She was making some evil grinding sounds that would come and go. Not good. Yup-- Time for a rebuild. Little did I know the transmission had NEVER been out of the car-- The original 1939 transmission, still working, crusted in place. Rusty helped me remove it and Baron von Mike was there to help me take it all apart--- bit by bit. Bolts were rusted solid, and the crud was so thick that my******* laughed at the pressure washer (I'm sure my neighbors must love the chunks of solidified grease on the street). Never have I seen filth so thick and stubbord; I ended up hand scrubbing each part and piece with a gasket scraper, toothbrush and carb cleaner. Parts are ordered- I'm finally ready for rebuild.
I'm gearing up (with all 26 teeth...) for a lengthy '39 trans article...still figgering out pictures. Some starting points are on a recent post "39 trans prices". A cleaning trick I found--I took one apart so gears could be cleaned by ordinary solvent method, and of course found case like yours filthy enough that no one woud want it soiling their hot tank. Bought some Home depot swill with green in the name, enough to fill a garbage can when diluted to spec didn't cost much. Lye seemed to be the basic ingredient. I just lowered the case into that stuff on a wire, left it for two weeks with an occasional jiggle of the wire, and it came clean...or at least down to the rust. The lye based stuff ate everything on the metal very thoroughly. A good derusting solution is my next experiment...
Hey Jive, how do like driving with the 39 trans? Is it manual? I'm asking cause in my 40 merc I have the orig trans (auto) behind a 57 283. I did buy a 60's powerglide to replace the trans but I'm rethinking since some folks still run their orig ford/merc trans like Verne hammond. And last, where to get these replacement parts? Thanks. Any changes made to the Merc? Ken
Mart, you beat me to the question. Was there a hand full of brass "chips" in the bottom of the case? When my top shifter "went south" I found the syncro drum rings (brass) had been totaly chewed up. (to many "speed shifts!" ) From what I can see in the picture; the syncro drums look OK.
I'm about a third the way into creating a How-To book on these old Ford 3 speed toploaders. Bruce.... I have most of the pics already done, but still a few to do. Do you want to collaborate on this or should I continue to move ahead on my own? You can email me at Fortyfordguy@yahoo.com...... Mac VP
Oh, hell-a yeah!..I have to rebuild my 39' too. Sludgy w/ rust, brown muck in it. Keep us posted....Im all over this thread for the info.
The noise source? I suspect the main shaft bearings at the front and and rear of the case were starting to go--everything else internal looked pretty good. The real culprit: My u joint was about 85% worn out-- I'll post pics, but its amazing this thing didn't grenade on my road trip to the Primer Nationals in Sept. Its so worn that one of the "C" shaped ears the bearing sits in, is now an "L" shape! Bruce L. and FourtyFord- If I can help w/ pics while my trans is apart, please let me know. 53 Chevy- All stock 39 - 51 Fords and Mercury's were Manual trans, as far as I know- Some have O/D solenoids, but they were still stick shift. All the parts are very much available from the bearings and syncros to the gears and shafts. Not really expensive either- I think all my rebuild parts were $100 total. The U joint was another $100. Kirk and Yorg-- Beeotchs! Go work on your cars!!! =-)
I'm not doing anything nearly so elaborate...I'm putting together a fairly lengthy HAMB post, nothing intended for paper publication! I'm going to cover ID of parts at the flea market, figuring out what you need to fit a particular Ford, R&R of innards. I'm hoping to drag in others for sources of good modern bearings. I'll cover some neat olde tech I have found, too--blueprinting for strength, drag race gear mods, and an old roadracers full synchro conversion...the latter not a full on tech, but enough info to get people thinking. Will also cover some pointers on Ford books for full detail parts ID and basic overhaul. Several pages of Yak, but not a book!
There are lots of obviously worn components we found as we took this thing apart. - U-joint (shown) - Front and rear mains were not smooth - All internal roller bearings were severly worn out 60 years of use without even an oil change (ok, at least a very rare oil change) can do this. It was sludge city in there. Can't believe Jay got that thing so clean. Guess we'll take photos of the rebuild tonight. Mike
Mike's right-- I forgot about the balding syncros and the toasted needle bearings. Well- At least the gears are o.k.!
A few months back I purchased a 31 Sport Coupe with 39 running gear that was built in the 60's. It sat for many many years before me. The car came with a 283 that was not good and a spare 283 out of a 63 Nova that had some serious work(hot rodded) done to it. After switching motors, rebuilding the brakes, and replaceing the wireing, I fired her up. Motor sounded strong so took a few passes around the block. Very strong!******* made no noise, but when I pulled the drain plug, mostly water ran out. Obviously, had to pull the trans., and proceeded to take the top off and look in side. Didn't look too bad, until I disassembled it. Some minor pitting on the gears but the bearings looked good. Then I got to the lower cluster. Large tooth chip missing on first gear. Someone mentioned inexpensive parts. Anyone got a line on an inexpensive replacement cluster? Trying to get her put back together for Paso.
I just acquired a couple of early V8 transmissions... going into a project of mine. Bruce gave me some good info... found out they are '34 and '37 transmissions. They are grungy... and in need of a rebuild... so an article would be mui-helpfull! Sam.
We finished putting it back together at about 1 AM! Lots of pics were taken but it may take a while to sort them out.
Bruce and all.....what I am working on will end up in book format. Probably spiral bound so you can lay it flat. I've been rebuilding these for a few years, so I have a lot of "show and tell" to include. These were actually pretty decent trannies. Their reputation for blowing had more to do with slapping a much more powerful engine in front and the excited driver flogging it hard. The biggest problem I see with them is absolute cruddy, nasty grease inside from years of neglect. Plus the typical worn/chipped first gear side of the cluster gear. I'm not of the "Fix whats broke" and slap it together school, so I will be explainin' the whole process from tear down, cleanup, and reassembly. I like to be able to eat off 'em when I'm done! Anyway, the book/manual is worked on most evenings now, and is starting to come together. I'll let everyone know when it's finished. Mac VP
Help I have a 39 trany in my 32 unsynked first gear got in a jam in traffic and have to force into first gear grinding and heard a pop sound now shifts fine but a grinding noise when under power quiet when sitting still shifting through gears help please popped top off everything looks fine inside
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