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Technical Transmission, Lasalle transmission gets Olds tailshaft

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Paul, May 28, 2007.

  1. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    lower gear into case and push the shaft to the end of the gear,
    grease the two thrust washers and slip them into place,
    put your finger in the end of the shaft hole to align
    and push the shaft the rest of the way in,
    align the locating pin hole with the rear cover bolt hole

    lasalle transmission 054.jpg

    lasalle transmission 055.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
  2. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    new gaskets

    lasalle transmission 056.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
  3. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    pin bolt at rear keeps countershaft in place
    and pin bolt at side keeps reverse idler shaft in place

    lasalle transmission 057.jpg

    lasalle transmission 058.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
    duncan likes this.
  4. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    remainder of cover bolts typical

    lasalle transmission 059.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
  5. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    grease Olds shaft at bearing surface

    lasalle transmission 061.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
  6. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    Olds housing goes on

    lasalle transmission 065.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
  7. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    and there ya have it.
    how to tear down and reassemble a Lasalle transmission in about two hours.

    lasalle transmission 063.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
    Grandmas73, bchctybob, Al M. and 5 others like this.
  8. Chuck R
    Joined: Dec 23, 2001
    Posts: 1,347

    Chuck R
    Member

    Excellent info. Great photos. I run a 37 La Salle in my roadster and always wondered what went into this swap. Would the same basic principles hold true for the 37? It looks very similar except it is a top shift box,
    chuck
     
  9. jerry
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 3,469

    jerry
    Member

    NICE!

    Very well done tech! Now to be able to find the parts trannies!


    jerry
     
  10. THAT KIND OF TECH ROCKS DUDE! pictures,lots of pictures. some of them were a little dark try using your halogen worklight as a backlight to lighten them up. no critic here just something a photographer friend enlightened me with making my "really shitty" pic's only look shitty!be sure and critic my pic's if i do a tech article.
     
  11. 31whitey
    Joined: Jan 2, 2007
    Posts: 2,214

    31whitey
    Member

    I have gotten pretty good at rebuilding my ford 39 3 speed in an afternoon...was going to try to hunt down a lasalle for the 354 chrysler 32 I am working on...how is the strength of the lasalle, which one to go for...
     
  12. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    yes, very similar, I plan to go through one soon, will post when I do,
    maybe adapt a Ford closed drive tail to one.

    they do turn up, in the last year or so, without hardly looking I have found three nice complete units and enough parts to build two or three more,
    some cheap and some overpriced so it all evens out..

    thanks, I know they turned out a bit too dark, I need to work on that..
    work lights and flashes can create glare and shadows...
    moving the work bench to the garage door for natural lighting might help too.

    the Lasalle transmission looks plenty stout, should be plenty strong for any older overhead.
    the later ones are a little heavier than the early ones
     
  13. 31whitey
    Joined: Jan 2, 2007
    Posts: 2,214

    31whitey
    Member

    Thanks Paul for the Tech and the advice...
     
  14. Gman0046
    Joined: Jul 24, 2005
    Posts: 6,256

    Gman0046
    Member

    Great job Paul. Your post brought back memories from 40-45 years ago. Haven't thought about transmission thrust washers and needle bearings in years. Those 50's standard shift trannies and a 37 Cad-Lasalle floor shift's must be as rare as hens teeth these days. We also rebuilt many and changed tail shafts on many Buick torque tube trannies in the late 50's and early sixties in much the same way.
     
  15. Kevin Lee
    Joined: Nov 12, 2001
    Posts: 7,582

    Kevin Lee
    Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Neat. Thanks.

    I now realize I'm missing the two "locator" bolts as well.
     
  16. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    Kevin, pm sent
     
  17. 392_hemi
    Joined: Jun 16, 2004
    Posts: 1,736

    392_hemi
    Member

    Great tech post. I'm planning to rebuild my '37 LaSalle trans and convert it to Ford closed drive. So I'm looking forward to that one already.
     
  18. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,101

    50Fraud
    Member

    Excellent post. It's been nearly 50 years since I've been inside one of those, but it was very familiar to me. Coupla additions:

    1) The snap ring that holds 2nd gear on the tailshaft is a bitch, because there's very little clearance to get at it with a conventional pair of snap ring pliers. I modified mine by grinding the L-shaped tang on the pliers down, and it worked much better.

    2) The set of roller bearings where the tailshaft fits into the back of the main drive? They are not all the same, '37-'53. There are two different diameters of rollers, and a corresponding dimensional difference in one of the shafts. Sorry, I don't remember which is which, but if you mix them up the wrong way (smaller rollers in the space intended for the larger ones), it rounds off the synchro teeth inside the main drive and jumps out of high gear on a trailing throttle. Sadly, I didn't know all this until after I'd rebuilt my trans with junkyard parts 10 times.
     
  19. I printed this off and took it to work with me. Used it step by step to blow my trans apart today-THANKS PAUL!!!!! great tech, and a definite time saver.

    what's your source for the gaskets and the sealed bearing(s)?
    I'd like to have that stuff to use as I move on to the shortening process.

    did I say THANKS PAUL!!!!!!! ?
     
  20. I'll second that thanks and the request! Has that bearing got a parts number? Gaskets aren't a problem as I can draw those up and cut them out digitally.

    I've got 4 side-shift LaSalle boxes that I have never opened all with that damn long tail wagging at my ankles as I walk past them in my shed.

    How hard are the Olds pieces to come past though? I don't think I'll be likely to find one of those here.
     
    Atwater Mike likes this.
  21. bones35
    Joined: Jan 1, 2004
    Posts: 382

    bones35
    Member

    great, who tought you this, i always wonder how the knowledge gets past down, that one is deffinetly a insider trick. cory
     
  22. lakes modified
    Joined: Dec 2, 2001
    Posts: 1,283

    lakes modified
    Member Emeritus

    Great info & pictures. Now I can take mine apart.I want to see if I can put an overdrive on the back like I saw some guy's do in the early 80's at the Turlock Swap meet who were selling them with the OD.
     
  23. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    been meaning to do this,
    every so often I get a pm requesting the number for the sealed front bearing

    so here they are in Chinese like the one in this bag
    or use the Gravely 05420900 listed on the bag and you might get American.

     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2014
    oldfordtin and patmanta like this.
  24. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    pics fixed
    bringing it back up for air for a minute
     
    IronFord and patmanta like this.
  25. HomemadeHardtop57
    Joined: Nov 15, 2007
    Posts: 4,328

    HomemadeHardtop57
    Member

    Great tech. Thank you


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  26. Dude that's awesome ! So many threads with missing pics.......you sir, rock ! Excellent tech....brought back....I never tire of old threads.....almost all of them are new to me !!!!
     
  27. c322348
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 343

    c322348
    Member

    NOTE: This bearing will not fit a 1937 LaSalle! The '37 LaSalle trans has a different input shaft diameter at the front bearing. Also, the front gasket to the bellhousing for the '37 is different.
     
    Chopped Tudor likes this.
  28. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    to the best of my knowledge the bearing listed fits the '37-'53 Cadillac and the '50 Oldsmobile stick transmissions.
    the bearing that is different in the '37 is the roller bearing where the input and output shafts mate.
    the only difference in the front gasket is the additional hole for the shift rail,
    and is a simple cut to remedy.

    please correct me if wrong but, I need to see your proof.

    (edited in attempt to clarify)
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2017
  29. Note regarding that miserable snap ring that holds the 2nd gear on the main shaft. I have struggled with these often until I tore into a 51 Olds selector recently and found a small wire spacer under that snap ring. It lifts that snap ring just enough to grab it on the first try. I had heard from F&J that these existed but have never come across one until this tranny. What a difference it makes in removing that snap ring. I will see if I can get a pic of it next to said snap ring so you all can see this FWIW.

    (pic is down in post 65)
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2017
    Paul and c322348 like this.
  30. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,387

    Paul
    Editor

    went out to the parts pile and pulled all my loose input shafts out
    they all take the same front bearing
    including the two shafts I removed from '37 transmissions in the foreground in this picture
    (pretty sure the third one came out a '38)
    the oil slinger grooves and shaft between them and the splines is a smaller diameter
    but the front bearing area is the same as the later style.

    20170927_155307.jpg
     
    Beanscoot and kidcampbell71 like this.

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