Looking to manual swap 94 thunderbird

[AJay]

I was wondering what transmission to look for if I wanted to manual swap my 1994 ford thunderbird lx it has a 4.6 v8 and also what else I'd need to complete the swap.

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

TR3650 is the easiest IIRC, you’ll need a custom driveshaft, and you’ll also need to source a clutch and brake pedal from an SC which is tough to find.

 

[Green T]

Welcome! Glad to see another Washingtonian.

The swap is not easy but there are a few on here that have done it.

 

[theterminator93]

Welcome!

Behold, the venerable technical articles for transmissions.

https://forum.birdcats.com/forums/transmission.62/

There's a writeup on manual swaps here: https://forum.birdcats.com/threads/manual-transmission-swap.45/

 

[XR7-4.6]

05-10 TR3650 most specifically is the easiest, as it puts the shifter in the correct spot.

Cheapest is the 96-98 T45 from the SN95 generation as you can source a driveshaft from a Crown Vic and utilize the normal gear driven VSS without the need for a speed calibrator and a clutch slave cylinder can be rigged up externally to act against the mechanical clutch fork(slave cylinder is easily sourced from a Chevy S10).

99-00 T45s use a reluctor type pickup requiring one the speedometer calibrator, as does the 01-04 TR3650 but all else is the same. I have the latter in my 94 Cougar. Drawback of these older transmissions is you need to rig up a custom shifter relocation but it’s not too difficult do make a linkbar, but you will have to enlarge the hole in the tunnel which you wouldn’t have to do with a 05-10 transmission

 

[Kenz]

I went the T45 route. The transmission I used was from a Cobra with the same ratio 3.27 rear end ratio so my speedometer hook up was just plug it in. That was one of the main reasons I went with the T45, messing with a speed calibrator intimidated me.

If you don't mind some creative fabrication with the shifter relocation and slave cylinder, it's not a hard swap. The most difficult part I ran into was doing a proper job sealing up the transmission tunnel. I didn't do a great job at first and suffered heat and noise coming into the cabin. I redid it several years later and it made a big difference for driving comfort.

Finding a good tune can be a task. A member here was able to get me in touch with someone who burned a custom chip. Otherwise you will have to buy a tuner and pay for a custom tune. That also was something I did not want to mess with.

If I were to do it over again I would probably go the 6 speed route. It would be nice to have a taller gear for the highway. Besides that I am very happy with the end result.

 

[Grog6]

Tuning is awesome!

 

[XR7-4.6]

I went the T45 route. The transmission I used was from a Cobra with the same ratio 3.27 rear end ratio so my speedometer hook up was just plug it in. That was one of the main reasons I went with the T45, messing with a speed calibrator intimidated me.

If you don't mind some creative fabrication with the shifter relocation and slave cylinder, it's not a hard swap. The most difficult part I ran into was doing a proper job sealing up the transmission tunnel. I didn't do a great job at first and suffered heat and noise coming into the cabin. I redid it several years later and it made a big difference for driving comfort.

Finding a good tune can be a task. A member here was able to get me in touch with someone who burned a custom chip. Otherwise you will have to buy a tuner and pay for a custom tune. That also was something I did not want to mess with.

If I were to do it over again I would probably go the 6 speed route. It would be nice to have a taller gear for the highway. Besides that I am very happy with the end result.

The 03-04 TR3650 has a .62 overdrive which is great on the highway, with 4.30s it cruises like an auto with 3.73s.