'53 truck rearend or trans swap?

I just got this 1953 Chevy 3100 that's in pretty solid condition. My biggest concern is that it's such a dog at 45 mph. The motor feels like it's taching out at around 4000 at normal driving speeds. It's got the 325 with the (I'm ***uming) original 3 speed with L gear manual transmission. I want to be able to drive this truck on the freeway. Would changing the gears in the rear end fix this or should I swap out the ****** and add another gear or two?

 

What's L gear?? Is it a four speed truck trans or a regular 3 speed? If it's the four speed, 45 is about it. 325? Do you mean 235?
Add another gear or two?? How do you plan on doing that? Open the trans and just toss them in?.
Your problem is the rear end gearing. It's probably too low for freeway driving. Swap it out for a higher set. If you do have the four speed, lose it also. They're big, heavy, noisy, clunky and generally unsuited for a daily driver

 

I agree - swapping the gears in the rear axle would be the quickest and easiest way to go. However, if thinking about another transmission, look into the t5. Pretty easy swap & lots of information here on how to go about that. Good luck!

 

My apologies, I meant 235. It's a 4 speed, basically 3 speed with the granny gear (L). I was talking about swapping out the transmission that's in it with a 5 speed transmission (that would be adding another gear)

 

How can you do that without swapping out the rearend?

 

You can't. But it would be nice...(it wouldn't, really.)

 

Hold on, I'm lost. are you saying that you can't swap out the transmission unless you change the gears in the rear diff also?
Please keep in mind guys that I'm still green when it comes to modifying these old vehicles...

 

You need to swap out the rear to an open drive line as well as changing the transmission.

 

That truck, with the original drive train, has a torque tube rear end with an enclosed drive shaft. You'll see a solid tube leading to the rear end with a pivot ball enclosure at the back of the ******. Yes, you can switch JUST the rear end gears (Patrick's makes a 3.55 set), but that will get you 60mph at best. That ****** ****s. Your best bet is to swap in a '55 - '57 Chevy rear end with 3.70 gears (4.11 will work as well), and a T-5. To do so, you will have to get new rear leaf springs/hangers/mounts, and relocate the perches on the rear end to match the width of the leaf springs. I believe Ch***is Engineering makes a kit. You'll also have to have a driveshaft fabricated to fit.

If you get a T5, you will have to either use an S10 T-5 pre 1987 or earlier (for a mechanical speedo drive), or get a T5 out of a Camaro and bolt on an S10 T5 tail housing (kinda hard to find). With an S10 T5 you will need an adaptor plate, as the input shaft is about 5/8 to long. A Camaro T5 will bolt right in. You will also have to move the cross member, and get a shifter. The Camaro T5 from a V8 application has the most favorable gear ratios, V6 Camaros not so much, although they're still decent, the worst are 4cyl S10 T5s. The first gear is so low as to be almost unusable.

If you can't find a '55 - '57 Chevy rear, many folks use an S10 rear (believe from a 4wd), or an early Camaro/Nova rear.

This covers about 70% of what you have to do. There's the clutch issue to be sorted out, but that's not that big of a deal.

I've done this switch twice, and have been VERY happy with the results. You can actually USE the truck on modern roads, and it's fun to drive. Worth the time, effort, and expense, IMHO.

PM if you need more detail.

Chris

 

Thank you, that really helps.

 

What Barsteel said. And yes, if an S10 rear, it MUST be a 4x4 unit. The 2wd ones are several inches narrower. Too narrow to be used in this application.

 

One thing that the guys forgot to tell you is that the rear axles they suggested all have 5 on 4-3/4 bolt pattern so you would have 5 lug wheels with that setup on the rear. You could put 54 Car drums, hubs and backing plates on the front to match and have 5 lug all around but that adds to the work.

The main thing is to get it set up so that it runs down the road at road speeds with a comfortable rpm for the engine.

 

Has anyone tried using a 12 bolt rear from a mid to late 70s truck?

 

It will be too wide.

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Use a 44 out of an old wagoneer. 6 lugs and right width. Several years ago I did this swap to make AD 4x4's and used early wagoneer for the whole drivetrain.


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Good luck with your AD 3100. I love those trucks. Lots of them have been modified with different rear ends, trans and engines. Use the search feature of this site as well as visiting http://stovebolt.com.
Your truck originally had a 216, not a 235, and 4.11 rear gears. It may have a 235 now as lots of things can happen in 60 years.
Oh, and once you get it to go faster, how are you going to steer it and stop it? You can easily overdrive the handling and braking ability of the original truck.

 

Waggy Dana 44. That would work well, of you can locate one.

 

The first gear is so low as to be almost unusable.

 

Frank, I've noticed that the 216 has already been swapped out with a 235 date coded 1960 (I believe). I'm budgeting for a power disk brake upgrade but was contemplating just rebuilding the steering. If I did that would she be safe on the freeway?

 

What year wagoneer for the dana 44 should I look for?

 

Not sure on the Dana 44 but you still have a bolt pattern problem. You have to remember that several of the suggestions were only for rear axles that were the correct width and had decent gear ratios readily available.

I have put a 56 open drive pickup rear axle under a 53 pickup along with the 56 235 and three speed trans. You do have to use a pair of spring pads to put the axle on top of the springs rather than under it. The gear ratio issue is still there though but the truck I did it on carries a camper on it full time that was built for the truck.

 

It has been awhile. I think late 60's, early 70's. Ask some jeep guys. The last one I did was 18 years ago and as I recall we didn't use the jeep V-8 but we used the th400 that came in it.

 

Wagoneer will have the correct bolt pattern.

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I'm budgeting for a power disk brake upgrade but was contemplating just rebuilding the suspension and steering. If I did that would she be safe on the freeway?

 

I put a 12-bolt mid 70s 4x4 under my 51. Only about 1 1/2 inches wider than stock and it had the same stock 6 lug pattern. 3.42 gears. Also put in t5 from an 86 Camaro.
You can see details in my thread.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=672888&highlight=51+chevy+3100&page=3

 

Did the '53 still have a torque tube even with the 4-speed?

I helped covert a '54 rear axle over to something newer many years back. We used a rear out of a later ('68-70) Chevy pickup or panel truck. The width was perfect. I made new mounting perches out of square tubing and a little milling work. The transmission was replaced by a 3-speed that came out of the same donor truck.

Measure up your existing rear, axle flange to axle flange and go out picking. I would join an old truck forum, those guys have done it all.

Bob

 

the 3100's did Bob. I'm thinking up through 67 is still the narrow rear axle and GMC trucks had leaf springs on the rear rather than the coil springs that most all Chevy trucks had from 60 though 72. I think the Truck rears got wider in 69.

 

Depends on what you want to wind up with. You can put a Saginaw 4 speed in place of the original transmission and you can put 3,55 gears in the original torque tube. It gets you to 65 Mph pretty easy

 

^^^^^How are you going to hook the Sag to the torque tube?

 

I've always heard you could put the 55 up pumpkin in 47-53 housing.
I never could find any info, except this thread,

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9252420#post9252420