I have mentioned before that one of my first cars was a 1966 Shelby Mustang. It was one of the Hertz rental cars, and Hertz was selling it because the time was up for being a rental and they needed to sell it. I had been working at the local VW shop, which was my first official job since I was 15 years old and had saved the $1700.00 it was for sale at. My dad was and is still very cool and let me buy it. It’s only flaw was the tiny Ford transmissions called a C-4 that was used.
For most folks the C-4 may have been adequate, but it simply did not hold up under my driving style. Which was basically to enjoy the power it had as often as possible. This type of driving style cost me three rebuilt C-4 transmissions. I took the car to a local racing transmission and torque converter shop that was a few miles away. You may have heard of them, ATI or Automotive Transmissions Inc., the best racing transmission company in the world. In essence they were the first company and pioneers in research and development of racing hi stall speed torque converters and manual shift racing automatic transmissions.
After three major destructive failures, Jim Beatty, the owner of ATI told me he had a set of diagrams on how to install a Chevy T-400 transmission behind a Ford engine, the 289 engine. He said he needed the car for a month and would personally handle machining a bell housing from a Ford C-4 transmission, and then cut the bell-housing off the case of a T-400 transmissions and machine a new bolt pattern into the ford bell-housing to adapt to a Chevy T-400 racing transmission. He also had to build a custom racing torque converter that was spaced out with the proper depth to accommodate the difference in depth between a Ford torque converter and a Chevy ‘vereter’.
Sounds easy! Ha! I won’t go into the details of how this magic man did the machine work and eventually got the job done. Talk about a real unique subject of discussion and a work of art. I wish I still had that tranny, it would be worth a mint now. Perhaps one of the only ones ever made. This will make you sick, the transmission, torque converter, new shifter, cut the driveshaft, install it, and all of the other intense and precision work I don’t remember now only cost me 1700.00 bucks. In 1973.
That is precisely why I got into the broken transmission business, that was my first transmission job. From that point on, I was a transmission installer for a year and then had an opportunity t in 1979, and in 1981 started my transmissions shop, rebuilding transmissions and diagnosing problems until I was bought out in 2006.
Transmissions were expensive, and I loved the work, still do. Transmissions are still costly. The point I hope to have conveyed is that the right transmission suppliers can direct you and help you purchase the transmission that personally suits your interests. When it comes down to laying out the cash, choose the right transmission company. My choice now would be GotTransmissions.com. They have the educated and experienced representatives to help you choose the tranny that fits your needs the best. Call 866-320-1182 and spill your guts, we have plenty of time.
