I never realized how stout the input shaft was on one of these transmissions. Gives me some understanding of why they were the go to trans to beat on.
Now that we have established that that is indeed a 37 Lasalle trans, is there a question or point pertaining to this thread? Because if the point if this thread is to show-off your nice transmission, perhaps you should consider changing your HAMB handle.
Hello, The LaSalle was “the” transmission for most hot rods in our early days 1950-60. They were put in almost everything that could fit. Our friend with the black 1934 Ford 5 window coupe had one behind his big Oldsmobile powered motor. It ran A/Gas at Lion’s Dragstrip and was a daily driver to work and high school. He had a couple of transmissions in his garage. A couple of months ago, he asked me if I remember going out to Terminal Island, a short distance from both of our houses in the Westside of Long Beach. I did remember as our family had tons of memories of growing up in Terminal Island. And, almost a direct access to a bunch of necessary parts. But, this was after those days in history and the only thing big time out there was the Navy Base, the tuna factories, the big steel company, and the federal prison. To local So Cal hot rod people, there were two giant piles of used motors, and one big pile of transmissions, notably 37 LaSalle stick transmissions, getting ready for grinding and melting. Plus, it was very dark. Late night sojourns led to spare LaSalle transmissions in perfectly good working order and a plethora of usable parts. A hot rod teenager’s dream location. Dark, lonely, empty of traffic and a virtual open gate for access to those piles of auto parts. Jnaki We had one in our 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery as it was originally hooked up behind a 348 motor, but prior to the sedan delivery being sold to me, the original owner pulled out the 348 and put in a Flathead in front of the LaSalle transmission. But, for the few times we saw the sedan delivery with a 348 rolling out of the parking lot and on Cherry Avenue, those gears were shifted as smooth as silk. Speed shifting and all, they did take lots of power. With the flathead, there was "no" power, but, it was the most fun shifting in all sorts of weather and pretend speed shifting. We never had to replace any parts or service it through our thousands of miles of coastal cruising for those elusive empty waves. It was the most reliable transmission, ever. IOHO The term “LaSalle” was popular during the early 70s with Archie Bunker and his odd ball family stories. “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great,” meaning their family car. At the time, most everyone had a hard time figuring out what they were singing. “GEEORALASALLRA” was a running question. There were no lyric websites to get the correct terminology for the hard-to-understand wording. But, hot rod guys/girls knew about the LaSalle cars and transmissions.
In the late 50s, they were even used in "diggers", or "rail jobs" behind Olds, Caddys and Hemis, starting off in 2nd gear!
I just installed one in my Channeled flathead powered 31 ford roadster project that plan on putting a blower on. I'd never seen one with the olds tailshaft is why I asked.
Yes, it's a pretty straight forward swap, I put this one together not too long ago, here on a spare 303.
I'm running a Centerforce 381040 disc in my roadster, last I looked they were no longer available. There must be a replacement out there.. The pressure plate was an easy match at the counter of our local clutch house, common 11" Ford Long style truck stuff.
At first glance the Scout disc looks like a fit, 1-1/4" shaft, 10 spline, 11" diameter is right but there is interference with the hub (spring carrier)
Beautiful setup there. Mine is converted to ford closed drive. Part of me thinks I should put in an olds motor instead of the flatty, but I'm kinda just building it with what I've got.
Like Jnaki, I remember that the Lasalle ****** was the go to back in the 50's, especially for the drag racing crowd. While they weren't plentiful in the Tacoma WA area that I grew up in there were enough around that you could find them from time to time. A friend of mine even adapted a side shift to his column in a 54 Chevy.
The Jalopy Journal
