The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Muncie (LD) 3 speed transmissions being rebuilt

I dropped off my '52 Muncie three speed transmission at a local transmission rebuild shop that has been around for years. The first thing he said was "Light Duty Muncie"...never heard it described that way. I went on to tell the shop owner that I did not know the condition of the transmission, but I wanted it gone through, refreshed and made like new. He warned that the syncro drums (I think this is the part that wears and causes transmission to pop out of third etc.) were no longer available, but cold probably fix it up regardless due to his extensive used parts inventory. I also mentioned about the infamous "popping out of third gear" issue that many have experienced. He said he has a solution that will prevent that problem from ever occuring in the future. He basically cuts an indent in the third gear teeth (part that engages third gear syncro drum) and a corresponding grove in the syncro drum splines close to the end of the splines. The theory is that the amount of spline left between the grove and end of spline engages in indent and prevents the gear from disengaging until the load is release upon depressing clutch. He assured no noise or notchy feeling is evident after the modification and that the gears will not fail.

So, total damage will be $350, but piece of mind is priceless. Just thought some might find this information useful.

It definitely sounds like he has the experience to do a good rebuild and I really think $350 is a bargain. At least in my neck of the woods it is.

Wow! 350? Which shop is that? I might need him one day.

Pistoles in south Austin, TX. I used them in the past to rebuild the gearbox in a '46 Willys CJ2A with good results.

By "light duty", he meant that it was the base model 3 speed. There was a heavy duty 3 speed offered, usually on 3/4 tons, that was manufactured by Borg-Warner.

Thanks for the info!

I believe the 1953 and later clutch gear had another row of needle bearings, this had a profound effect on the popping out of high gear problem. This could be retro'd into older cases but you need to replace the mainshaft to a 1953 or later and I believe add a spacer.

A 2024 update:
I have a 41-47 Muncie 3 speed floor shift in my 46 1/2 T pickup. Got the usual oil leaks from the transmission and some from the rear engine seal. When I pop the fill plug on the differential, I get a load of transmission oil. After a while, not much in the transmission.

So as I understand, oil misses the front oil slinger catcher washer (and leaks out the front), and it misses the probably missing felt wafer in the back. The back one is supposed to keep the oil forward. So the oil runs down the driveshaft tube into the rear end.

I have it in to a local transmission shop that said they could work on it. When push comes to shove, they really don't know/can't.

On the advice of DavidF above, I made a call to Pistoles to leave a message. I had an absolutely wonderful conversation with Sunni Pistole. Turns out he has a couple old trucks he fiddles with similar to mine. Our rotations around the sun are also about the same. We went thru a lot of things that could be done. Both engine and transmission. He explained to me what has to be done to these old iron machines to "fix" a couple of the problems above. It ain't for the faint of heart. Either the engine or transmission. And it isn't a simple bearing or seal replace like a wheel seal. And it is fraught with doing things and possible ruining things that are hard to find and replace. And in the end, you most likely won't end up with them being oil tight. They were not designed to be that way in the beginning, so it is unlikely it will be that way after years of wear and a few replacement parts. But it happens, a few sometimes.

In the end, the expert that does this for a living said to me ABOUT MY PARTICULAR SITUATION, "If it were me, I'd get a couple oil catch pans to catch oil when it is parked, and periodically drain off some oil from the differential and put it back in the transmission."

Sometimes in dealing with stuff with age, it is what it is and that is about as good as it is gonna get without a whole lot of pain, time and money, that may or may not improve the situation.
The same can be said of old vehicles.

Looks like you need to fix a few leaks but the main problem is the torque tube bushing and seal.lots of information about this on this site .The best and easiest would be to install a oakie bushing in your torque tube .The oil leaking causes the axle seals to leak messing up your brakes and the oil if let to go low in the transmission first messes up the u joint from lack of oil .The bushings are sold by many vendors but you need to double check the sizes as they are either not made to the proper size or there are variations in the torque tubes.If you mess up like I did then the torque tube will have to come apart to get the bushings out.There is a few y tube videos on line .one by a j hawker that shows changing his on a 49 chev car .