Technical The Geoffrey Skene 1932 Roadster

Looks great!-------Hope that '39 trans will hold up! I went that route at first, but got tired of "Shearing the cob"& locking up in 2nd gear before going to 4 speed & 9 inch rear. Now after over 300,000 happy miles trouble free.
Good luck.

 

That's a given, but to repeat:
"Did anyone count the ratios in the 4 gears?" (close ratio, wide ratio?) Fair question.

 

It's not a 39 trans....

 

LOL

 

Well, I found out about a car I'd never heard of! (A Ford Comete, what the gearbox is from)

 

Mike, I agree!

 

Good luck on old parts.

 

There is another way to gain back rigidity and torsional strength without having to add any more structure inside the X center…

Could do that but not necessary with the solution I’ll be using.

Same answer to quote above. Not necessary with the solution I’ll be using.

I don’t remember the exact ratios but the trans is a wide ratio so it does have a low first gear. We are using that to advantage to be able to run a tall axle ratio and not have the car be a dog from a stop. Luckily it will have one of those axles that can change ratios easy so we’ll be able to fine tune it.

It did not come from a Chrysler powered car, it was behind a 105 Hp Flathead in a Comete and is designed to bolt directly to the Flathead engine. See the picture I showed.

 

Um, thanks but it’s not a “39” trans. But, to your point, it’s a funny thing. I’ve got a “39” trans and stock “B” banjo axle behind the SBC in my 32 Pickup that I’ve been daily driving for the last 8 years and haven’t broken either one yet. What am I doing wrong?

 

Long as you drive it easy.

 

Not everyone builds a vehicle to beat on

 

Following along!

 

Nice to have you aboard, Dan!

 

You're supposed to rev it to redline and dump the clutch violently. Repeat as necessary.

In all seriousness. Great thread Dennis.

 

The Pont A Mousson transmission was designed by ZF in Germany and build in France. Im not sure of the first gear ratio which may be a 2.99 or 3.35, in either case it works out to be a fairly wide ratio and is fully synchronized in all gears.

 

Great work Dennis, looking forward to following along. Kevin

 

I have a handful of cars with ZF transmissions, manual and auto and I'm impressed with their robust construction and quality throughout. One is a 216,000 mile 360hp V8 car and the auto trans is (knocks on wood) doing well.

 

^^^^ Likewise here, @24 5w Paul. The brands I majored in used them, so ZF and I go back a ways.
Ever see a hot 350 Chev in an OT 911 with factory ZF box? Did a number of those...NO tranny failures.
At present, wife's DD has a manual 5 spd., mine is a 4 spd auto., M.B.300SL rdstr.

 

Great build and thank you for sharing

 

Any updates on this one?

 

According to a lot of old timers in the know. It actually has a lot more to do with being rebuild correctly and maintained, lots of fellas ran 39 boxes and banjos and ran em hard without a lot of breakage... a lot of guys these days slap a trans or rear in a car thats "good enough" then expect them to hold up to clutch dropping smoke sessions....theyre 80 yrs old!

 

Just found this thread, thanks for all the photos and build info. Bob

 

Any updates on this cool project @Dennis Lacy

 

PART 8 (Finally!)

With the center saddle modification finished and bolted back between the X legs, the assembly was set on top of the frame to determine the next move. As it was, the 33/34 assembly was wider than the 32 frame and too long to the rear.



I decided the best path was to amputate the rear legs of the X and set them aside while I focused on fitting the front. It is still too wide and while the front of the X is set inside the frame rails, it is too far to the rear but it was great to see it actually IN the frame rather than laying on top of it.







Since the front axle will have the original, non split wishbone the location of the X will be determined by the wishbone ball and socket in the saddle. The best way to accomplish this will be to create a ball fixture off of the original 32 K-member so it was bolted back in place. I then made a 3-piece cross member out of leftover 2 x 2” tube.



On a parts shelf I had a scrap wishbone yoke and ball leftover from a split 37-40 wishbone. I cut the ball off, drilled and tapped it then bolted it to the cross member I had made previously.







The cross member was then clamped tight with the ball engaged in the K-member socket. The reason for making the cross member 3-piece is so that the main center section can be unbolted and removed (if need be) without disturbing the end pieces that are clamped to the frame jig. This way it can go back into exactly the same place if removed. Once happy with the fit the K-member was removed.





In order to get the X assembly far enough forward to line up with the wishbone ball it was necessary to pie cut where it converges into the frame rails to adjust the width and angles.

 

Will this chassis get a Flathead & transmission? Will the stock pedal location be something to sider?

 

Great craftsmanship and thanks for the update

 

Yes, will be a well-built Flatty with the transmission shown. I’m using 1934 Pedals to go with the X. So far my posts are older work so this is a bit of a retroactive build thread to get caught up to where I’m actually at. Stay tuned.

 

Dennis, thanks for the updates.

 

Very cool build! Going to be a fun ride

 

I like what I'm seeing. Thanks for taking us along for the ride