How To Detail A Ford 1971 C6 Automatic Transmission

This is how the assembly should look when completed. The rods were done in Cast Blast and stand out nicely against the aluminum case. The shift rod was done in Bright Silver to emulate the silver cad that was originally used on the arm to keep rust at a minimum. The nut on the Park rod lever is Golden Cad. All the clips are done in flat black to give the effect of phosphate and oil.

The tailshaft housing is held on by six bolts painted semi-gloss black. There are two bolts shorter than the others. These two bolts go in the blind holes as shown.

The tailshaft housing is done in Eastwood Cast Blast and gives a passable look of fresh cast iron.

We added to this by using a Testors (R) Dull Silver on the machined surfaces to make the illusion complete.

Ford used these clips to hold the transmission vacuum line in place. Both of ours snapped, one at the bolt hole, the other when we tried to place the vacuum line in position.

A quick visit to the MIG welder and we were back in business. These clips were painted Bright Silver.

Our stainless transmission line from Classic Tube fit right into position, though we had to make some tweaks to get it to look exactly like the original.

The 7817 we spoke of earlier may indeed be a 17817. But no clear evidence was found, so we stuck with the original. We recommend that when you find these markings, you make tracings of the mark so you'll have them for your detailing. The stamp or stencil was done in white. We used One Shot sign painters paint to get a good coat.

The modulator has the correct green band and the original ribbed hose. The brass fitting was left bare and not painted since brass won't rust.

Note the gear reducer for the 429 SCJ C6 was left natural aluminum. Also note the incorrect Cast Coat on the shifter rod. After talking to Bob Perkins, we found that the shift rod and the Park Lock-Out rod are Silver Cad.

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is almost always stamped on the top of the case just in front of the tailshaft housing. We used Bright Silver to bring out the VIN number-not that you can see it when the tranny is in but hey, it's just cool.

This is the Park Lock Out rod. This was used on C6 transmissions after 1969. It should be Bright Silver Cad; we used a bright silver paint to approximate the color.

The kick-down rod was originally Gold Cadmium plated. The problem is that the plastic grommets would be destroyed if we replated the rod. So we used Eastwood's Golden Cad paint system to approximate the look. The system works well. On top of the rod at the carburetor there was a bright green daub of paint. We assume this might have been to let the assembly line worker know which way the rod installed.

The dipstick tube on the C6 after 1970 was not completely painted yellow. Instead, Ford used a phosphate coating on the tube and yellow paint daubs. We used 1986 Charcaol Gray F150 trim paint to replicate the look. The dipstick cap and handle were both Bright Silver Cad and had a corresponding yellow daub.

The final detailing touch on the transmission was the china marker number corresponding to the one on the tag on the servo.

This was done in Black China Marker.

The pan is to be painted steel after the tranny is back in the car. This pan was our "working" pan. The bolts were done in Cast Blast.

These are the nicely done automatic transmission lines from Classic Tube. In the near future, we hope to have these shining away under a restored '71 429 SCJ Mach 1.

These final shots are of the overall transmission...

...to give you an idea of just how nice a project can turn out.