So........How many of you are running big motors in front of flathead ******s, you know, the way we did it back in the day? How are these ******s holding up? Everyone was shoehorning a Caddy, Olds or Buick motor into a '40 Ford using a Hurst motor mount kit and a trans adapter when I was a kid. Don't remember too many ****** broblems, but we didn't have much for tires either...................Are you having good luck with old flatty trans?
Had a built flatty in a 37 ford stockcar once, was showing off and went to chirp the tires while putting it on the trailer. Spun all the teeth off of first gear. Pulled into the back yard and ran a garden hose thru it. filled it with grease, and ran it a couple of times before actually fixing it. Would't try that now witha modern car.
I'm running a Loaded 51 Cad. in front of my 48 gears in a 39 floor shift case in my 48 Ford moor door. Don't expect it to hold up to any racing. Just let out the clutch get it rolling before punching it and you'll be all right.
I drove aa/sr 32 roadster for part of a season.It had a 671 on a small block,39 box,torque tube rear without failure. His instructions were to load the driveline before launch to take out slack. It worked. Many cars were built this way with hemi,s etc.I have driven cars with early driveline on the streetfor manythousands of miles with few problems,but you must remember what you have. Onesidestep launch,you are calling for help.[ They leak too.]
Dad built a rippin' 283 in 59' for his 40 ford coupe...says it was about 300 hp..got the adapter and ran it with original flatty ******....he said it would just light up the tires at 40mph (bia ply)..said it would cruise comfortably at 100mph......as the car rusted it got raster!
Had a '36 Ford 3 w coupe with a 265 '56 SBC engine, worked pretty well...then got a '47 Merc, put a 322 nailhead Buick in it...too much for the early trans and diff...took out second gear and if that didn't break the keyway on the axle would let go. Put a Lasalle 3 speed box in it and can't remember what rear I finally found that would hold up to that Buick power...maybe an Olds.
Flathead transmissions wouldn't even stand up to a healthy flathead. Back in the day, (about 1965) my friend John Donald from Stirling, Ontario had a mild 53 Ford and we changed the transmission every Sunday morning untill we had used up all the ******s from all the junkyards in a 50 mile radius.
What the other guys are saying is basically true. You can run the old toploader 3 speed ****** behind a more powerful motor BUT....how you drive it is important. If you plan to light up the tires at every light, or race for pinks, etc.....you better plan on using something a bit more robust. I rebuild these trannies so I have seen just about every possible problem. If you think about it now, the young guys back in the 50's and 60's were either hopping up their flathead, or transplanting a bigger & more powerful engine in their hot rod (ie: Olds, Caddy, or even a hemi). Whether the plan was to race it every weekend at the track, or simply to show-off at each traffic light, the cars were often run hard! Factor in that in most cases, they ran the existing Ford trans in the car....or they grabbed one from the local boneyard and bolted it in the car as-is. Who had time to rebuild the transmission??? Those used trannies typically had the usual wear on the first gear part of the cluster gear.....no synchro here, so the teeth are frequently worn away where the slider gear hit everytime the previous owner pulled it into first gear before the car was stopped. Now, you have a little less meat on the first gear teeth....both on the cluster gear AND on the sliding gear. Line 'er up at the track.....or gun the engine out of the local drive-in hamburger joint.....side-step the clutch at high rpms, and.....VOILA! No more first gear! Crummy Ford transmission! Piece of junk! (nevermind that millions of these transmissions have performed quite well for Ford owners all those years). Off to the local salvage yard to pull ANOTHER USED TRANSMISSION! Now the process repeats itself again. Some guys were savvy enough (and had the cash) to buy new gears for their ******, and became pretty adept at changing them out. They stood a better chance of achieving some life out of the old box than the other guys. But in the long run, it boils down to the fact that you were running a gearbox that was designed for 85 to perhaps 150hp tops, behind a more powerful engine, and kicking the living hell out of it every weekend. I think the old toploaders of 1939 (and the open-drive cousin Ford used up thru 1951 in the pickup trucks) were not bad transmissions. Built properly and set up with the correct tolerances, it will probably outlast you and me these days, with average driving techniques. It represents the low cost transmissions used in those days, and is a blast to shift, not to mention that you keep the history correct when you build your car with it. Mac VanPelt www.flatheadv8.com www.cl***ictransmission.com
I wholeheartedly agree with this. I tore up Ford transmissions in a bunch of old Fords. In fact I spent Thanksgiving Day '57 changing out one in a '32 3 window coupe I had only bought a few days before. All it took was a hard shift from 1st to 2nd and that little 24 stud '40 engine (85 hp) ripped the teeth off the cluster gear where it meshes with the main drive gear. This is a constant mesh at that point in the trans, so it wasn't a missed shift. I could go on and on with similar incidents, but in a nutshell, if you're gonna drive it "enthusiastically" and the engine is bigger than a stock flathead, use a stronger trans to start with. You won't regret it! Dave
better off trying to find a side shifter 3 speed out of a mid 60's ford.Those old ******s are terrible. And alot of times when they go your stuck on the side of the road!!hard to look "cool" then!!lol jimv
I shreaded one a week in '59 being easy on it. Like they say above, let the clutch out then jump on t. Well, sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Today I row a T3550. Different car, same type Y block.
Use the old Ford trans only if: a.) You have a virtually unlimited supply of replacements. b.) You are willing to become an expert at said replacements.
Back in 59 I was running a 49 Olds. in my 37 Ford with the 37 ******. Went through 1 ****** a week even stuffed 48 Merc. gears in the box and still blew ****** in half.
An old trick is to make up an extra long brake hose and give it extra loop, so's you don't have to bleed the brakes everytime you swap the ******.
Used up every early Ford transmission within 40 miles of my folks place the first 6 months I had my '29 AV8 on the road in 1960. Of course I don't remember ever abusing anything on that car. A 16 year old kid with a hot rod has never done anything but drive in a safe sane manner in my experience. Frank
I go with the do not use group. I had a '51 Ford lead sled in early 60's for Sr. year of HS. Went thru a ****** per month or so. Mainly would have 2nd gear go out with stock motor. Couple times from uh, err, rapid acceleration. Three times from just shifting into 2 gear. Earl
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