Newer trans in stock chassis /K member

[draggin49]

Is there ANY way to run a newer style trans in a stock 1932 chassis/K member without having to butcher it ? Or do I need to completely remove stock K member and replace it with something else to make it work.

To make a long story short I bought a rebuilt 39 trans but it was for a low HP engine . Car is now going to be running something in the 350hp range which is like 4x the hp of what the 39 trans came with.
Sure , MAYBE if I were to barely putt around and baby every shift the 39 trans may survive , but that’s just not how I drive my cars . I don’t wanna be replacing transmissions all the time.

I don’t know the restrictions as far as various transmissions in this application . I daily drive the car and want it to do freeways at low rpms (currently can’t due to low gears and stock 3speed trans) so part of the newer trans consideration besides much better durability is that it will also give me overdrive

[cas3]

you bought a nice stock 32 ford, and piece by piece you are making a streetrod, and it sounds like you want a streetrod, so why didnt you buy a street rod and leave the 32 for some one who wants one? sounds like you are hinting at a t5 overdrive, and no it wont go in without major modifications. the 39 with a columbia is about as close to a highway machine as you are gonna get, minus the 200 foot burn outs and 2nd gear rubber

[Pete]

The answer to your question is, NO.
There are a 100 ways to do it but all require major mods to the original cross member.
Before you go too far, you better consider installing a newer rear end like a Ford 8 inch also.
The 8 inch is plenty strong for 500 hp. It is 90 lb lighter than the popular 9 inch and does not need narrowing.

[draggin49]

Originally Posted by cas3

you bought a nice stock 32 ford, and piece by piece you are making a streetrod, and it sounds like you want a streetrod, so why didnt you buy a street rod and leave the 32 for some one who wants one? sounds like you are hinting at a t5 overdrive, and no it wont go in without major modifications. the 39 with a columbia is about as close to a highway machine as you are gonna get, minus the 200 foot burn outs and 2nd gear rubber

Guess what , I don’t want some fake fiberglass or brookville 32 street rod with disc brakes , billet wheels , small block Chevy, tilt column or any of the other street rod shit , I wouldn’t drive one of those if you gave it to me for free

God forbid I considered using ONE item that isn’t period correct on the entire car
to make it more reliable so that the blown Ardun it’s gonna be running won’t break the transmission easily .

[draggin49]

Originally Posted by Pete

The answer to your question is, NO.
There are a 100 ways to do it but all require major mods to the original cross member.
Before you go too far, you better consider installing a newer rear end like a Ford 8 inch also.
The 8 inch is plenty strong for 500 hp. It is 90 lb lighter than the popular 9 inch and does not need narrowing.

I had a feeling it would require butchering the K member . I will leave the cross member as is and see how long this 39 trans /Columbia hold up.

[deuce lover]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Can you tell us how you arrive at a 350hp Flathead? Ardun heads w/blower similar to this?


https://youtu.be/JIkH7eQxyus

[skidmarks]

Traditional hotrodding is sounding more and more like corvettes speedboats and streetrodding.

[Krylon32]

Check with Gene Sanders at Model Engineering. In his catalog he describes some kind of 3+1 Ford trans that requires no cutting of the k member.His stuff will supposedly allow you to do the job without frame modification?

[jimTN]

Surely not another garbage truck engine. More often streetrods are meant to be seen, not really driven. Just look at the trailers that bring them to Pigeon Forge.

[Charlie ny]

I've run a '39 trans up against a 324 Olds and all was good until I sold the car to a guy who was used to pounding his '61 vette........yep he broke the trans. I'm

sure using a 25 tooth Lincoln gear set and building the trans with min clearance
on the cluster and 2nd gear helped it stay together. To me the weak link in these
trans is the roller skate bearings in the cluster and where the output shaft enters
the main drive gear. If anyone was to check the amount of play up and down and
sideways between the main drive gear, the roller skate bearing and the output shaft
pilot even with selected parts you'd discover a lot of slop. This slop translates to
2nd gear, under the action of excess torque, actually climbing out of mesh with
the cluster. Power shifting is not a good idea. When Ford went to needle bearings in

'49/'50 this slop was reduced by 90% which along with the new chisel tooth form
changed everything ie faster shifts and improved durability.

I will confess that I've never witnessed a flathead pull 350 hp on a dyno but
I have witnessed broken cranks on 180 hp flatheads. 3 main bearings on a blown
flathead converts to the need for a main bearing girdle or it might not be the trans that needs to be yanked.
In closing.....the pre emminent Columbia guy Dan Krehbiel mentioned to me
a Columbia might take 250 hp.
OMHO,
Charlie ny

[Bored&Stroked]

Given what you have (blown Ardun) - the 39 trans and Columbia will surely be weak links and it is a shame to just grenade them. Also, unless you have 'drum safety brackets' on the rear, when you snap off the end of an axle, the wheel and drum falls off - quite a dangerous situation. Also, if the Columbia hasn't been seriously upgraded (with 8620 steel reproparts, 8" axles, etc), then there are quite a few really weak pieces inside of it - they're designed for 100 HP cars - not what you have). Why ruin the Columbia - is a somewhat rare, but always desirable part?

So, you are in a quandary -- with a blown Ardun up front - you could sure use some better/stronger parts all the way back. Now if you tend to always baby the thing - you can get away with it (for awhile - but the demon of broken parts will always be waiting!). If you drive like I do . . . probably not.

Any major change will require the car to come apart anyway (body off frame) - so if you're willing to carefully make changes, then you can save all the original parts - and they can always be put back if you want to go back to a more stock setup in the future. It is not a big deal to re-rivet a pristine K-Member back into an original frame.

You're in exactly the same situation as I am on my 34 roadster (blown Ardun) . . . I'll be putting in a modern Tremec 5-speed and an open-banjo style Halibrand Q.C. with 28 spline late Ford Axles. I keep a traditional look out back, can easily change rear end ratios and have an overdrive for highway cruising. BUT - this requires a lot of some simple and some more difficult mods to the frame (and body for the rear cross member) - from the engine on back. (Cross members, rear-end traction bars, floor pan, gas tank, etc). I'll do all the frame work on a frame jig - to keep things correctly aligned.

And no - this will no longer be "100% traditional or stock" . . . I already have that . . .

[cas3]

mr draggin 49, my apology, perhaps i barked a little too loud. the reason is this, i remember when you bought that car. in your first posts here you were proud to tell how original the car was, and most every post was "how do i fix this and keep it original" which i admired. you live where you can drive it every day, which you do it seems, which is all good. but now the car is not good enough. i like old school hotrods too, am building one now. mine was a piece of crap and i am giving it new life. if it was a nice original car, thats how it would stay. i guess i blew up at you because i have a bad attitude from watching the current thread at the hamb where a guy bought a restored done, perfect 32 5w, and has since sold off 90% of the car and has a new billet riddled thing with a ford body. he says he saved 200k by starting with a done car. i guess i never was very good at math. thats what they make new bodys for. i have a brookville roadster hotrod, and a stock 31 roadster. the stock one will stay that way. i guess the point is, you have a nice car, and if you feel the need for 350 hp, i would start on a new project, and leave the old girl alone. but, thats me, best wishes

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by draggin49

Is there ANY way to run a newer style trans in a stock 1932 chassis/K member without having to butcher it ? Or do I need to completely remove stock K member and replace it with something else to make it work.

To make a long story short I bought a rebuilt 39 trans but it was for a low HP engine . Car is now going to be running something in the 350hp range which is like 4x the hp of what the 39 trans came with.
Sure , MAYBE if I were to barely putt around and baby every shift the 39 trans may survive , but that’s just not how I drive my cars . I don’t wanna be replacing transmissions all the time.

I don’t know the restrictions as far as various transmissions in this application . I daily drive the car and want it to do freeways at low rpms (currently can’t due to low gears and stock 3speed trans) so part of the newer trans consideration besides much better durability is that it will also give me overdrive

If you're getting 350 HP out of a flathead, congratulations! If you've stuck some other kind of engine in there, send the car to the crusher! You've ruined it!!

[rotorwrench]

Brookville bodies aren't all that bad. I just don't see a problem there. American stamping frames aren't bad either. If folks buy stuff and want to change it, no problem. It's their stuff. I've always been a history buff so I tend to like to see good original stuff stay that way. Building a car with a Brookville body means you don't have to worry about history but it will still be a relatively solid build.

This forum is geared toward improvements to an original car so don't be surprised when folks pitch a bitch. The HAMB is geared toward more traditional hot rods and it would be more accepted there. Arduns aren't really all that traditional since most hot rodders wouldn't have been able to afford the kit back in the day.

[TonyM]

I don't understand why modern street rodders have to absolutely have genuine "Henry Ford Steel" when they are just going to go out of their way to change every other component on the car: they change the frame, the suspension, the steering, the brakes, the wheels, the tires, the electric, the engine (Chevy 350/350 just like everybody else), the trans, the differential, the steering wheel, the interior, the lights, etc.

They absolutely have to have genuine Henry Ford steel and then they feel the need change everything else to non "Henry Ford" parts.

Like the guy who told me how much he loves the 1936 Ford and its design; he then spent the next 25 minutes telling me how he changed everything or had it changed to modern stuff. Thank goodness he already had a rumble seat, or I am betting he would have to change a trunk coupe to a rumble seat that no one will ride in.

Why is it so important to have genuine "Henry Ford Steel" on car that is going to be heavily modified? It makes no sense--has nothing to do with traditional hot rodding. This is not 1959, when there was no choice.

[Krylon32]

I really enjoy original cars kept original. I'm a hot rodder and I would venture to say that most of my cars were built from bodies and parts that most restorers turned their noses up to. From the beginning to currently I've built nice hot rods out of these parts. I'm a professional chassis builder and everyone of my cars have my repro chassis under them. I've built many 100's of chassis for not only repro bodies but originals. I've built about 15 Brookville roadsters some to completion and some as package cars for others to finish. I currently have a deuce 3 window I've had for almost 40 years. It was chopped when I bought it so that made my decision easy. My 32 delivery is a conversion of a body bought at the LARS as I wouldn't pay the money for an original delivery body or modify one. My 32 5 window was started with a body that was channeled and passed over by the purists, we saved it. My deuce pu started as a cab and is currently a highboy pu with early suspension. Finally my 32 roadster was listed for sale in CA for almost a year and everyone walked by it. I saved it and it's a nice highboy I just enjoy owning. I've never had a complete original deuce to start with. For the past 50 years I've used the stuff left sitting by the purists to build over 30 + cars. I don't think I've violated anybody's territory in doing what I've done. My list is long of saved deuces and I'm proud of what I've done with what I had. Sometimes I think this forum gets a little to critical!

[Lawrie]

You can fit the later 49/50 gearset into the older case.
this requires some machining,I,m currently fitting up two using the gearsets from a mainline.
these have the later tooth profile and crowded rollers in the cluster and mainshafts.
Lawrie

[Angledrive]

Originally Posted by Lawrie

You can fit the later 49/50 gearset into the older case.
this requires some machining,I,m currently fitting up two using the gearsets from a mainline.
these have the later tooth profile and crowded rollers in the cluster and mainshafts.
Lawrie

Would like to see a 'how to' on that upgrade

[rotorwrench]

1951 was the intro year for the "New" diamond gear upgrade. The cases from 1949 up to the gear change didn't change all that much but all the gears did and have to be changed in sets. Now putting them in the shorter early case would likely take some modification. The main shaft would likely be longer and of course they only made a 1 3/8" 10-spline input for the F1 for one year only so it's kind of a rare bear.

[Chris Haynes]

The '39 Tranny will work fine with the Ardun. I guarantee the Columbia will fail if hot rodded.