I posted a few photo-links in my post above - it sure looks likes it's an SM420. Can anyone provide a photo-link for a side-view of an earlier "crash box" 4-speed?

This is supposedly a photo of the earlier transmission (note the reverse-lever near the top of the shift-lever/handle)

Here is the location of the SM420's date casting-code.

H3061
H = Aug
30 = 30th day
61 =1961

This code is near the top of the driver's side of the case (I cannot make out the code shown in archie's photo above). The size and shapes of code letter/numbers are different over different SM420 years.