In restoring my truck (46 1/2T), I replaced my 216 with a 235, and all went as others said it would. The old bell housing and tranny bolted right on, with the same vertical clearance as before. But here is the part that I don't understand. Based on the parts that are sold for a 46 4-speed (boot, foam collar), my tranny sticks up above the floor pan about 1.5" higher than it should. As a result a previous owner had to chew out the floor pan openings for the top of the transmission and lateral location of the hand brake. Even the brake master cylinder is strange - looks just like pictures of '46 and earlier, but requires a filler cap for 47 and later. And clearly other parts have been replaced over the years without regard to matching the OEM parts.
Does anyone have an idea why my transmission does not fit as I might expect - bigger truck, newer model, different make? I am just curious about some of the history of this truck.
It was not a trivial task, but finally got the resize accomplished, fixed Outlook on my tower, and cleaned up my tower. So, here are my 1000 words in one picture. Hope this helps some.