The Ford Barn

700rpm · 03-31-2011, 11:47 PM

I see where Sac.Vint.Ford is offering a complete transmission with new gears, seals and bearings. The gears are made in Denmark. Other suppliers are offering similar transmissions. Does anyone have any experience with one of these "new" transmissions?

Mike V. Florida · 04-01-2011, 12:36 AM

I think Model A times did an article on them and found them to work well.

Glenn C. · 04-01-2011, 08:43 AM

One of our Model A part suppliers cautioned me about using any of the gears made in Denmark, as supposidly they are not case hardened. They will not stock any gears unless they are made in the US.

BRENT in 10-uh-C · 04-01-2011, 09:05 AM

700rpm · 04-01-2011, 10:22 AM

Thank you, Brent. As always, good comments and great pictures. The difference is pretty clear. I'm going to order one and see what the current generation looks like.

Is there a way to determine whether the gears have been case hardened?

BRENT in 10-uh-C · 04-01-2011, 10:36 AM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 700rpm

Thank you, Brent. As always, good comments and great pictures. The difference is pretty clear. I'm going to order one and see what the current generation looks like.

Is there a way to determine whether the gears have been case hardened?

Umm probably by disassembly and checking them, ...but by then you likely risk voiding the warranty which the point is moot. If you don't mind me asking, what is your 'attraction' to this unit?

.

5window · 04-01-2011, 11:51 AM

(Oh, no! Not the damn Danes again? Next thing you know, it will be the Swedes, then Fins-before you know it, all our jobs will be in Scandinavia!) Okay, sorry.

Actually, Brent, those were very helpful and educational posts you made on the subject. Thank you.

1931 flamingo · 04-01-2011, 04:52 PM

Brent: After disecting and reassy and I assume installation, what conclusion did you come to? Yea or nah?
Paul in CT

Doug in NJ · 04-01-2011, 06:08 PM

Are the internal parts available separately? It seems sort of wasteful to design and manufacture a new case when there are so many perfectly good original casings lying around...

Doug

peters180a/170b · 04-01-2011, 06:38 PM

i don't know but was there a market for a complete tranny as Doug stated..? There are good orginial cases around [and cheap]..A complete rebuilt kit would of been better i would say.I have a friend Neil who bought one from Mikes parts and yet to install.

Greg Jones · 04-01-2011, 09:26 PM

I went out on a limb and bought one from another supplier (I think these must be made by the same outfit). If they are the same, I would not recommend. The housing is metallurgically not the same as it is a little bit brittle. Not confident in the gears. Get an original case and buy the USA made gears and parts and be done with it.

700rpm · 04-01-2011, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your 'attraction' to this unit?"

.

I don't mind at all. I'm here for help. The attraction was price and convenience. My trans is noisy in 1st and 2nd (and has been for almost 50 years). I'm replacing my engine this month and it seemed like a good time to trade out the noisy tranny. But as we all know, they aren't just an easy-out-easy-in job, so if I'm going to go with one of these "new" ones I don't want to have to take it out again in six months.

I would buy USA made gears and just rebuild it if I could find a reliable source for such gears. Any suggestions? I know it would cost more, but as with everything, you get what you pay for, and, again, I don't want to have to pull this thing apart in September.

Glenn C. · 04-02-2011, 09:37 AM

When you price out the parts, that you might need for the transmission seperatly, you are further ahead in the pocket to aquire the complete standard transmission.....but then again, you do not know about the quality of workmanship that went into the assembly.
The bearings the dealers are selling, are shielded bearings, not sealed bearings, as advertised. Thats why the list price is so cheap (Made in India)
IMHO if the bucks is not a problem, I would slide a few extra dollars together and purchase a Mitchell Syncromesh Transmission. That way you know you have a quality product with gears and assembly from USA. No double clutching though !

Loyd Nix · 04-02-2011, 09:45 AM

I sent my worn out transmission to Bratton's for rebuild and was happy with the result. Send them the case and the cast iron parts and they rebuild with all new US "innerds".

Russ/40 · 04-02-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Jones

I went out on a limb and bought one from another supplier (I think these must be made by the same outfit). If they are the same, I would not recommend. The housing is metallurgically not the same as it is a little bit brittle. Not confident in the gears. Get an original case and buy the USA made gears and parts and be done with it.

As a testament to the metallurgy of an original Ford case, I had my rebuilt transmission fall from a shelf that was 8 feet high, to the concrete floor, without a trace that it happened. Wheww

Robert · 04-02-2011, 04:00 PM

The new transmission is imported and assembled in house by Mike's "A" Fordable.The case and gears are made in Europe and to be more specific, the machine work is done in Denmark. It's a good product for the money.

Glenn of northport · 04-03-2011, 02:38 PM

I have 2 mitchell trans a lot easer to drive for my grandkids who only know auto trans this way i hope my cars will be used fora long time.

Special Coupe Frank · 04-03-2011, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 700rpm

Thank you, Brent. As always, good comments and great pictures. The difference is pretty clear. I'm going to order one and see what the current generation looks like.

Is there a way to determine whether the gears have been case hardened?

One way might be to try running a file across the gear - on a hardened gear, the gear will be untouched but the file will show "bright marks" where the ridges have been smoothed-over. At least this was my experience trying to remove some burrs /galls from some gears in a Dual-Matic overdrive for my '61 Jeep PU.

Otherwise, a good machine shop should have the equipment to determine whether or not a sample gear is hardened.

03-31-2011, 11:47 PM	#1
700rpm Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 5,909	"New" transmissions? Any comments? I see where Sac.Vint.Ford is offering a complete transmission with new gears, seals and bearings. The gears are made in Denmark. Other suppliers are offering similar transmissions. Does anyone have any experience with one of these "new" transmissions?

04-01-2011, 12:36 AM	#2
Mike V. Florida Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: South Florida Posts: 14,054	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? I think Model A times did an article on them and found them to work well. __________________ What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do some thing about them. - Henry Ford II

04-01-2011, 08:43 AM	#3
Glenn C. Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Didsbury Alberta Posts: 838	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? One of our Model A part suppliers cautioned me about using any of the gears made in Denmark, as supposidly they are not case hardened. They will not stock any gears unless they are made in the US.

04-01-2011, 09:05 AM	#4
BRENT in 10-uh-C Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Eastern Tennessee Posts: 11,521	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? While I cannot comment regarding where the transmission that Sac. Vintage Auto is manufactured, I was one of the individuals that received & tested one of the ten original ones that were sent here to be beta-tested several years ago. In the one I received, I am pretty sure the gears were manufactured in somewhere besides Denmark (India maybe??) and in the one I received, I was cautioned to check it out thoroughly before installation. Upon disassembly, I found it was missing one of the spacers. I have no idea on that one whether it would have caused any issues, but before we reassembled it, I took detailed pictures of that one and even compared it to the US manufactured gears. Again, I am not sure whether this is the same transmission manufacturer, nor do I know whether the quality has improved or worsened by the manufacturer who made the one I tested but maybe this would be a valuable piece to fill in the puzzle. Instead of posting the pictures here due to their large physical size, --and because I am too lazy to resize them, below is the URL links to my website where I hosted them back in January of '08. http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0295.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0296.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0297.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0298.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0299.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0300.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0301.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0302.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0303.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0304.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0305.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0306.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0307.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0308.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0309.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0310.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0312.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0313.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0314.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0315.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0316.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0317.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0318.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0319.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0320.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0321.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0322.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0323.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0324.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0325.jpg http://model-a-ford.com/TRANSMISSION/IMG_0326.jpg Again, you study the photographs and decide whether this helps you in your decision. . __________________ . BRENT in 10-uh-C . www.model-a-ford.com ...(...Finally Updated!! ) .

04-01-2011, 10:22 AM	#5
700rpm Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 5,909	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? Thank you, Brent. As always, good comments and great pictures. The difference is pretty clear. I'm going to order one and see what the current generation looks like. Is there a way to determine whether the gears have been case hardened?

04-01-2011, 11:51 AM	#7
5window Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisburg,PA Posts: 938	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? (Oh, no! Not the damn Danes again? Next thing you know, it will be the Swedes, then Fins-before you know it, all our jobs will be in Scandinavia!) Okay, sorry. Actually, Brent, those were very helpful and educational posts you made on the subject. Thank you.

04-01-2011, 04:52 PM	#8
1931 flamingo Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: new britain,ct 06052 Posts: 9,390	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? Brent: After disecting and reassy and I assume installation, what conclusion did you come to? Yea or nah? Paul in CT

04-01-2011, 06:08 PM	#9
Doug in NJ Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Princeton, NJ Posts: 965	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? Are the internal parts available separately? It seems sort of wasteful to design and manufacture a new case when there are so many perfectly good original casings lying around... Doug __________________ My '31 S/W sedan project:http://31ford.dougbraun.com My restoration diary: http://dougbraun.com/blog

04-01-2011, 06:38 PM	#10
peters180a/170b Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Putnam Valley N.Y. Posts: 2,151	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? i don't know but was there a market for a complete tranny as Doug stated..? There are good orginial cases around [and cheap]..A complete rebuilt kit would of been better i would say.I have a friend Neil who bought one from Mikes parts and yet to install.

04-01-2011, 09:26 PM	#11
Greg Jones Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Aiken, South Carolina Posts: 695	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? I went out on a limb and bought one from another supplier (I think these must be made by the same outfit). If they are the same, I would not recommend. The housing is metallurgically not the same as it is a little bit brittle. Not confident in the gears. Get an original case and buy the USA made gears and parts and be done with it.

04-02-2011, 09:37 AM	#13
Glenn C. Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Didsbury Alberta Posts: 838	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? When you price out the parts, that you might need for the transmission seperatly, you are further ahead in the pocket to aquire the complete standard transmission.....but then again, you do not know about the quality of workmanship that went into the assembly. The bearings the dealers are selling, are shielded bearings, not sealed bearings, as advertised. Thats why the list price is so cheap (Made in India) IMHO if the bucks is not a problem, I would slide a few extra dollars together and purchase a Mitchell Syncromesh Transmission. That way you know you have a quality product with gears and assembly from USA. No double clutching though !

04-02-2011, 09:45 AM	#14
Loyd Nix Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 105	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? I sent my worn out transmission to Bratton's for rebuild and was happy with the result. Send them the case and the cast iron parts and they rebuild with all new US "innerds".

04-02-2011, 04:00 PM	#16
Robert Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 99	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? The new transmission is imported and assembled in house by Mike's "A" Fordable.The case and gears are made in Europe and to be more specific, the machine work is done in Denmark. It's a good product for the money.

04-03-2011, 02:38 PM	#17
Glenn of northport Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: northport mi Posts: 87	Re: "New" transmissions? Any comments? I have 2 mitchell trans a lot easer to drive for my grandkids who only know auto trans this way i hope my cars will be used fora long time.