im looking at all the logical trans swaps and wanting to keep it traditional , i know its only a matter of time before i hurt my 3sp even though its fresh, i like the idea of the Packard seems close ratio ,gears twice the size of the ford and has overdrive(r-11 i believe is the better od), i know that a top shift from a earlier one can be fitted to a side shift one and even have a copy of a advertisement for a retrofitted ford top plate to the Packard trans , seems to be lots of the internals on ebay for these , what i wanna know is ive heard rumors but cant verify if the latter trans has a synchronized 1st ( deal closer) anyone have any experience with this what specific trans is best , seems they are out there as well as the adapters , i am interested in this for traditional reasons and have no intrest in a modern trans , please guide me if you can , ive searched here for a while and the ford barn and have only found small bits here and there and technical but no swap info on the packard forums , my car is my fathers car i have gotten it on the road and is a seriouly traditional north east style 27 tudor ,, any wisdom , will be greatly appreciated fabricator john miss you dad
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/transmission-id.1049447/#post-11900578 An old HAMB thread may assist?
Here is some info. Seems to be a ton of adapters floats around. Technical - Mating a 38 Packard transmission to 8BA | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) 1937 Packard transmission set up for 8ba | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) Technical - Why Old '35-'38 Packard 3-Spds. Don't Suck...Gear Porn | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) Dragster Packard Transmission | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) 39 Packard Trans behind Ardun | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) Interested in use of Packard transmissions | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
I think that syncronized first gear first appeared on Fords in 1964 which is sometime after Packard went under. What do you have against a later trans?
FWIW, while the R-11 is the better o/d, a flathead won’t hurt an R-10 unless you make a serious effort. That makes a lot more transmissions a possibility. I don’t think any “traditional” transmissions have a Syncro first, as stated above.
Check the Hamb Classifieds. That three speed Ford transmission that I mentioned earlier is in an ad posted by Koz mounted to a Pontiac engine with tri-power. According to his ad, he is willing to separate them and the transmission has a Jeep shifter top attached to it.
The Packard transmissions did not have synchromesh in 1st gear. Yes, the R11 overdrive is better than the R9. Also, fitting a Packard top shifter (pre-39) to your later transmission will require modifying the shifter forks. Go to PackardInfo.com for more on this. Many knowledgeable folks there ready to share their knowledge and experience.
I used to run a Packard box in my '50 Olds. No synchro first for sure. If you put a floor shift cover on a side shift box without any mods, the synchro balls will pop out.
man ,,, this is what im lookin for ,, you guys keep it comin ,, thank you for all the link's the car i have my pop started and i have on the road now , has helped me considerably dealing with his passing been 2 years ,, he was building this one as the car my grandfather wouldn't let him have when he was in high school he graduated in '57 so for me thats the build year , plus i have a great love for the traditional always have . packard trans makes sense to me , as i will be going nuts with the next short block , and overdrive is a plus ,i am a fabricator and can handle a simple rebuild and top plate adaption ,, , they held up to the overheads so i doubt ill break it ,, heres my hero ,, ive made a few small changes since then but in the name of keeping it traditional , its that north east style ,heavy z'd , now all i gotta do is start getting together all the pieces ,, anybody got stashes under their benches ? really love thet hidelbrandt adapter , found a trend yearbook with some details in it about the packard too , didnt know i had it ..lol keep any info coming ,, fabricator john miss you dad
Gofannon yes exactly that , thats a beautifull casting that should be put to use!!! (searching) first time i saw a pic of one i was like yes yes yes fabricator john miss you dad
Normally I'd question the "why" when it comes to running an odd ball piece like the Packard trans rather than something a bit more wallet friendly and stronger but post 9 pretty well tells the whole Why story. Also remembering that that was pretty common in the little book days.
John, Depending on the Packard input shaft length have you considered making an adapter plate to a more common Mercury or Ford clutch housing? Maybe not as traditional as a cast housing adapter but sometimes the only thing traditional that tips off an old build is a jagged OA-cut part. Just spitballing. D
I really don't get it. You want a Packard transmission but say that a non-synchro first gear is a deal closer. We tell you that they are all non synchro first gear but you persist. Driving a car without first gear synchro is not that big a deal. Just come to a complete stop before engaging first. I have suggested a fairly old kind of traditional transmission with the first gear option you want. You also want overdrive and a top shifter too from a transmission that is all but made of unobtanium. Stop looking at those old magazine articles about Packard and Cad-Lasalle transmissions. In the real world, get a t-5. Top gear is an overdrive and it does have a top shifter. I think that the best plan would be to just use the transmission that your father has already put in the car.
after being a restorer for 30yrs and doing all of the latest trick of the week stuff 5.0's ,tpi, Lt's , LS's ,hemis and coyote's , in my personal life im heavily traditional and love year/era builds no matter what era, i work on enough confused cars daily , for me this is the plan and just want all my nuts bolts n screws strait before i have to buy/swap/scrounge parts twice ,, i have a strong refusal to pull car funds from the family budget so im very carefull with parts selection , and love old speed parts fabricator john miss you dad
OK so after long term research a lil blood sweat and tears , im still working on this ,, i have finally scored a top shifter ( 35-38 , 6 & small 8 ) needle in haystack stuff , need to modify one fork to go onto a later side shift box , i have one late trans already but its a non OD and a large input shaft from a big car but i got it thru swappy trady ,so it will go back out the same way ,, what i really need is either the hildabrandt 56-7 or the Offenhauser 3641 ideally ,, this will allow me to keep my pedal assembly and keep things simple ,, any leads suggestions help or kind words will be appreciated ,,,john miss you dad
We get you, John. And yes, that the Offy and Hildebrandt adapters exist is proof using the Packard tranny behind the flathead Ford was a thing. Go for it and keep posting! jack vines
Normally I would laud the pros of using a later transmission, but I think it's great that you are honoring your father by trying to stay traditional with the car he drove and passed on to you !
I haven't driven an overdrive 3 speed in about 50 years, but if I remember correctly, low gear being un-synchronized is not a problem. If I remember correctly, the overdrive itself allows the trans to be shifted into low gear without significant grinding. I had an overdrive in my '65 Fairlane three speed with the 289 2 brl. I dearly loved that setup but burnouts were a little hard on the roller clutch/planetary arrangement. Passing gear was great when kicking down out of overdrive. Al Hook
yeah staying 100% period build , the car and i have been through alot ,oil pressure was steadily creeping down and i had collected heads cam{ 400jr) and intake but it turned into a full build took nearly 2 yrs as things escalated,, now .060 over, mild port n polish ,crank turned and balanced ,, (sombody had forgot to knock out the welsh plugs on the rod journals and clean the oil galleys for the rods rod bearings went to crap) , i tapped for pipe plugs before balancing ,, new french rods,arp nuts , clevite 77 bearings arp main bolts , had friend cut cam gear so i could deegree it , hollow lifters ,zephyr springs had to turn down sb ford retainers to get spring heights right ,under intake pcv , as much love as i could throw at it parts scrounged everywhere ,, navarro race model intake ,sharp 8.1 heads . mallory YB dual point etc ,,, runs like stink im real happy was a learning curve .allwork done by me and all parts scrounged im no "checkwriter" pop had built flatty many many in the 80s-90s but now im on my own . , anways keeping eyes on the prize ,,, need a adapter and a late OD trans and all this will happen ,, fabricator john ,, miss you dad
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