Columbia rear

[johnny]

what price should a columbia rear that is unknown, re the year ,the condition inside and with no controls ,and average price.Thanks all

[richard crow]

if you can,t see the inside 10.00 there are parts in there that if broken are not reproduced if you can,t inspect it don,t buy it unless you don,t mind the posablety of looseing money

[4dFord/SC]

Personally, I wouldn't pay anything for a unit I knew so little about.

[Terry,OH]

johnny: The early style 35 and the 35-36 are in demand. The internal parts are available, but not for the early 35, they have to be changed over to the better and later internals. The later style post war units are not worth as much as the pre war. Learn the difference (mountings for the rear radius rods) and check the unit to see if it shifts and rotates before buying. The Columbia was used on other cars beside the Ford, know what the Ford unit looks like. If your going to put a lot of work into modifying a post war to fit a pre war take this into account.

[richard crow]

i will say it again there are certain parts that are nor reproed ask the man in ca that rebuilds them. as for the housing you can have the end you need put on the housing there are several men that offer this service it,s not that expensive do not buy a pig in the poke .

[G.M.]

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Take the shift cylinder off and shift by hand to see if it shifts and turns. The lever towards the center of the rear is in Columbia and the lever toward the wheel is out. Just remember in is in and out is out. Working it' worth at least $1,000 regardless of the year. G.M.

[jimTN]

GM has it right. Late models an easily be adapted to early (32-4), it is just a matter of money for the machine work. I have seen the various parts on ebay during the last year several times including the "hard to find parts". IMHO the Columbia is vastly superior to other types of additional gearing because the Ford version was engineered for Fords to begin with.

[32phil]

IMHO every used Columbia is a "core". Most have minor damage and all need to be "bulletproofed". Presently there are several guys offering that service. Cliff Helling did mine. Start to finish from acquisition to installation a Columbia will run $3.5K - $5K. Later units can be modified for earlier applications. Check around with several rebuilder guys as to their willingness to do that mod.

[johnny]

Thank you all for your very good information .there is a bit of a story to this unit. The principle died ,the wife knows nothing about it ,and it is a good two days drive from home to there, it's in SD.and I am in Ontario Canada I suspect it was out of a 40 year car. all for now Johnny.

[joel]

I started with a "pig in a Poke" unit that was for a 46/48 Ford. It took 4 days to get it apart. There was heavy rust on the ring and pinion and on one of the 3 gears inside of the planetary unit. The shift mechanism was frozen, but after about a week I got it apart and the vacuum chamber is rebuildable. I cut up some stock Ford parts to save the passenger side bell, which is the Columbia piece and contains most of the Columbia specific parts. The rest of the rear is stock Ford and all you need is a donor rear end. By the time I get this rebuilt, I'll have $1000 to $1200 in it with no controls. I got all the parts I needed from Columbia 2 Speed parts including the the damaged gear (used) for the planetary. The inspection advice is good; if you're a gambler, maybe $300/$500 with out taking it apart. I traded an old dirt bike ($400) for mine.

[4dFord/SC]

Originally Posted by johnny

Thank you all for your very good information .there is a bit of a story to this unit. The principle died ,the wife knows nothing about it ,and it is a good two days drive from home to there, it's in SD.and I am in Ontario Canada I suspect it was out of a 40 year car. all for now Johnny.

FYI, all of the 37-41 controls are being reproduced, except for the speedometer adapter. Fortunately, the same Stewart-Warner unit was also used with truck underdrives, and can be converted for overdrive use by reversing the internal gears. The truck units occasionally appear on eBay. IMHO, once you've had overdrive, you'll never want to go back.