapters?

Dennis, didn't Ford 150's come standard with a 5
speed behind that six?

I'm thinking the truck trannies were heavy-duty (also very heavy) transmissions. Hoping that maybe a mustang 5-speed would be better suited for a
street rod.........hopefully, with a bolt pattern that wouldn't require an adapter.

The 300 shares a mounting pattern with the SBF so anything that fits a 302 will fit a 300. The balance is different, so you need to retain the 300 flywheel. There are 2 five-speed truck trannies that were used behind the late model 300. The ZF used in the F250/350 is an extremely durable beast but it is heavy and has very wide ratio gears (5.72/2.94/1.61/1.00/0.76). The Mazda built M5OD is lighter, weaker but still has ratio which are inappropriate for a car (3.90/2.25/1.50/1.00/0.80). The V-8 version of the T-5 (3.35/1.99/1.34/1.00/0.68) is a better bet but even in the World Class versions it is only rated for about 325 ft-lbs, which a moderate 300 can easily exceed. Next step up is the aftermarket CR version of the same box which has a 2.95 1st and a .63 5th but is only marginally stronger. After that you're into $$$ with either the Tremec aftermarket boxes or the G-Force reworked T-5 which is a thing of beauty but at a significant price

Thanks for that info, strangeranger. i think my buddy's gonna try a t-5 from a wrecked mustang. i told him what you said about it's strength, but he can get it cheap, from a 21,000 mile car, so that's the route for him. he's not a racer, so maybe it'll be cool for his cruiser falcon.

Cheap is always good and the cable operated clutch from the 'Stang is worlds easier to deal with that the hydraulic monstrosity used in the trucks. In a cruiser, a T5 will live forever. Have him put in an aftermarket shifter with positive external stops to prevent bending the shift forks just in case he ever decides to not take it easy.

"The balance is different, so you need to retain the 300 flywheel."

Can you explain more about the difference in ballance? Would that affect me putting a AOD from a 5.0 Stang behind my 300.

300s are internally balanced. 302s run external balance (i.e. weights on the damper and the flywheel/flexplate.) You would either need a flexplate for a 300 or to significantly alter and re-balance the 302 flexplate. The torque converter for a 302 is probably going to have a somewhat higher stall speed than the one for a 300 if that matters to you.

Great... I did something right for a change.
Got a new 300 flex plate.
Higher stall... I don't think that will be a problem.... we'll see.
Thanks for the comeback.
Steve