The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline How Much To Rebuild My 3 Speed?

What would a resaonable cost be to have my 3 speed transmission from my 49 panel rebuilt. The local Trans shop quoted $800 and I thought that was a bit step.

I am currently rebuilding a Saginaw three spleen I got from a wrecking yard to replace the four speed in my 46 1/2 ton so I may be able to shed a little light on the cost of parts if you can tell me why you are rebuilding yours. Did it shift properly? Did it want to pop out of gear?

David

I wish I had the history on this so I could see if it really needs to be rebuilt. It came with a used engine that was rebuilt for my panel. I didn't want to install it without knowing if it was a good one or not so I was just considering having it rebuilt anyway. I opened it up and see a few worn gears but not chipped teeth or loose items and when I moved the shifters around it all seemed to work okay.

I would call a few other shops. When I had my SM420 rebuilt two years ago, one shop told me $800-1200, the other shop told me $400 and up depending what it needs. I went with the lower bid shop. Once He opened it up he said it only needed synchro's and gaskets. $450 was my total after tax.
If everything seems to "work okay" why not install it and give it a try? I can remove my tranny out of my '48 in 15-30 minutes depending on my motivation.
Curt

Curt, there's only one shop out here in the sticks. So shopping is a bit limited. Good advice anyway. Have to check in the BIG city and see what I can come up with. About that install and try. Well I'm 65 and the only thing I can do in 15-30 minutes is pee!

When I was going to have my SM420 rebuilt many years ago, after they opened it up, ............ said

.............. '' it was NOT worth '' the rebuild

so i had a T5 trumac hybrid tranny built from scratch at $850.00 ALL NEW

Well Jim, I'm pretty much old school and don't know much about changing these old trucks over to the newer drivelines. I have my rolling chassis complete with original torque tube driveline. I'll poke around the net to learn about the T5 but I don't think I'll be doing a swap at this stage of the rebuild. Thanks for the tip though you never know what might turn up.

Some parts are very hard to find on some of the older transmissions. Here are some examples from my three-speed circa 1946. Finding a 2nd and 3rd gear synchronizer drum will cost about $400-500 due to how rare that item has become. There are synchro rings that can be replaced instead of the whole assembly but they are almost extinct. I needed an input shaft and that was very difficult to find and expensive. Thanks goodness for the internet. Ultimately I was able to find the parts I needed and the transmission should last another 100,000 miles but doing most of the work myself will result in a $550 rebuild. As 801curt said, I would just put the trans you have in and hope for the best.

I'm thinking that's good advice. Put the side cover back on and go with it until I have a problem that really needs fixed. I can;t really see paying $1000 for a rebuild when I can probably find some used transmissions around from the guys doing upgrades and engine swaps. Thanks for helping me make a decision!!!

That would be my recommendation also. Try what you have and go from there. If it's no good, post an ad here and find another one. I purchased a trans from a fellow Stovebolter a few years ago for a 54 I was working on for a friend. The price was reasonable and it worked well.
Fred

I did some more research and I think it's a Muncie 318 (four bolt side cover)I'll go with the consensus and stick it in and see how it goes. I took a real good look again and I see the teeth are really worn on one side of the narrow gear in the center (1st/Rev?) I read somewhere that it could be reversed and used again. I can't see the one in the back very good so I don't know the condition. Anyway, Button it back up and keep an eye out for a used one.

I'm not sure what number designator was used for the 47-54 torque tube type transmission. SM318 is the common term used for the 55-67 4 bolt side cover transmission used with an open driveline. There is a long and short tail housing version.
The internal components are different with the possible exception of the clutch gear. If you are going to buy gears or another trans it would be better to specify the year so you don't end up with a bunch of stuff you can't use.
Fred

Thanks for the tip, I'll be cautious when looking for the parts. I've also learned that the difference in the car and truck transmission is that the truck has a heavier or thicker casting for the housing.

HI, does anyone out there have information about a 1936 Chevy standard transmission # 690783 I'm told its's a crash box. Any info at all will be fantastic or is there a diagram I have a 36 Chevy repair manual and a original master parts catalog, but if there's anything else out there I could sure use it....Thanks coldrold

Coldrolled, I don't know what it is but there's one on eBay for cheap if you need a spare for parts. I bought two 3 speeds from same guy to replace the crash box in my 36. One had the case I needed, the other the tail I needed and hopefully whatever spare parts I might need down the road. I'm thinking of doing what others have suggested in this thread, replace some gaskets and put it in and see what it does. My crash box is a 590474 if I remember correctly it's a 1935.

Rebuilt and just fixing is two different things. The synchro is almost always bad unless it has been recently replaced. The input shaft is quite often chewed up where they engage the synchro. Second gear quite often shows a lot of wear and that affects your shifting. The top shaft shift fork catches a lot of wear too. The low and reverse slider can look pretty bad and not make any difference. I paid $250 just last week for a 1952 and older synchro. Cletis sold one on eBay several months ago for around $100, but I missed it. 53-54 synchros have generally been easier to find and 2 of the lugs can be ground off with a die grinder. Add $100 for the 2 ball bearings and small parts, and $800 doesn't look that bad if it is done right.

A pickup case is a little shorter than a passenger. The 591615 casting will fit 48 through 54, but the 53-54 has different gears.

Thanks for the info. Yes I'm going to tear it apart and see what happens1 It is a spare that I purchased when I bought the car. So hopefully the spare will look good and I will throw it in , then rebuild the original.....Thanks Again coldrolled