So, been away from posting for quite awhile. Been keeping myself amused with everyone's triumphs, failures, and questions here though!
The miles have been racking up on the Ford as it has been towing my Scout's, scrap steel, and plenty of other things around the past year or so. DD duties switch on and off between it and the 62 Scout depending upon which one I am working on at the moment...
Never a dull moment to say the least. My T-19 has always popped out of first on decel on rough roads and when it began coming out of third as well I figured why not swap in a ZF? That thought has certainly cost me a lot of money and even more aggravation. 5th sure is nice but I'm still not sure if it was worth it. Bought a "rebuilt" one off of Craigslist and them being cassette style cases are kinda hard to check out especially when you're a newb concerning them. Got totally f'ed by the guy and found out after I rounded up a few small parts and got it swapped in during a LONG weekend that it was worn out. 2nd and 4th were almost impossible to get in as even RPM matching it was difficult because the teeth were so mushroomed on the gears. After taking the thing apart I wasn't impressed with its syncros at all. They certainly have more teeth than a T-19 but feel frail in comparison. Being aluminum, using ATF, and 1 piece w/o a removable bellhousing also were on my negative list. But alas, I found another 5 speed that was recently rebuilt by ZF and tossed it in. It lasted for around 6 thousand miles until 2nd's syncro became angry. Still driving it but am RPM matching or as close as I can get to prolong the transmissions life. I always wondered why everyone was yanking out their E4OD's for ZF's when you can actually build up an E4OD. You're kinda of stuck w/ a ZF the way it is... Enough of my ranting. Lesson learned, buy a rebuilt ZF from a reputable vendor if you are thinking of swapping one in to make it easier on yourself in the future. Positive note though is with either trans I haven't had any gear rollover noise w/ a gallon of Swepco 20wt ATF in them! If I didn't prefer a manual over an auto I wouldn't have even hesitated when the T-19 went out to buy a built up E40d w/ an upgraded torque converter. Here are a few pics over the last year: