Ok. I'm an old hotrodder that thinks I should know the answer but don't. I just took what I was told years ago for fact and accepted that. Now I am looking for info as to why and what works. I've always believed that the 1939 Ford car floorshift transmission was prefereable over the 1932-1938 versions. Why? What about the truck 3 speed trans with open drive in the forties? I know the trans listed above will bolt up to the Ford or Mercury flathead V-8 engines up to 1948. Will they also bolt up to the 1949-53 Ford and Mercury V-8 engines . In the early '60's I owned a 1929 Ford roadster that was powered by a '48 Ford flathead V-8. This was connected to a '39 Ford car trans. The center crossmember (K member) was from a '32 Ford that had been slightly modified (narrowed) to fit the unboxed Model A frame. The trans bolted directly to that K member. I don't remember any ears on the trans, just bolted to the K member. The rear was the Model A. I didn't build it and only had to replace the rear gears so I never became completely familiar with how it was all connected. I just purchased a '31 Ford roadster (stock) that I pick up tomorrow. I am considering installing an early flathead V-8 and trans to replace the 4 banger. Open to all suggestions. Thanks.
The 39 trans had better gears, not sure of the specifics, and yes it will bolt to the later flatheads(if you have the bell housing plate). The 32 K member rubber transmission mount bolts directly to the rear of the transmission and then to the K member. I have the same setup on my car. You will have to install front motor mounts for the flathead, The early 38-48 flatheads are a nice fit, the later 49-53 will work, but the engine is a little larger and you may run into issues with the exhaust, steering box, firewall,etc. I'll see if I have a pic of the tranny mount.
The '39 trans is really a concept meaning gears with late synchro as used in SOME 1939's and most '40-48 and pickup transmissions, stuffed into a floor case. Many 1939 transmissions were built using the 1936-39 gearset with slightly more primitive syncro, so do not just blindly look for a 1939 serial number on the case! A generic "'39 trans" can be built using any of the '32-52 floor shift cases with any of the several later gearsets from Ford and Lincoln, because everything swaps with only minor tricker. There is a good current book by Van Pelt describing all. Here is my quicky course on ID of transmission stuff at the fleamarket: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91515&highlight=1939+trans+prices&showall=1 Basic recipe: '40 or '39 up type gearset of the ratio spread you want, any floor case, transmission rear mount and clutch lever/shaft to fit whatever your chassis is. Also need '36-8 or '39-52 WITH the bigger size fork needed for late synchro.
Frisco here's a pic of the mount with a trans case attached. And A flathead/trans installed in a 32 frame.
Couple more things to add: You can use the later open drive pickup parts with an early top-shift case to achieve an open drive setup. There is a special main shaft as well as rear-case mount/plate (has the speedo drive, etc). This later open-drive setup will not work with the 32 rubber mount - as it has it's own ears/mounts on it. There are quite a few ways to go - just get the later gears, or Zephyr gears, later syncho setup, correct shift forks, etc.. I highly recommend picking up the booklet from Mac VanPelt -- he's done a great job of putting all the details in one place. There transmissions are relatively easy to rebuild -- if you have a good set of gears and shafts, then about all you need is a small-parts kit, maybe some new synchros and potentially some new bearings . . . that is about it. Make sure you don't have end-play in the cluster gear (that is bad on all manual transmissions) - so you might need to put some new thrust washers in it. IMHO: The Zephyr gears are more mystique and bragging rights -- than a good use of money. All they do is let you brag about how "fast you can go in low" . . . that is about it. They are usually not the best for "off the line" acceleration and they cost more than they're worth. With that said - I was one who "had to have them" when I built my first flathead hotrod - 35 years ago. Good original gears were a pain to find then - and expensive. The repops are quite expensive today - don't know how good they are for quality though.
Use a 78 series gearcase and a late model gearset. Although Ford started to use the improved gearset in '39, it wasn't all inclusive until the '41 model year. Here's a link to Vanpelts website: http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_drawings_trans.htm
Thanks to all who have replied. Great info that points me in the right direction. I brought the roadster home this past Saturday. Drove it on the trailer. Couldn't get it to run more than a few minutes when I got home, so had to just roll it off the trailer and into the garage. I suspect some trash in the carb from all the bouncing on the ride home. I'll post some photos soon. The ones below are from the ad and one on the trailer on the way home.
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