Transmission Conversion Time - I think...

[ew1usnr]

I drive the car just about every other weekend around town and since having it completed have put about 400 miles on it.

Your car wants you to take it back on the road and start adding mileage to the odometer! The only way to find out if everything is fixed is to try it out. If something quits, figure out why it quit, and then fix it and drive the car some more.

I drove a 1963 Falcon station wagon with a 170 and a Ford-O-Matic while I was in high school (1978). I never noticed a problem with that combination. I had a 1963 two-door sedan with a 170 and two-speed in 1985 while going to college. I drove that car everywhere, and again, I never perceived any problem as far as not having adequate speed or acceleration. (But, the national speed limit was only 55 mph at the time.)

Here is some performance data that I copied from a book called "Falcon Performance Portfolio". Compare the 0 - 60 times and 1/4 mile times and speeds for a 4-speed manual and a two-speed Ford-O-Matic in a 1963 convertible with a 170. The 4-speed is teamed with an optional 3.5:1 rear end which would allow a little quicker take off and the Ford-O-Matic is teamed with the standard 3.2:1 rear end. Even so, the performance figures for the two configurations are surprisingly close.

1963 - 170 Six Cylinder Convertible, 2,754 lbs
Top speed = 90 mph. 19 - 23.7 mpg at 65 – 70 mph.

Gear ratios for 4-speed manual for 170 Six: 3.16, 2.21, 1.41, 1
4-speed: 0 – 60 mph in 19.6 seconds and 22.7 seconds for the ¼ mile @ 64 mph with a 3.50:1 differential.

Gear ratios: 1st with initial torque converter torque multiplication (2.4 x 1.82) 4.37, 1st 1.82, 2nd 1.00.
Ford-O-Matic: 0 – 60 mph in 21.6 seconds and 22.2 seconds for the ¼ mile @ 61 mph with a 3.20:1 differential.