1. Welcome to Free Republic
2. Ford Exploders from that time period are known for having tranny problems.
3. Check to make sure that your muffler bearings are well lubricated. If they are not, that could be causing your problems.
Naw, for that model, it would be the left-handed smoke shifter, or the piston rod tensioner.
Muffler bearings were a big issue in the earlier models, but they've solved that problem by going to the widget-armed maniforms.