It says it has a 5-speed tranny, and the shift lever looks like a ZF5's. If so, his statement about "the reverse gear just went South about two weeks ago, but those old trannies are cheap and easy to find" is a bunch of baloney. My ZF had a broken reverse gear and a few other issues, and the rebuild was $1000 - on top of $500 for the tranny in the first place.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow":
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Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI