PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: r4pinto on August 19, 2016, 08:01:26 AM
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Hey guys,
last night when I was under my 80 clearing the cobwebs and draining the black oil from my engine to prep for engine removal I noticed the transmission looked odd. Deeper pan & counted the bolts. Only 11. My 77 had a shallower pan & 13 bolts so I knew it was a C4 right away. Checked the door tag & sure enough a C4 was the original transmission. I do have a question, well a few....
I know it was standard on early Pintos but was the C4 common on later Pintos? My 78 & 77 both had the C3 automatic.
and
What benefits do the C4 have over the C3? I know the C3 was basically junk on my 77 since I went through 2 of them. First was slipping bad but bought the car with no fluid in the transmission due to a bad tailshaft seal. The replacement lost 3rd gear. Will only shift into second.
Just curious as it's not what I was used to & now have a spare pile of C3 parts I won't do anything with... torque convertor, vacuum modulator, trans pan, trans pump, bellhousing... all from the first C3.
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From what I've read the C3 is a French made transmission that is metric in its build. The C4 is an American made transmission and considered more desirable. My '73 2.0 came with a C4 that functioned fine and only had 86,000 miles on it. I offered it for free here a number of times and got no takers when I went 2.3T /T-5. Eventually (and reluctantly) it went to Pick Your Part as a core return for all of $18 when I put a 700R4 in my SBC powered Studebaker Daytona.
The 2.3 / C4 bellhousing goes for about $150-$200 so should you opt to replace the transmission don't let that get lost. A number of years back I pulled one from a Pinto at a Pick Your Part sale for $18 and sold it on Ebay for $180!
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That's a good chunk of change. I was glad to see the C4 under the car, especially with two C3s going out.
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