If you fill the ton and a half case with unicorn piss it's virtually unbreakable.

 

More w/F60 Polyglass tires

 

call here: http://www.4speedtoploaders.com/

 

The stock toploader transmission is very stout, with cast iron case. Aluminum case and tailshaft save a lot of weight, but do reduce the durability to some extent. Most "over/under" mainshaft/cluster gear transmissions have the same problems in that the design causes the mainshaft and cluster gear to try to separate from each other, thereby reducing gear tooth engagement which leads to breakage.

 

VHT reducing stock trannys to scrap for 25 years ...Trevor

Guaranteed results ...broken inputs
...cracked teeth
... also works on wringopinions

 

Good luck finding how much HP the toploader can handle. First there's both wide and close ratios. However as a FORD guy myself one of Ford's epic fuck-ups is every big block 427, 428 and 429 (even BOSS 429s) came with big input/output CLOSE RATIO BOXES. Essentially this meant in the 60-70s all of the above cars due to the close ratio's starting out ratio-wise nearly in 2nd gear when compared to the wide ratio boxes. In those days on street bias ply tires this meant launching the car was great for burnouts but pure hell trying to get the car to hook up in a typical street car race. All the big blocks had torque up the ass so why in the hell FoMoCo bolted on a close ratio box with the same ratios as found in a BOSS 302 or 289/271HP?
You'll hear from guys that have launched at crazy RPMs with slicks and guys that had 429s in Torino's and 427s in Galaxies that never broke them.
Personally I go for a nice wide-ratio box and install the Big In and Outputs in it.

 

Mine is a wide converted to big in/out after I twisted the small input. I'm getting close on my 427 so I'm starting to think of other weak spots to address now.

 

It will hold ANYTHING until you put slicks on your car.

My stepbrother had a 69 Mach 1 with a 428 Cobra Jet. Never broke it after many years of thrashing it.

But OMG was it a Tire smoker, probably never got stress to tell what it would take.

 

Throw everything at it, and if it breaks then it won't hold it. If it doesn't break, you're good!

 

My car has a STOCK small in/out toploader. I've had the car since I was 15. Converted it from an automatic to a Toploader back in high school via a $125 bundle from a junkyard. I messed up some 'junkyard' transmissions back then, but learned to rebuild them. After that, I only broke ONE. The mainshaft broke, taking out the tail housing. Happened right on the starting line.

I'm 49 years old, and have been using stock toploaders since the high school days... in the same car.

Tips... Shock loads break stuff!
Use a sintered iron clutch. They allow a little give/slip on launch and on gear changes.

Some people can break a bowling ball in a sand box with their bare hands. If this is you, switch to an automatic. lol

My car is close to 3,300 lbs with me in it. It has a sintered iron clutch, adjustable pressure plate, stock toploader, and a 4.33 Detroit Locker in a 9" with a factory Ford Daytona Pinion support and 31 spline Moser axles from back in the early 90's.

I am NOT easy on the car, but do not abuse it... if that makes any sense. lol
Little things like not having the clutch all the way on the floor at the line, and having it just an inch or so from the friction point, helps with shockloads.
You can lift a 'tad' between gears, and don't have to do a full on powershift.

I've been driving the same car for over 30 years, and it's all muscle memory. Get in the garage with the car off, and practice, practice, practice. You'll break more stuff with screw-ups than clean shifts/passes. I don't even think about shifting. The light turns green, and the next thing I know, the run is over. If I was behind, I'll look back and realize I powershifted all the gears. lol

I've seen slower cars break toploaders, and twist input shafts. I don't know why mine doesn't, and your mileage may vary.

Dan Williams Toploaders is where I get ALL of my gears and rebuild kits!
http://www.toploadertransmissions.com/

Here it is on it's best pass, with a 1.39 60ft... and another video in case you don't do Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/100008725089609/videos/1620901824877305/

And what the car is usually used for! LOL Stick Shifts are FUN!!!!
Click the Youtube link, and it will stream more of them.

 

My car has a STOCK small in/out toploader. I've had the car since I was 15. Converted it from an automatic to a Toploader back in high school via a $125 bundle from a junkyard. I messed up some 'junkyard' transmissions back then, but learned to rebuild them. After that, I only broke ONE. The mainshaft broke, taking out the tail housing. Happened right on the starting line.

I'm 49 years old, and have been using stock toploaders since the high school days... in the same car.

Tips... Shock loads break stuff!
Use a sintered iron clutch. They allow a little give/slip on launch and on gear changes.

Some people can break a bowling ball in a sand box with their bare hands. If this is you, switch to an automatic. lol

My car is close to 3,300 lbs with me in it. It has a sintered iron clutch, adjustable pressure plate, stock toploader, and a 4.33 Detroit Locker in a 9" with a factory Ford Daytona Pinion support and 31 spline Moser axles from back in the early 90's.

I am NOT easy on the car, but do not abuse it... if that makes any sense. lol
Little things like not having the clutch all the way on the floor at the line, and having it just an inch or so from the friction point, helps with shockloads.
You can lift a 'tad' between gears, and don't have to do a full on powershift.

I've been driving the same car for over 30 years, and it's all muscle memory. Get in the garage with the car off, and practice, practice, practice. You'll break more stuff with screw-ups than clean shifts/passes. I don't even think about shifting. The light turns green, and the next thing I know, the run is over. If I was behind, I'll look back and realize I powershifted all the gears. lol

I've seen slower cars break toploaders, and twist input shafts. I don't know why mine doesn't, and your mileage may vary.

Dan Williams Toploaders is where I get ALL of my gears and rebuild kits!
http://www.toploadertransmissions.com/

Here it is on it's best pass, with a 1.39 60ft... and another video in case you don't do Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/100008725089609/videos/1620901824877305/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bGdUI9-zf4

And what the car is usually used for! LOL Stick Shifts are FUN!!!!
Click the Youtube link, and it will stream more of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A7CaEWsTAw

Hah you have almost the same steering wheel I had in mine

 

Should hold up fine with 500 hp on street tires that aren't sticky

 

The clutch is critical to making most any oem manual trans live at the track. My personal toy below has a small in/out Toploader....

Above pic is with around 700whp. 1.30 / 5.73 on radials with a full face sintered iron disc / 2800lb diaphragm pp using a slip controller. Never broken any gears or shafts, but have twisted the splines in a few cast slip yokes and replaced an input shaft once due to a slightly twisted spline.

At one time I had an aluminum SROD tailhousing on it to shave off a little weight, but I have since made a lightweight sheet steel replacement with a more favorable shifter mount location. Current weight is 94lbs with the steel tail, full of oil including a rear yoke.

 

Any pics of that rear housing? I am trying to imagine what that looks like.

 

^^^^^ that's some old fashion ingenuity and good fab work right there people ^^^^^^^

Well played sir, well played.

 

Wow I'm really impressed. That's ever better than what I thought it would be. Nice job man!

 

The cluster is the weak link have it softened, if you plan on converting the trans to pro shift rings or dog rings have the cluster softened....did I mention the cluster is too hard and brittle, have it softened. That is a toploader in the car on the left below

 

This is epic, great idea and nice work. What's the bracket on the lid for? And what's the story on the bellhousing, would a purchased bell not work for you?

 

The brackets on top are guides for an external rail style linkage setup, something I came up with to get the shifter up in the car's center console. I don't have any pics of that for the Toploader, but here's a similar shifter setup I made years ago...

I could have bought a bellhousing, but I prefer to build rather than buy when I can. You always learn something even when it doesn't work out. Here's a link to a build page for the car, it includes pics of the bellhousing fabrication.

Grant

 

What a transmission or clutches "rating" is cracks me up.

Leave it on a street tire and never take it to the track=Trans will last forever

Put an aggressive clutch in front of the trans, slicks on, drop the clutch at 5000 rpm and wheel hop it a few times......it goes home in a grocery basket because it scattered itself

 

What a transmission or clutches "rating" is cracks me up.

Leave it on a street tire and never take it to the track=Trans will last forever

Put an aggressive clutch in front of the trans, slicks on, drop the clutch at 5000 rpm and wheel hop it a few times......it goes home in a grocery basket because it scattered itself

Not with the right stuff in it, the toploader is one tough piece, as it is was groundwork for the jerico. the car below left at 8000, mid 1 teen sixties, 30 years ago...with todays clutch tech the shit can last forever...but, back then, there was some "maintenance" involved..... there is a learning curve with anything

 

I have a large bearing top loader in my car. Had liberty make me an input shaft for my mcleod 26 spline rxt. Short tail shaft. Blow thru turbocharged 3800# M/T drag radials. Went thru 3 sets so far. I don't leave on boost, I do not power shift. 2 years so far so good.
I broke a tko 600, and a St10. I think any iron case tranny is stronger than an aluminum case.

 

Good thing about a Top Loader.....when you make enough power to FRAG one....you can directly swap in a Jerico trans...if you look long enough you can find some deals on one of those.