If your car is stock, you've got 4.11 gears. A '53-'54 rear from a stick shift car would have 3.70s, and one from a PG car would have 3.55s. Either one would help out your cruising speed.
It's funny that I learned to drive on a three speed on the column almost fifty years ago but I can't upload a photo on this website to save my ****. Different technology.
If you want to learn to upload pictures, PM me. I am really dumb on a computer, but I have learned to do it and will walk you through it. Don
It was done when I bought it...57 235, rebuilt 10 yrs ago...57 trans.. "I think he said"...the 51 driveshaft... 1950 rear end...when I got it ..It was pretty much a roller... the interior was complete.. but a barn pull...He bought a 50..4 door...and a 51...2 door....The 50 four door had the motor and trans in it...plus the rear end... of course the drive shaft was to long...so he used the 51 shaft... put all that into this 51... and some other parts as well. Then s****ped the 4 door..It started and drove off the trailer and into the garage... BUT...he was kinda a half ***..so Im very cautious at the point before I try to really cruise this thing..until I really research all the correct fluids..Ect. I don't wanna tear it up..when I could have prevented it... I ***ume he would just throw any fluid in the trans and rear end...just to get it sold... I got it for 2300.00 delivered...and have put 2500.00 in it this winter.. all labor by me...I've been through it top to bottom..new fuel tank..brake system..ect... any advice you have would be great... next step is to set valve gaps..and try to figure out the Vacuum advance / Distributor / Timing... and The carb needs a makeover. runs rich and vacuum,Im sure is off too....I think its off the 51 or 50's original motor.. It ****s but I'm tapped out on my budget.. so I cant get a new one yet.. After that we should be ready to roll...
That actually raises a good point...I wonder if the previous guy .. when he did the motor, trans, rear end swap... maybe the 50 he took it from was an Auto trans... It WAS a four door..so then probably had an Auto trans...Yes / No ..?? Also..I've been told putting in a 50 rear.. would be a better gear ration.. It appears I was misinformed..??
Hmm.. Now I'm wondering then.. what year the trans is.. It looks really good.. on the outside...Is there a way to date the trans by markings some where on it... without removing it...??
IDing the trans is super simple...if you can see the driveshaft with it's U-joints and watch it move, the trans/rearend is 1955 or newer. If the driveshaft is a stationary tube that is bolted to the rear axle and the back of the transmission, [actual driveshaft is inside this tube] ****** and rear axle is 54 and earlier. A 1955 and later trans won't work with a 54 and earlier rear axle....comepletely different because of the "torque tube" used through 1954.
Dude, you drive Semis and you couldn't find first gear on a column shifter and you didn't even notice you were starting in second?
Dude.. Yeah... It actually ran out of second great.. that's why I thought it was 1st..I'd think it would try to stall out starting in second..
My Studebaker has a 3 on the tree and overdrive. The 289 is torquey enought to pull away from a stoplight in 2nd..and the O/D works in 2nd and 3rd, so i'll drive her around town like a 2 speed powerglide..just stick it in 2nd and leave it. I taught my wife to drive 3 on the column last year. Teresa is in her early forties, and has driven standards since she was 16, but never on the column. Only problem we had was my 7 year old in the back claiming she was going to be sick as we went in circles around the middle school parking lot...she was just in a hurry to get the "lesson" finished so we could go to ChikFila for shakes.
all the trans will have direct 1-1 in 3rd gear so won't change the cruise rpm. That's all in the rear gear ratio. rear ratios per factory manual - no mention of overdrive http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1949_53/04rear/4_14.HTM http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1949_53/07trans/7_002.HTM http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/
It's probably the first time he has ever come in contact with a column shift three speed. Us old farts grew up with them and watched who ever was driving shift through the gears from a very age and knew how to shift the gears long before we knew how to drive a car.
for OP- http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/viewitem/imgSoldCvi_96x96.png Before 1957 or so that was all any US p***enger car had. As a young teen walking the halls between cl***es I'd carry my books under my left arm so I could practice that H pattern. Probably made some Jenkins/Sox facial expressions as well. OMG! What if I made engine and tire squealing noises too! That kind of behavior is probably in part why Paula Lewis stood me up after she said she go to the Strawberry Alarm Clock concert with me ( still had the unused ticket in a drawer a few years ago.) Adding a 4 speed knob to your 3 speed floor shift conversion was a popular "upgrade" for some, kind of like those mufflers that are popular today (although I seem to sense that is starting to decline around here.) My high school car was a clapped out MGA, so had a 4 speed for real. The hallway practice was put to good use.
Snooping around some it looks like Chevy had freewheeling in the 30s, but no OD until 1955. Surprising.
When Crissie and I were dating I was driving an Austin Healey "bugeye". I rigged the steering wheel so that I could take it off when we were at the "submarine races".
The Jalopy Journal
