This week i'm gonna check out a car I like to buy to buy. It's a 1937 ford coupe with a fresh flatty , dual carb setup 1939 trans and a Columbia 2 speed rear end. I love to hear some real life experiences with a setup like this in traffic , long trips and riding around town. The experience I've had with cars. -I had a fenderless deuce sedan with flatty and 39 trans before ( 4 cilinder rear end) and didn't like the highway rpm's. I have a 46 coupe with a 59ab and 46 trans and it is ok but since it is a heavy car and you need to make a full stop to put it in first and second gear is to high to get it going from a rolling start it is not so easy in busy traffic. My fenderless 1930 roadster is a flatty with t5 trans and 1940 rear end , this car is very useful in all kind of traffic , highway and backroads. Can I expect the 37 coupe with the 2 speed rear end to be as useful as my roadster ? I ready love to use my cars on long and short trips.
I have cars very similar to yours. 1937 Ford coupe, stock 59a flathead, twin 97 cards, headers, 39 trans, 4:11 rear, 16” tires. Has plenty of pep to drive this car around town and with the overdrive it cruises on the highway in overdrive (2.97) drive ratio. Plenty of power to drive highway speeds. Only use the overdrive after 50mph. You have to have the car moving to use the overdrive and there is a delay in rearend shifting. Doesn’t lend itself to driving in town. The 39 1st gear synchro allows for rolling shifts in town. Don’t drive it if heavy traffic is expected because I still have the mechanical brakes. Used to drive it to work, and did many multi-day trips on the highway over 350-1,000 mile trips. More comfortable ride compared to my roadster. 17mph on the highway I also have a 29 roadster, no fenders, blown Flathead (285hp), aluminum flywheel, 10inch clutch, t5 trans (2.95 first gear, close ratio gear set), 4:11 trac locl rear, 16” dirt track tires, 12” juice brakes. Very fun car around town and on the highway.
Any 39 style trans is going to require a stop before downshifting to first, unless maybe you double-clutch. Doesn’t matter what rearend is behind it or the ratio. So, no it won’t drive like your T5 car just because it has a Columbia.
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