The building of traditional Ford hot rods continues unabated. The proof is in the production from our shop. As most people know we are a supplier of early Ford parts, but our small transmission rebuild shop has turned out literally hundreds of old Ford 3 speed trannies in the last six years. In 2014 I was surprised to see the number we had built and shipped that year. We surp***ed that number by almost 20% this year. And when you think about it, we're not the only shop that does these, not to mention all the fellows who've rebuilt their own. I know plenty of people have selected different transmission options......automatics, overdrives, T5 five speeds, and other even more exotic ****** builds to name a few. However when you consider the ease of the bolt-up installation, it's still the low cost choice of most to get the "old school" look and feel that our fathers and grandfathers grew up with. We're proud to be a big part of that. I wish I could see the maiden drive away of each toploader 3 speed that disappears from our shop in its wood crate to each customer's hot rod build. Whether it goes into a traditional '32 rod, or a stock '39 Coupe, or a cool '49 F-1 pickup truck.......they're great little bits of car history!
I saw the ***le and thought "oh no!" I took it to mean you were done with old Ford transmission parts. Glad you meant the opposite, as you have the best supply and instruction for these transes.
The ***le was really a tongue in cheek way of referring to the theme of old Ford transmissions still pushing old cars down the road.....and doing a fine job of it too.
I have a couple of these ******s up and running as well. Thank you for your work to keep them in gear!
Got my side shift '40 trans back from Mac VP in a Christmas crate. Good folks to work with and can't wait to mate it up with a 283 and install in the 32. Hopefully soon. Thanks Mac.
here is mine stuffed with 48 gears behind a stock 303 olds in my 46 merc lovin it,rebuilt it myself with the help of your book, I have a 50 pu open drive trans that I plan on rebuilding this winter
Still got the old '40 3-on-the-tree in mine and I got all the rebuild parts from Mac VP, including the clutch. Thousands and thousands of miles later, still shifting smooth and running strong!
Actually we've seen a pretty good percentage of the old side loaders too. Finished one up recently that goes into an old survivor 32 Ford hot rod. This was a unique conversion, although not real common, where a '40 steering column and shifter was installed to get the shifter off the floor of the car.
The Jalopy Journal
