What's better for the street? It seems the quickchange would be easier to find with all the repopping going on. Columbias' are the next 32s' price-wise.
quick change is the best . coloumbias are too much and they need a lot of looking after . give me a quick change any day . looks better
Just the other day i was thinking to myself that the Columbia hardly ever gets a mention anymore on the hamb.
Columbias are for restorers to run with stock engines. They are expensive and not strong enough for the power output of a hot engine. Quick changes were built for racing hot rods.
A bit of advice about Q/Cs..... Halibrands, CAE's and other old school quickies command high dollars if complete and replacement parts are also expensive. Were it me, I'd look for a steel tube Frankland or Winters preferrably with a locker rather than a spool. These rears are obsolete for circle burning (too heavy), so you might find one on the very cheap. These rears generally sell in the $300 range at most, all parts between the two are interchangable and can be bought from any circle track supplier. Also, stay away from a Jones Q/C no matter how good of a deal it is. Nothing is interchangable between a Jones and the other two and the replacement parts situation is iffy. Good luck! Jan
I say go with the Halibrand. I've been running them for a long,long time. They'll handle a lot more torque than the Columbia 2-speed. You get what you pay for. You buy a $300.00 obsolete rearend and in a couple of years you've got a $320.00 obsolete rearend. Buy the aluminum Halibrand for $1200.00-$1800.00 and in a couple of years you've got a $2200.00 rearend. I've got a buddy that will sell you 2 Halibrand champ center sections for $400.00 . That's for 2 of them ,plus shipping........just my opinion...Mike... hemifarris@aol.com
I don't know about all that. Obviously you haven't priced columbia's ($300? LOL!) Next, with all the repoping going on I think the quickchange prices are probably leveling off while the die hards are still paying top dollar for the old columbia stuff out there. That said, the halibrand is more "hot rod". You can't shift on the fly, but you have a vitually unlimited selection of gears. Keep in mind, if you have a spring behind the axle the quickchange will not easily fit where the columbia probably will.
Quote "I've got a buddy that will sell you 2 Halibrand champ center sections for $400.00 . That's for 2 of them ,plus shipping" end quote Sold, sent you an email...
Using your term ,"obviously", you need to re-read my post and the "quote" that I based my response on. I ,in fact ,never referred to a Columbia 2 speed as a $300.00 piece. The person, whose quote I used,was talking about an obsolte Winters or Frankland.Sooooo,you "obviously" need to try to absorb what you're reading before you start putting words into my mouth. I'm 61years old and have run both Halibrand and Columbias.How many have you run? I've been running a Halibrand in my roadster for about 15 years and it's bulletproof. I could never say that about my Columbia. I just sold the Columbia out of my '36 Phaeton.......The Columbias are selling to restorers as opposed to hot rodders....P.S..the next time you speak with Brucie, from the Jersey Shore, ask him if he thinks I'm a ********ter.My name is Mike Farris from Troy,Michigan......
I'd say run a Quickchange! No doubt about it. They work great and are easy to maintain. I run a Columbia 2-speed in my Merc now, but hey... it's a kustom, not a hot rod...
Mike, thanks, bought both center sections. Will use for B'ville car that is in my future plans... By the way, I just put a nice Columbia in my 40 Ford pickup, works *****en, looks cool, all good. Dan K. in Temecula, CA beefs them up a bit so they can handle some additional HP. I can provide his # for anyone considering a Columbia.
I loooove my quickie. Mine is the big *** Frankland style. Maybe not as pretty as the Halibrand, but it will take all the power I can put to it and not complain.
And how about the grand unification theory answer... Currently unavailable, but whyinhellnot?? Two speed quickies once roamed the earth! Halibrand made 2 speed champ rears at one time, I think I saw a pic of one in a circa 1960's HRM. It simply subs***uted for a transmission to get the Indycar out of the pits and back into high. Might've been an early rear engined car right after the Lotus invasion, which would make a lot of sense in packaging since a conventional trans would not fit. And--I found an ad in a '52 HRM last night for a two-speed V8 type rear from a small manufacturer. Seems like something that could be cobbled from a fairly simple casting, some elaborate but low tech shaft machining, and two sets of change gears. I believe the early ones were dog-clutch kinds of things not meant to be used for rapid shifting, but just having two readily available ratios would be absolutely great. If they were to be made anew, seems like it would be as easy to include a synchro as a dog clutch... It wouldn't be easy, but it is certainly doable with less than NASA grade facilities. Think of a two-speed caboose ready to bolt onto your QC! The other route...get the quick change, then after the divorce and lengthy economic recover put a Mitchell into the torque tube.
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