The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 55 series 2 transmission

Hey guys. I have just recently purchased a 55 series 2 chevy pickup. It's a 3 speed on the column six cylinder. Changing all the fluids. I cannot find a drain for the manual transmission.
Also, I see on the tail of the trans 2 bolt holes for a support but there is none. There doesn't appear to be any holes in the frame for one. Is this correct?
Thanks in advance.

welcome to the garage .... if the trans doesn't have a plug on the bottom, you'd need to have a quick lube joint use their sucker to clean it out to refill .... the support bracket on the tail is not necessary for your truck, may indicate it's actually from a car - no matter ..... and it could be the later [67+] Saginaw 3 spd, indicated by the number of bolts on the side cover, originally yours would have 4 bolts I believe, later ones have 7

Bill

Or get a piece of plastic tube and siphon it out yourself.

Ed

Well that sucks....

Thanks guys for the info and suggestions. I'll get the tranny cleaned up so I can get some numbers off it and do some research to find out what it is.
Thanks again

I have found the 4 bolt side cover transmissions without a drain plug with 61 up date codes. Since it has the rear mount it is at least from a 58. There was a time when manufacturers determined that changing these fluids wasn't necessary. Those of us that believe in maintenance think this was a wrongheaded approach. I suppose they had no idea these vehicles would last this long.
You should be able to drain some of the oil by removing the lower bolt that holds the tail housing to the case.
Just put some sealant on it when it is reinstalled. A lot of mixing and matching went on with these trucks over the years.
Fred

I wondered about that Fred. It's at the lowest point of the case. I haven't had a chance to get to the numbers yet. It does have a 7 bolt side cover.
I have an old gasoline siphon bulb. I'll see what the bottom oil looks like. If it's cruddy I'll take out that bottom bolt.
This tranny might be cooked but I won't know until I can drive it again. I've got a 3 speed floor shifted Saginaw out of a 69 chevelle. Any chance that would mate up to the 235?
Thanx
Jim

As you indicated that the truck has the 7 bolt side cover trans it should be very similar to the Chevelle trans as it would be from that era.
The mounting and input shaft is the same from 48 up on trucks and 55 up on cars. The differences could be the shift arms and possibly the front driveshaft yoke.
Fred