RAMBOW

My car still has its original HD 3spd manual tranny in it (the FoMoCo "Dearborn" M14 tranny)

Can anyone tell me if the bellhousing is the same as the one for a muncie?

Thanks-
Ben

wmachine

Yes, there are 2 sets of mounting holes so it will accommodate both. Interestingly, the 3-speed mounts at a slight angle, not totally square. IIRC, (facing forward) it is about 3 degrees clockwise.
That said, it is entirely possible that there are some early housings that don't have the M14 holes. The M14 didn't come out until March of '65, and the Muncies were already in use for a year and a half by then. So it is entirely possible that early housings didn't have the holes for them. I don't know what holes are used for the regular M13 3-speed manual, so I don't know how that comes into the mix.
Regardless, your '66 should have both, so you're all set. I hope you're not going to swap out that rare 3-speed set-up?

Similarly, one may think that all early '64-'67 flywheels are drilled for 10-1/2" and 11" clutches, but not so. Olds didn't quite put enough clutch in the '65 speed big cars with the Starfire motor. They used 10-1/2" clutches in all the '65 manual shift big cars. And I can definitely say from personal experience that the 10-1/2 isn't enough. And my '65 Jetstar 1 had a flywheel that was drilled only for a 10-1/2 clutch, the only such flywheel I've ever seen. Needless to say, I put in a dual pattern flywheel with a 11" clutch.
In case anyone thinks that there isn't much difference between a 10-1/2" and 11", the 11" has 25% more contact area.

joe_padavano

Just to add to this thread, the "Dearborn" trans actually used a GM bearing retainer and input shaft. This is different from those on transmissions installed in Fords.

wmachine

Interesting. So the GM transmissions were "made to order" by Ford, I'm guessing? (As opposed to being converted by GM?)

Run to Rund

I imagine the trannies were received ready to install by GM assembly lines. It would be too much trouble to partially disassemble, etc. at GM. Iirc, the output is Ford spline, and the yoke was special to use the Olds u-joint which is similar in size to the Spicer 1350 (but not the same). I played with this tranny out of a Firebird in the mid 70s. The main problem for performance use was the big ratio gap between 1 and 2. I remember the Ford bolt pattern put the tranny rotated as noted above. It was also very hard to get onto the top 2 bolts for r&r because the inner Ford pattern was used.

joe_padavano

Yup. Just like the Qjets used on the Ford 429 SCJ motors.

RAMBOW

Good info guys! Thanks!