4-SPEED TOPLOADER IDENTIFICATION On the passenger side at the front edge of the maincase there is a small metal tag with a HEH or RUG number. This is a list of tag numbers that.
As the world's largest manufacturer of high quality 4 speed Toploader parts, we now manufacture EVERY SINGLE part of the 4 speed Toploader! Looking for Toploader prices? Check out our Toploader Price List page and our David Kee Remanufactured Toploaders page. Customer Testimonial video playlist: MustangMedic Ford Mustang Search. Ford 4 speed Toploader. Built Ford Tough. The 4 speed toploader is one of the toughest manual transmissions ever built. Identification of the Toploader is easy. Toploaders are top accessible (from a 10 bolt steel plate) For decoding the specific application look for a metal tab riveted on the right side of the transmission body housing. Ford's HEH Toploader 4-speed transmission was actually used in more than 130 different car models between 1962-1973, mostly Fords and Mercurys. This included the Cougar, Comet, Falcon, Fairlane, Maverick, Mustang, Ranchero, AC Cobra, Sunbeam Tiger, Torino, Bronco, Marauder, Galaxie, AC.
Built Ford Tough.
The 4 speed toploader is one of the toughest manual transmissions ever built.
Identification of the Toploader is easy. Toploaders are top accessible (from a 10 bolt steel plate)
For decoding the specific application look for a metal tab riveted on the right side of the transmission body housing.
HEH-? or RUG-? are the codes necessary for decoding specific transmission application from the
Close and Wide Ratio
2 types of gear ratio are commonly associated with the 60's 70's toploader
Ratio type | 2 nd | 4 th |
2.32 | 1.29 | |
Wide ratio | 1.93 | 1.00 |
Ratio chartpage gives a good idea of rpm, speeds and shifting points for both Close and Wide ratio transmissions.
Decoding the Toploader
For most 60's and 70's Toploaders the ID starts with either prefix HEH or RUG
HEH-D | Transmission identification code HEH-D = 64 390 Galaxie, 1 1/16' input shaft, 28 spline output, close ratio |
| Transmission serial number | |
RUG-AV1 | Transmission identification code RUG-AV1 = 70-71 302-351 Mustang, 1 1/16' input shaft, 28 spline output, wide ratio |
| Transmission serial number |
The lower number on the tag is the transmission serial number. The transmission serial number is a production serial number and should not be confounded with the engine serial number, they are not the same. Some transmissions have a date code instead of the serial number.
Input Shaft
2 different INPUT shaft are commonly available for all V8 Ford's, 1 1/16' and 1 3/8'. But both input shafts have the same number of splines of 10.
1 1/16 ' input shaft | 1 3/8 ' input shaft |
10 spline |
Tailshaft
Also 2 popular OUTPUT shafts are available for the V8 toploader a 28 spline or a 31 spline shaft (sorry, no pictures)
Tailshaft housing
Many different Tailshaft housings and shifter positions available with Toploaders.
here are a few
Wide transmission insulator mount | |
C4DR-7A040-A | Narrow transmission insulator mount |
| Narrow transmission insulator mount | |
C6OR-7A040-C | Wide transmission insulator mount |
| Wide transmission insulator mount | |
C9OR-7A040-A | Wide transmission insulator mount |
| Wide transmission insulator mount |
Ford Toploader 4 Speed Diagrams
Bolt patterns (bellhousing)
Ford Toploader 4 Speed For Sale
2 different bolt patterns. Early Toploaders used a narrow bolt pattern type for attaching the transmission to the bellhousing and the later versions used a wider butterfly type bolt pattern.
Narrow bolt pattern | Butterfly bolt pattern |
Later type |
Ford Toploader 4 Speed Identification
Toploader exploded view