Been searching for a top-loader and finally managed to get one. Fellas, need a little help to identify it. Hopefully the pics will help this. The case seems to bear 78 casting as much as I can see. Inner sides are completely square where the bolts are situated. The gears include a combination of straight cut and helical cut gears which to my knowledge are pre 36'. The rear mount is clearly the type which was introduced in 42'. Shifter lever is a 36-37' model with a single gentle curve. Casting number starts with 99. Vanpeltsales page is a great source for information but I still feel a bit confused... -Pasi
78 case is the good one.It looks good in the pictures,fill her up and run it!!!Someone else could explain the case thing better than me,it has to do with the rear bearing surface.Merry Christmas: The Fedcos
It is a pre 39 gear set. No brass synchros. With the square cut low, it is probably fairly early set of gears. The set looks beautiful.
In addition to straight cut gears, the mainshaft is also not a spiral one. My bet is that someone has found a clean set of earlier gears and put them into a later housing.
78 Housing is the good one for sure. But find a set of later gears you will be alot happier. Changing them out is fairly straightforward and makes a much more pleasant driving experience. All the best, Tim
I've just rebuilt one of those cases. Learnt here that the 99 case is a Mercury casting but is the same as a 78. Mine was a 99 casting stamped with a 1939 Ford Vin. The gears are straight cut and therefore earlier, but I'd never change them out, they look NOS! Looks a nicely rebuilt transmission.
The above is true and is the ideal situation, but..... ....There is absolutely nothing wrong with earlier gear sets. A little more primitive maybe, but still very doable. Especially considering the apparent condition of your trans. I'd use it as is and move on to other aspects of your project while keeping an eye peeled for another trans/later gear set. These transmissions are getting a little harder to find but they're still out there for reasonable money. A little patience will get you what you want...
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/ this is a good place to start. Also there is some good reading on here as well. Some things I've learned the hard way. (trial & error) In the old days first was thrown out & LaSalle first gears were used, they were beefier. I have heard that Speedway sells them but I'm not sure of the quality. It is a great looking Tranny!! Also watch-out for the towers. the early forks are smaller. 39 & later are bigger.
I thought the same thing! I'd like to see the tech on that one!! He's prob talkin about a Zephyr gearset...
X2! That gear set looks real good. What do you intend to run it in? Something light leave it alone. If you are are running a heavier car or a tall rear ratio put the Zephyr gear set in.
My intention is to run it in 29' with an 8ba. My machinist just got the block (.080 bore) and crank ready. Quite a low budget build, nothing fancy: EAB heads and original intake with one carb. The factory cam is in pretty good shape, maybe using even it, let's see. Torque tube and original banjo with 3:54 gears. Believe me, transmissions are not easily found in Finland. I suppose this would do when used with good manners... I took a screen capture of my case on the left, showing the different bellies, the 78 in the middle and the earlier 48 case, on the right side. -Pasi
Looks to me that you have all the parts correctly identified. A lot of comments that are telling you to swap in later gears are forgetting one point. It's hard to see from the pic, but if that's a single detent shift tower, you're pretty much stuck using an early gear set. The syncro is different on the later gear sets (46-48) which would be much more desirable. Pic I uploaded is an open drive truck tranny just to show you the later syncro. The fork in the tower has a wider span and is back a little farther. Your early fork wont fit. One last thing, the rear mount is upside down. The webbing goes up to clear the saddle mount that is used under it.
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