three on the tree .oh no!

well, I got started surveying the 82 f100 I picked up in December. what a mess! some people should not own wrenches. it had a new starter, new battery, new alternator, new clutch, new solenoid, voltage regulator. strait body and minimal rust. good buy! anyways it was bought not running and resurrecting these is what I do so no big deal. 1: the starter is for an auto. the alternator is for something I have not yet identified but the original was in the box in the floor. they cut it off. cutoff wheeled the pulley out of the way then cut the bolt. corroded to the housing. gotta do something. but could not get a cutter to the back part where the bolt is threaded in so,,,, they just broke it! new one was such a bad fit that after they converted all the wires, they just zip tied the body to the bracket. at least they used two. now I really wonder about the clutch job.
anyway, new parts are ordered and were surprisingly affordable. so now I play with the shifter, and it flops like it isn't even connected. at the wheel. so, I grab another 3 on tree column and start checking it out to see if I can restore it to swap it out. no luck. the cast housing is shattered at the shift point by the ignition lock cyl . now I'm at that point of "do I look for another, install floor shifter, or just start a resto mod. a five speed conversion might do well.

M5OD? It would give you a chance to assess what kind of butchery may have taken place inside (and maybe outside) the bellhousing.  Bonus is the hardest part of the conversion (pedals, linkage) already exists.  That is, if you don't want to repair the column.  

whichever way will have its rabbit holes. Pedal assembly will either need to be swapped or modified for the hydraulic clutch or linkage may need to be made for the fork assembly. Converting to auto may be the easiest. that is actually the easiest decision to make.
that is not my dilemma. I have been looking for a V6 f100 for quite some time to do a mpg build. yes, I am playing a little here. and I learned to drive on a three on the tree in 81. I already have one build going where I swapped a 300/three speed to a v8 /aod. I just like the idea of leaving one alone like the ranger f250. I am bad about having a repair turn into a frame off restomod. once the restorable originality is gone. all doors open up and I'm feeling the need to start cutting again.

You are right, some people shouldn't own wrenches.  Or sawsalls.  Just ask Big Blue.

What a nightmare on the alternator!  And a bummer on the shifter.

And right again about originality - one out the window...  But the little engine that couldn't?

it always seemed like an oddity to me that they used the 3.8 for two years. I know why the stopped. but I also know how much has been done since and why not try and see. it does feel a little weird for me since I have said a million times "even the mower should have a v8". yet again I wonder if they tried it later with efi whether it would have served much better. even the cologne v6 was rated comparable to the v8 in hp for a few years although i never found that in the gas pedal.

Good luck.  Maybe you'll discover something.

mat in tn wrote

it always seemed like an oddity to me that they used the 3.8 for two years. I know why the stopped. but I also know how much has been done since and why not try and see. it does feel a little weird for me since I have said a million times "even the mower should have a v8". yet again I wonder if they tried it later with efi whether it would have served much better. even the cologne v6 was rated comparable to the v8 in hp for a few years although i never found that in the gas pedal.

Another oddity of the era was the 200 inline 6. Friend of mine had one in a Mustang...a 1981 or 1982. I was almost killed in that car in the early 90's lol.

The Essex V6 made a bit of a comeback when it replaced the 300 inline 6 in the F150 pickups in 1997. It was a stroked 3.8 V6, which became a 4.2L. They were quite common here in Canada as the base engine in the pickups. Several of my friends had them. Ford ran them for quite a few years...until 2008 or 2009 at least.

As for the three-on-the-tree, I can tell you that the M5OD 5spd is a very easy swap. The M5OD is only about 3/8" longer, so the 3-on-the-tree driveshaft can be re-used without modification, and the original speedo cable will even plug right in if it's an older (88-91) M5OD. Trans output splines are the same. I did this swap in my '84 and was quite happy with it. The beauty of that swap was that the truck already had a factory hydraulic clutch, so that made it even easier. The 3-on-the-tree was much more common with the earlier Bullnose trucks between 1980-1983. By the time 1984 rolled around, they were getting rare and by 1986 almost unheard of. I use the hydro clutch as the dividing line....you'll rarely see that transmission without a mechanical clutch.

yes, this is why I see possibilities. especially for one that is really a commuter. so many cars were replaced with trucks because. it's a truck. trucks are cool. not everyone needs the ability to pull a bobcat or 35 ft camper or even carry more than the groceries but look around. trucks are doin it. I have bigger trucks so why? why not?
 I guess the biggest single thing is how many people can drive the vehicle. if my intent is to sell it one day then automatic is big. five speed a close second and three on the tree? well let's just call that "millennial prevention".

mat in tn wrote

yes, this is why I see possibilities. especially for one that is really a commuter. so many cars were replaced with trucks because. it's a truck. trucks are cool. not everyone needs the ability to pull a bobcat or 35 ft camper or even carry more than the groceries but look around. trucks are doin it. I have bigger trucks so why? why not?

Ya, the 4.2L V6 was certainly not the workhorse that the 300 inline 6 was, but it was still a popular engine, especially in the "Jellybean" Ford trucks from 1997-2002. Call them City trucks or whatever you want, they did the job OK, and I don't think they were too bad on fuel either.

Oh, by the way...on the 3-on-the-tree column. When I first got mine, I drove it for a while like that, but I really disliked how sloppy the shifting was, and the gear spread is awful if you're in a hilly area. Maybe because it was paired with a 302 instead of a 300 with it's low end torque, but I didn't like it. I pulled the column and I probably spent several months and a good $500 sourcing obsolete parts from all over the US to rebuild it, and in the end had basically a brand new steering column top to bottom. If I had to guess, after the rebuild, the shifting improved by about 3% LOL. I was kind of disgusted with it at that point and decided to rip it all out and swap in the 5spd.

I really think they were just a poor design by the time the 80's rolled around, and the 3 on the tree probably should have been retired at the end of the 1979 model year, in my opinion at least. At this point and time, they're just a nostalgic thing.

I'm really struggling with the novelty of it. "what's it worth"? anyway, going with a 5 speed is still pretty mainstream and many of us love them. and it is the best for mpg which is a major part.

mat in tn wrote

I'm really struggling with the novelty of it. "what's it worth"? anyway, going with a 5 speed is still pretty mainstream and many of us love them. and it is the best for mpg which is a major part.

I struggled with the novelty of it as well. I think they're really neat and they are a great conversation piece, at least if there's anybody around that was born before 1980 lol. For that truck, there was no benefit in keeping it all original, and I was modifying it anyway, so when the novelty wore off I decided to get rid of it. I should also add that the cast transmission case was also cracked...the two lower bolt ears that attach to the bell housing, so to keep that transmission in place was going to take a lot of effort on my part even after rebuilding the steering column and shifter.

I kept the column and just gutted all of the usable parts out of it, and then cut the shifter handle nub off. I filled the hole, smoothed it down and painted it. All of the usable spare parts for the 3-on-the-tree I listed for sale on one of the Bullnose FB groups and it sold in about 10 minutes to a guy that had a 3spd truck. I think the columns are worth good money to the right people, but they're awkward and expensive to ship. Anybody that has a column 3spd would be crazy to not buy a spare column/spare parts...minimum they should be worth several hundred dollars in my opinion. I think I sold all of my spare parts for $200, and that was probably 5 years ago.

I did have that idea too. I have two three on the tree columns and they both have the same loose center piece. all other parts are great. I'm sure one will be available for parts at least soon. and I'm always looking for the next build or parts truck too. currently I'm thinking about how to make a buffer/bushing to at least be able to drive it once to get that old time experience. and maybe even drive the grandkids around in something so quirky. grandpa is already getting known for the old trucks.

<<some people should not own wrenches>>

Amen, Mat!  Sometimes I am in that category.

For years I've enjoyed restoring barn find-like old cars to driver status and have seen the "work" of previous owners.  Scary sometimes.