i need a good trans for the 302 i'm gonna be gettin. i think im gonna have manuel but not sure. any suggestions
If you are set for a stick shift, get a T5. I have one in my car, and I get about 20mpg on the highway. That's good about now. An AOD is also good for mileage. Either way, overdrive is the way to go!
Any time you take a C4 from a six to a V8 it is a good idea to go through it. Some of the sixes are built with five clutches in the forward pack and four clutches in the direct pack but most have only three in the direct pack and four in the forward pack. The gears and hard parts are all the same but the number of clutches is what makes one C4 stronger than the next. Broader Performance sells a kit to put five clutches in the direct clutch pack and it is worth the money to do that. It is also advisable to install a TransGo -2 shift kit in any C4. A big tranny cooler really helps to make the C4 live a long and happy life too. The C4 is the strongest automatic you can put behind a 302 and the cost of making it a performance transmission is a third as much as any other automatic. If you are going to go with a manual transmission either the Ford Toploader 4speed or the T5 are good choices but the Toploader is by far the stronger of the two. It all depends on the amount of HP and torque you are trying to use at any one time.
well it will be a simi daliy driver, wit some where around 300 hp i guess. my I6 200 feels like it gets too much rpm while i'm drivin in 3rd gear, like it could use a 4th, so would it be good to have 5 forward gears with either auto or manual?
JD, The 200 cu" six needs the rpm to get the power that you need to make your car accelerate. If you put an over-drive transmission in it you wouldn't be able to maintain your speed when climbing hills and you would have to downshift anyway. Most four speed manual transmissions have the same 1:1 ratio that your three speed has. The four speed automatics have an over-drive so your rpms would drop but with a 200 cu" six there isn't enough torque to keep the car moving in OD so it will be downshifting into third all the time that any torque is required. Some of the five speed transmissions have an overdrive but again you don't have the power to use it. If your car didn't weigh 3000 pounds or you had a larger or more powerful engine it might be worth having the over-drive.
This may be true for the I6, but it's getting replaced with a 300HP 302 which is what the trans question is in regards to. Personally I'm a big fan of the overdrive for a car that will be driven (semi)daily. If it's not going to see a lot of highway use however that may not be a necessity. Obviously it will be easiest to keep it the same as your current trans as far as the auto/stick question. If you have access to the parts for the conversion however and have a personal preference, then I would say go for the switch since you're tearing everything apart anyway.
well i'm thinkin that i'm gonna try to get an old mustang body to put the 302 in, and i'll go with a 5 speed maybe. i think im gonna then rebuild my mavericks 200 and fix it up and try to keep it original.
The 200 cu" six is a good engine and will take a mild cam and carb changes easily. Headers can be problematic but there are some decent ones out there that use dual exhaust pipes. You can easily build the C4 to handle the added power in the 200 cu" engine.
I know you all have a lot more experience and knowledge then me, but i think the c-4 could be improved greatly by adding a 4th gear. i have a 250 in my comet and it runs at 3000rpm @ 75mph even at 65mph i feel it's making way more power then it needs, too just cruise down the highway. the average car only uses about 15hp to cruise @ 55mph on a flat road, and i know my comet puts out a lot more then that @ 2000rpm. my cars top speed its only 95 cause my rpm is at 4500 in 3rd gear. i also think that first gear is geared to high. in my opinion the c-4 is for 800hp drag cars that can operate at 10000rpm and only go down a 1/4 mile track.
LukeDuke, While I like the idea that the C4 is for 800 HP drag cars that can operate at 10000 rpm and only go 1/4 mile it was originally developed by Ford for the economy cars that produced no more than 300 HP and were used to travel all over the country under all kinds of conditions. It was an inexpensive transmission that accidentally turned out to be capable of handling up to 1000 HP with some extensive modifications. I would like to see a tranny built on the diameter of a C4 that had 5 gears with the first four gears giving a 2500 RPM drop with each change and the last gear being a 30-40% overdrive. It is unlikely that Ford will build a transmission like that so we have to do with what we have available. The C4 is capable of dual duty (strip and street) under most circumstances. When an engine is modified to the point where it needs a very low rear gear ratio then the C4 cannot make up for the low gear required to make use of the HP range of the modified engines. There are after market overdrive units that can help but they are expensive and only a few of them are capable of handling the HP of highly modified engines. Still, the C4 is a great transmission for the performance minded individual who has a street and track use car.
I agree with most of what your saying, but here's what i'm saying. I like acceleration and top speed, so i'm going to need a low 1st gear and a high last gear, (for a mostly stock engine). but with only 3 gears 2nd can't make up the difference between the two, if 1st was geared low and 3rd was geared high. In my book, the more gears the better. if the car isn't strong enough for your last gear just lower your rear end ratio and get that extra power on take off. Modified C4s are popular with hot rodders and drag racers due to their simplicity and durability. Not a great everyday driver tranny, especially if you care anything about fuel mileage. yes the c-4 is a great tranny, but it doesn't suit my needs.
I guess you've forgotten about the small block version of the C-6. Or the FMX In stock form, the C-4 is the weakest automatic you can use behind a 302.
