Technical bw t 87 heavy duty 3 speed

I recently purchased a sweet little 29 roadster from a Hamber in Colorado, I am crazy about this car. My new 29 probably has the nicest sheet metal of any car I have owned in the last 57 or so years. The most interesting part is the T 87 3 spd. trans. The previous owner told me that it was an open drive truck 3 spd. I assumed it was a 51 or 52 open drive 3 speed top shifter. When we unloaded it from the trailer and drove it the short distance to my house, I immediately realized that it didn't feel like any ford top shifter that I had ever drove. This trans was extremely ,smooth and quiet , had a beefy feel that I ever experienced in my standard flathead gear boxes. This box feels like it would hold a ton of horsepower, If I miss a bit on the clutch the teeth on the gears feel as big as my thumb! My point is, if this thing is a step up from the standard ford three speeds, in the strength department, why weren't they used more? Ford bellhousing makes it a bolt up to a flathead, open drive eases the installation in cars with later beefier rears, why have I never heard about this trans. before? Thanks guys Rich

 

If it’s the Borg T-87 it will have that marking cast into the side of the gearbox case. This is definitely a rugged transmission and it’s synchronized into second and high gears. The main downside is that it has a fairly low ratio first gear. It’s also a bit larger (and heavier) than the regular light duty 3 speed variety.

 

Mac VP is correct on all counts. I put this trans in the truck in my avatar to replace a granny non-synchronized 4 speed because, hey, synchros and heft. Turns out it wasn’t much of an improvement

 

Green Monster, Just curious as to what you were expecting and what you got? Rich

 

Are you sure it’s not a T85. This was a heavy duty truck transmission used by racers. I believe the T87 was a much lighter trans.

I have the 85 in my Modified and it is set up to use 2nd and 3rd only.


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See here; https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/warner-t-85-t-89-three-speed-transmissions/


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It is definitely a borg warner t 87 says so right on the side of the case. Top shifter too! Not too many t 85's like that. Rich

 

First gear not being so low. I saw the ratio before I got it, but cognitive dissonance kicked in. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far better than the non synchronized if for no other reason than not having to double clutch up and down , but I should have just gone with a regular toploader 3 spd even though the parts seemed harder to come by at the time. It’s not quite low enough to start out in second, but first is nearly useless.