The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop tranny for a 1954 235 motor??

first, my 51 chevy is down to the frame and I am putting the motor back together. thanks for the help so far .
NOW
what tranny will fit on a 1954 235 motor so I can do away with the enclosed drive line . right now I have the 4 speed that was originally in the truck???? OR is there any way to change the old tranny to use it on an open drive shaft???
thanks, MJ

can't give ya the details, but yes the trans can be changed - might be easier to find a 3 or 4spd from a 55-59 truck which will bolt right up - rear might work too, or at least supply the parts to convert the 51 rear

Bill

Practically any chevy trans. will fit if you are useing an open driveshaft. If you are useing a rear end with a low gear ratio like 4:11 or 3:90 you will want to use an overdrive trans. like a s-10 5 speed.

Call "Bud" at (951)674-4932. I was just at his place yesterday afternoon and he's got piles of 55 to 59 three and 4 speed Muncies, open driveline. He said he's also just got in some complete rear axles too.
They will bolt right into your truck and all you need do is have a driveshaft made (for your new rear axle too!)

I believe the housing on the rear of your four speed that the bell goes into will change out with a housing for a seal and open drive u joint. I may have one laying around. That four speed closed drive u-joint is a sought after item by people wanting a four speed in their half ton. As much as I dislike the closed drive you won't gain a lot changing to an open drive if you are going to keep the original tranny, just a little easier/cheaper to work on.

Grant

Not to but in...
My stock rear WILL work with the T5 tranny swap???
Just making sure. It seems like all I need for the T5 is a clutch and driveshaft. The other stock parts will work I think?

If your stock rear is open driveshaft it will work. MJ's was a closed torque tube driveshaft.

The rear on my truck is a Torque Tube.
So I have to replace that first???
Ok ok...any suggestions what rear or what diff I should get then? Replace the whole rear end or just the pumkin? I'm getting tired now. I'm really good at stressing myself out about my cars. I'll stay up all night thinking about this now...

Mario help us out a little and tell us what your truck is...

If it's a torque tube its most likely a pre-'55 1/2-ton. But answering the which rear question really depends on what year the truck is. Pre '47 the answer is different than '47 - '54.

If your truck is a '47 - '54 you can replace the pumpkin with one from an open drive truck but more important is that the torque tube axle pivots on the frame and you need to eliminate that pivot to switch to open drive.

Sorry. Its a 1953 3100. It has a 1958 235 in it and a 4 spd transmission. This is all a learning process for me and I'm hoping to do this tranny swap while I have the engine off the frame. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated...

Hey Mario, if this don't keep you up at night worrying, nothing will!
http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/rear_ends.htm

Everything (almost) you ever wanted to know about changing rear ends on a torque tube AD. I will add to this that the 10 and I think 12 bolt rears out of 81 to 90's full size four wheel drive Chevies can fit in there with some metal working of the perches. They are about an inch and a half wider than original.
Consider the 3.55:1 replacement set of Patrick's ring and pinion for your torque tube. Total cost for everything to install is about $700 give or take a few bucks, and with a new Oakie Bushing and ball housing seals you really can keep your original setup and save a lot of headache.

Man I'm just not sure which way to go. I saw that ring and pinion set but I think the T5 tranny would be nice too so that means I'll just have to learn from you guys a bit more and make a decision one way or the other.

I just saw a ring and pinion set at Jim Carter's for 399.50. I guess this is similar to what you were saying? Its 3.55:1. Thats cheaper than I thought. I'm going to probably do this instead at least for now...

Mario23 the $700 that Chevr aulait talks about includes the installation kit which includes new bearings and seals and an okie bushing and torque tube ball kit ( seals shims etc ). I'm doing this at the moment. If you do decide to put in a 3.55 ring and pinion it make sense to renew all the bearings etc while its apart.

Good luck with it whichever route you decide to go.

Cheers

Bob

Yes, I noticed that soon aftr my reply.
I'm going to go look arround today and see what's available to me locally since I haven't made a decision for sure yet.

If you have a SM420 4 sp transmission, (used by GM forever) I believe the cheapest and easiest swap to better gears is a different rearend and a latter model rear coverplate and yoke for the tranny. I know the SM 420 gearbox is the same from the late 40's to at least the late 60's. Anyone after 54 will have the rear coverplate and driveline yoke for an open driveline. All you have to do is swap them on torque tube model. (This is not true for the 3sp)

Find your replacement rearend based on width and gearing. You will have to weld up spring perches. Note, due to torque tube hinge action, the spring mounting pins, and thereby the axle, will sit too far forward if you center the axle over the pins. Some say you can flip the springs end to end to cure this. I just offset the perch mounting holes. Also note the stock axle location in the wheel well, they sit forward anyway. The axle does move back under load. Watch your pinion angle when welding perches.

Finally,have a driveline fabbed up at a driveline shop. It will have to have a slip spline in it.

I believe this is the easiest and cheapest way to go. A T5 certainly would be nice, but they are more expensive and you have to deal with some modifications, (front shaft and retainer, matching clutch parts, hole in floor and,depending on the year T5, the speedo gear.) And you still would need to do all the same things to switch out the rearend and driveline.

As with all things automotive, it jsut comes down to what you want and what you can spend. With my '50, a mostly stock weekend work driver, it made sense to stay with the old 4 sp.
Steve O

I see what your saying. I'm starting to think that I would rather stay with the stock 4 spd for now and maybe upgrade the ring and pinion and see how that works out. I don't think I want to start replacing axles and welds ect...I would like to stay a little more original at least for the first few years. Then I could concentrate on the other mechanics I want to restore as well as the body. I'm getting ahead of myself anyways. I need to get that engine rebuilt and solid first then drive a little bit and get a feel for the ride.

I did find that ring and pinion set as well as the overhaul kit at truck and car shop for quite a bit less $399.00 and $155.00 for the kit...

So where did you find the ring and pinion and install kit for less?

I just spoke to Larry Millwee at Clifford Performance and he said they had a Jeep six in with 4.56:1 rear axle and the guy was complaining about top speed problems of 55 or 60 with 30 or 33 inch high tires and the guy was going to change out his ring gear/rear end. Larry said they installed a computer tuned weber TBI injection system and electronic ignition and now the guy can do 70MPH in SECOND GEAR! He says he's got the whole set up for a Chevy 54 half ton 235 and said I should've talked to him first before changing my rear axle; said the original 3.90 torque tube would have worked perfectly well with a fuel injection and tuned system and even with the original Muncie three speed. (cost is about $2,000 give or take)
Just offering this experience to you all to let you know how many ways a person can go here!!!

I am trying to replace the transmission in my '53 Chevy 3100 too. I am reading all of these posts to figure out what would be cheaper and easier to install and what donor vehicles to look for. I also want to install power steering and was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what to look for?

I think someone was yanking your chain a bit on that one. Changing to a TBI iduction and electronic ignition is not going to change the rpm that the engine has to turn to get a given road speed with a specific ratio. All it's going to do is maybe give it more power to get there, and most likely use more feul when it does get there. It would still be running the same rpm. Only way to lower engine rpm at a given road speed is to either 1; change the final drive ratio, or 2; add an overdrive gear to the transmission.