One thing I love the most about this hobby,,and I guess any hobby,,is seeing the past. The evolution of stuff good ideas that worked and got better,,others I'm sure fell flat on there face,,, Anywho,,in the Spirit of do it yourself etc etc,,,This here will allow you to convert a 55-64 Chevy 3 speed to a Ford closed drive,,or Open if you choose. will have the holes done and bolted up later in the week..It is made with stock parts,,and minimal effort ,,The old Chassis Research add is where I got the idea. Its kinda perfect in some cases,as many folks like to go with a SBC then when it gets to the transmission part ,,things get complicated,,adapters ,,this and that,,This kinda makes it a line it up and bolt it up to do.. The process is much like the Lasalle conversion only you are using the tailshaft instead of the transmission case,,and the bearing is the same as the Ford so it seats and lines this up dead on.. Cheers Adding more..Hope to have this done by Tech week end but...not having the machines to do somethings,,I have to wait til my friend has time ( free time ) to mill teh surface for me. Here is the steps so far done by hand ( hacksaw is your friend ) I cut the tailshaft off,,as you can see the Ford transmission bearing ( flathead transmission ) Fits the hole just right. Due to this it centers the retainer , making the position for where the holes are drilled painless to mark. There are 2 Oil feed hole that will need to be plugged,,no biggy Then just have the shaft resplined. These transmission are plentiful and cheap,,They put em behind Vette motors ( and since all SBC's are Vette motors ) They are strong enough. I do not have a Flathead Trans to compare to ,though unlike the Lasalle conversion where the unit is a lil long,,this should be a nice size fit. There are many floor shift kits for this transmission ,,which again is another plus. All in all a low cost easy option,add the fact that if the transmission ever takes a puke,,you can just unbolt the new tail shaft and bolt it to another transmission Side note : these transmissions were used from 1955 to 1964
So your'e gonna face the Chevy end plate flat? Then drill and tap to hold the Ford piece to it? Genius. This is hot rodding.
Going to lurk & learn. cool concept. looking forward to more detailed pics & detailed instructions. Please keep in mind some of us are dumber than others (meaning myself)
Someone sold this conversion as a kit in the '60s .Chassis Research perhaps? Have one somewhere in my basement.
This makes a bunch of sense. I gotta' watch what you're doin'. I wonder what the total length difference of this is compared to a SBC with an adapter to the old Ford tranny? Might be a bit longer? Time to do some measuring. If the torque tube remains the stock length, and the rear tranny support bolts in the stock Ford chassis mounts, then the only thing that could happen is the front of the engine could be a bit closer to the radiator. A Hurst style front mount will probably work in a stock Ford chassis. Use the speedo pick-up off the Ford torque tube. Use the '40 and later column shift linkage. I must have a dozen of those old Chevy trannys laying around. Even the '58 and up short tailshaft will work. COOL!!!!!!!!!! No more laying the old Ford cluster gear on the ground after a hard shift. Now all ya' can do is shear rear axle keys.
Well,,it won't be done today,,Though when posted did'nt know it was Tech week ,,lol Soon as I get the holes done and tapped I'll post more pix and info.. in the end just saw it as a way of reusing something that just kinda gets tossed to the side by most folks,,so with a lil effort and minimal cost great lil recycling project and anyone can do this..
I have one of those boxes in my roadster. I used it because it was short enough to go in without cutting ths K member. There were three ratio sets produced. 2.20,2.56,2.9? first gear ratios. The 2.56 set has the best ratio spreads. The 2.56's were only used behind V8's. They can be identified by the full diameter input shaft. The 6 cy. boxes have a necked down input. Have you ever heard of the X Shift? It was a replacement trans case that was a real floor shift. The 55-64 gears actually go back to the 30's. A 40's floor shift plate,forks and lever will work with them. I could post pics of my column shift set up. I am using a stock 40 Ford column. It was a bitch to get the levers on the trans right.
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