Thread: 390 + cruiseamatic

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Nearly finished a 65 galaxie has a 390 with a 3 speed cruiseamatic. Problem I face is I want to fit a b+m megashifter into it. however the transmission is not listed in the installation instructions. Has any one done this or know if the trannys listed c4 , c6 , aod are similiar to the cruiseamatic. Or is it just a mod. to the length of the selector arm on the tranny, or should i just take it to a shop and let them sort it out.

You might want to hold off installing that shifter,if it is the original trans you cant do a normal up and downshift. Where drive or third is on a normal three speed auto trans,those trans start out in second and where second is its drive where it will upshift normally but to do a manual upshift you will have to start out in low and shift up one spot and when it shifts put it back down in low to lock in second then back up one for third. Are you in austrailia? as I dont know if the cruiseamatic trans were made the same way down under but that is the way they were made in the states and the B and M shifter might not work right if it is made like the ones in the states but if it is all you need to do is change the valve body from a cruiseamatic of FMX trans from 1967-up. Does your shift indicator have little dot then big dot and L or D-2-1,if you need a valve body I can get one as a friend has a FMX trans in his garage that is going to get scrapped. Jeff

Hi Jeff , Yes in Australia.
The shift indicator has L small dot ,then Drive big green dot,then dot then N dot R dot P dot. I have already removed the linkage system from the car as it was beyond restoration and to have parts machined up proved too expensive (around a grand) and parts are not that easy to come by as I have exhausted all my contacts over here for something half decent.So I was going for after market. Are any of the b + m shifters suitable to the cruiseamatic in its present state ? Or if the change to the valve body allows the trans to start in low can I then fit the mega shifter? Probably obvious at this stage that this is my first project.
If I start looking for numbers on the trans will this tell me if it was made in the states or Oz.
Thanks for the help Ian.

If the Band M shifter is a ratchet type it probably wont work right,but if it has D 2 1 it should work but drive will be in 2. You might want to look into the older hurst auto shifters that resemble 3 or 4 speed shifters,is your car left or right hand drive?. If its left hand drive I can get you all the needed parts to put the original shifting linkage back on as long as it is on the column as a local junkyard has a few 65s in it. On the right hand drive cars in your country does the shaft for the shifter come out on the right side of the trans or does the linkage go over to the left side. Jeff

Jeff,
Car was converted to right hand drive . I will have a look at the hurst shifters as I have gone ahead and smoothed the column.So I am pretty much destined for a floof shift. Do you know of any later models that could supply a stock shifter to fit without too much stuffing around. thanks for the offer of the parts. Ian

I am not too familiar with the ford models in your country but a mustang or pinto type floor shifter should work,it mounts to the hump and has a rod that goes to the arm in the trans and its a simple setup. On the ford trans the arm is different for each application and since yours was originally on the column the arm will need some modification to work right with a floor shift,if you just hooked it up the shift pattern will be backwards. You might be able to drop the valvebody and flip the arm 180 degrees so the shift pattern will be correct. You might want to look in ebay as there have been a couple of factory consoles with shifters lately. Jeff

I know this doesen't help, but when faced with the exact same problem with my 65 Galaxie, I opted to replace the old worn-out tranny with a TCI Performance C6 from Summit.

John from NC

Thanks for the advice guys .I am going to try installing a normal shifter from a fairlane and engraving a new gear indicator to match the one on the column. If all else fails I will go the c6 route and instal the shifter I wanted.I will post how I go in the future.
Thanks Ian.

Well I finally fitted a B+ M autoshifter which is just a replacement for column shifts and engraved an indicator as per the old one . I have another question . As well as the selector arm on the side of the trans it has another lever in front of it. Is this a kick down or somethin g else.There was nothing connected to it when I got the car. Regards Ian

That is the kickdown and you dont have to hook it up but you will have to downshift manually for passing. Jeff