Transmission, Lasalle transmission gets Olds tailshaft

[31whitey]

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...

[Paul]

Originally Posted by copshopcoupe

Would the same basic principles hold true for the 37? It looks very similar except it is a top shift box,
chuck

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

Originally Posted by jerry

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

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..

Originally Posted by 55 dude

..some of them were a little dark try using your halogen worklight as a backlight to lighten them up...

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.

Originally Posted by 31whitey

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...

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

[31whitey]

Thanks Paul for the Tech and the advice...

[Gman0046]

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.

[Kevin Lee]

Neat. Thanks.

I now realize I'm missing the two "locator" bolts as well.

[Paul]

Kevin, pm sent

[392_hemi]

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.

[50Fraud]

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.

[moparsled]

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!!!!!!! ?

[PEDDRO]

Originally Posted by moparsled

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!!!!!!! ?

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.

[bones35]

great, who tought you this, i always wonder how the knowledge gets past down, that one is deffinetly a insider trick. cory

[lakes modified]

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.

[Paul]

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.