One of these days I’ll be refreshing my ‘42 Fargo which has the stock 25” engine. I have a Spitfire head, though looking for a aluminium one, and Ellis dual carb intake, and may make a spilt exhaust manifold system. What I need to know is there any modern transmissions out these that have the same bolt pattern as the stock one....and would it be a feasible alteration?l
Not sure if anything would be a direct bolt on . I know there are companies making adapters to bolt modern stuff to the inline 6 ( bendsteins (sp) transmission adapters ,speed gems etc.) unless you go with what was available back then , auto , fluid drive , or stick shift . I don’t think anything else will be a direct bolt in without aforementioned adapter. What are your plans for the truck ?
Just to add , I had a 53 Chrysler with the fluid drive trans ad I did a factory duel carb intake off a dodge dump truck and some cheap tube split exhaust headers Really woke that engine up , able to keep up with hwy traffic easy with it. Again not sure what your end game is with the truck but a fluid drive trans should be a cheap easy thing to find.
Back when I had my old Fargo, I wanted some other transmission but now that I'm a lot older, I think that that non synchro box was one of the most memorable features of the truck. Double clutching seems to be a lost art.
To mix these two ideas: There were some non synchro 4 speeds installed behind fluid couplings. Not real quick and no OD but really smooth and easy to drive.
Short answer is no, nothing new with the same bolt pattern. Keep in mind that the bolt pattern is only half of the concern; you must also deal with input shaft length. And yes, with an adapter you can mount a modern trans, manual or automatic, but that also generates its own set of requirements.
What transmission is in it now? There were late '40s - early '50s Chrysler cars with overdrive transmissions that should fit. If you have a 4 speed truck ****** now you may need a different bell housing, too. Matching transmissions to your application could be tricky. Chrysler used a whole bunch of different configurations back then and possibly add to the problem. The best thing to do in your hunt is to measure the input shaft length and diameter, the number of splines, the bolt pattern and the total length of the transmission case. Drive shaft front U- joint type (constant velocity or standard U-joint). Drive shaft mods wouldn't be a problem. Then start looking for junk yards that specialize in old cars. Wells Auto Salvage in Texas is a good place to start. To use any modern one would probably involve a lot of expensive machine work to the bell housing if it would work at all.
Just curious really. I thought my son could carve an adapter on his mill. But if it’s more complicated than that I’ll probably “forget about it”( said with a NYC accent).
The replies above are correct and helpful to a point, but there is more info to be had. Your comment above is on the right track for adaption in the case of at least one later model trans. You might search the threads of @falconvan regarding the use of a Ford/Mazda 5 speed swap or even some of my earlier posts on swapping a**** factory Mopar bits from the early ‘50s. PM me if you like…..this morning I am pressed for time, but would be pleased to share some thoughts. However, a good place to start is what do you have in the truck now? Ray
I am not an expert in those old Dodges but a friend put an S-10 5 speed in his. I think it was a '55 0r '56. He said it wasn't that hard.
Currently it has its original three speed with the parking brake attached. That box never had anything done to it and when I opened it about twenty years ago it looked new.
The good news is that it should be "just a Dodge, as far as mechanical pieces go. I'd have to go dig out the 3 speed overdrive that came out of a 56 Dodge pickup that my Desoto Hemi came out of But I'd hazard a guess that the transmission to bolt pattern is probably close to the same. Meanwhile take a gander at this expired Ebay add where you have to hit the see original add tab. eBay item number: 352236758175
The Jalopy Journal
