I have a chance to pick up a 39 Packard trans from an original straight 8, 4 door sedan. I'd like to use it behind an Ardun/flathead in a roadster. Has anyone had any experience adapting a Packard to a flathead? Any opinions whether the ****** is strong enough? I didn't have a chance to look at the gears, but it was designed for a very heavy car and is a stout looking piece from the outside. Do Packards shift smoother/faster than La Salles? All comments welcome.
50-60 years ago, Packard transmissions were second only to the Cad/LaSalle for high performance use. The ratios are close enough to the Cadillac to consider them the same, and you had three years of floor shift gearboxes to chose from ('36-'38), as opposed to one year ('37) for the Cadillac. Another adavantage they have over the Cad boxes is that they are available with overdrive, and I don't think that it's very complicated to bolt a top shift lid on a later sideshift transmission.
I put a 37 Packard trans to a flathead in 1956, made a simple adapter plate from I think was one inch aluminum. Had some tall gears!
2.43:1 first gear, 1.7:1 second and 1:1 final ratio means it'll be like Zepher gears in a '39 box. sout little ******s. I'm running one in my coupe, behind a Stovebolt 6, just neds a 3/8" plate to adapt it to the bellhousing, and some machine work to get the thrust bearing to change to Chev. Look at P.T.O. slip joints - ****er #1310 - for the tailshaft.
I have an aluminum bellhousing for a flathead that I think fits a Packard trans (which I don't have). Could anyone measure up the mounting ears/bolt spacing for me?
Stovebolt, are those ratios the same for all the early boxes, including the 38-39 big sedan, 8-cyl engines?
I can't measure one until later today, but the Packard pattern basically looks like a Chevy pattern that slid down a couple inches in relation to the center hole.
coldwar, on a non-overdrive version, could the top mating surface of the postwar case be milled enough to put the top-shift forks rubbing-point down far enough to be effective? perhaps this, and using early synchro hubs on the mainshaft could be a possible solution?
i have an interest in these but have never been into a packard, so just call it parts counterman's curiosity i guess. hemi325 had pm'd me prior to his starting this thread about lasalle vs. packard as far as advantages/disadvantages go and i told him what i knew about the packard, which is not too much and is really just culled from vintage rod magazines. i believe he pm'd me after seeing some posts i had made about the lasalle trans which i do have some insight into...i had six of those puppies a couple years back but have been sold since
to anyone that needs info about packard ******s you should pm Hot Rod Packard you can tell you all you need to know
Jeez Coldwar, is that all the info you could provide?! You need to get out of the garage once in a while!
CW I know a guy who wants to buy mine, but he needs to replace it with another. do you have or know of one of these gearboxes for sale?
I was going to sell this but how do I tell if the trans is a 38 or 37 I got the packard 3 speed trans sbc bell w adapter driveshaft with output adapter clutch pp tb and pilot bearing oh yeah and a cross member for 29 A that it was in I was going to put it behind the hemi but project has changed directions since I picked up a 4 speed adapter for the hemi from satanherself here on the hamb
I have a Packard transmission habit too! CW - We'll have to trade info. Kinda odd parallels; Beatty and Olds stuff, Roto-Fazes, and now top shift Packards. Alchemy-I think that Hildebrandt is for a Packard. It looks similar to the Cragar piece I put up. You take the front cover off and it goes inside the bellhousing. You can see the hole so the bearing is oiled and where it is retained. I have the snout off one of the trans, you can kind of get the idea of how it works. Smokinbunny- you got that from George @ V.A. I'd be willing to bet.
that's a really creative way around the "trunion-style" companion flange. looks great. machine tools rock!
Brock yeah I got it from George Packard . Small world , We are a dealer for Vintage Air and I had some parts he was wanting so we did some horse tradin
That is for adapting a PACKARD to a Ford. The packard snout is removed and the adaptor is bolted to the trans then you use the ford bearing snout and through out bearing with the packard disk or a ford disk with the packard hub installed. I have read the other post on this thread and find 1/2 of the info viable to say the least. ask for opinions and you will get a bucket full, just cause you have a few of something does not make the info you have corect. like it or not thats just how it is.
any of the post war 3 spd od trans are good and very stout there was a rd-9 od used for 48-49 and a rd-11 replaced it in late 49. there is no easy way to make the stick top fit and work correctly but it can be done. I took the 2-3 fork from the side shift top and fit it to the stick top and the 1-R fork was split and widened and moved back to acomodate the different first slide gear. the 1-R shift rod detent notch had to be move in the top for the correct detent in 1st gear. many dont do this as it is not easy to over come and the shafts are not soft or real easy to cut with out the right tools. also there is a diference in the height of the towers between 35 - 37 stick towers. only a 1/2 inch but it changes the throw of the stick alot. last top i bought/ i had to nuy the entre trans and gave 200 for it but working on a ford top to packard to make finding tops easier. there is no need to fuss with the drive line adapors like pictured above. the yokes are available from ****er to go to a flange that you can bolt any combo of yokes to. it is the same as the early jeeps with the model 18 transfer case.
The Jalopy Journal
