31 Model A trans question

i have a 1931 Model A with the a 4 banger and 3 speed trans. now....my driveshaft has quite a bit of play in it. i really do not know anything about these old 3 speeds. is this bad? later on i can upload a picture.

 

what do you mean your drive shaft has play?

 

Much more information is needed to give any sort of usefull diagnosis. Univesal joint diff or drive coupler etc.

 

Ask the question on the Morel A forum at the Ford Barn. More model A guys there, tons of experience.

 

If there are no other bad sounds likely it is the U-jont, but not knowing how stock your drivetrain is leaves alot of questions. Are you running a later transmission and an open drive shaft? or basic stock drivetrain? Rod

 

ok sorry for the vauge first post. it is open driveshaft. stock 3 speed. the tail shaft coming out of the case has quite a bit of play. like.....1/8" of slop. makes a little noise when letting out the clutch...but seems to be fine while driving. are these old tans common to have such slop?

 

Sounds like the bolt that holds the u-jount to the trans main shaft is loose or missing the special washer used with them. I have never seen open drive shafts done that way. How do you keep the original u-joint lubed? is one question I have by looking at the pic's. Lots of play is not a good thing with these transmissions, most have very little from my experiernce. Rod

 

What rearend is in that A? What I see under the screen wire is a stock u-joint, driveshaft with no torque tube.
Stock u-joints have no lubrication except that from the cup which is missing on your car. WHAAAAAAT?
Show us the back end of that "conversion", please.

 

I will go take a few more pics and upload soon.

 

hopfully these will shed some light on the situation

 

x2-If that u-joint dosen't have a lot of play in it now, it will after running with no lube.

 

Just saw the pictures- you might want to do something about that. Soon-that is a little spooky.

 

Geezzzz, is this April 1 already? This has to be a joke. If you are actually driving this you better go buy yourself a lottery ticket. Once that U-Joint comes apart,,, I'm just going to stop here.

 

what DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! IS THAT????? i'm sorry but you need to do something about that. its no good.

 

My thoughts exactly. Time to re-engineer this whole mess. Consider the conversion to a late 40's- early 50's gearbox made for an open driveshaft. I know the adaptor and trans can be abit spendy, but likely much cheaper than the hospital bill of funeral you will have when this setup comes apart. Rod

 

Today is the day that I have seen everything....You really need to stop driving that thing.

 

An A banger going through a 9" rear?

 

I've never seen a open drive conversion like that, and undoubtedly there are several reasons why!
Try and find a somebody building a hot rod and if they still have the rear assy try to get at least the torque tube, front u-joint cups (1/2's) and shaft and center section, and radius rods if not the whole rear.
I have two A's and I gave that stuff to restorers years ago.

 

I do not know what the swap meets are like where you are, but most of what you need to go back to a stock model a rear end with a torque tube should not be too bad money wise- the most expensive part will probably be the u-joint itself. It would probably be easyer to go this route and convert the "a" rear to hydraulic brakes. This, however, is from my experience- I have restored model a's, but I have never looked into converting a stock drivetrain to an open driveshaft. Some of the other guys on this site can probably tell you about how hard that is.

 

I purchased it two weeks ago locally, I had a feeling it was missing something. The six bolt holes bolt a tail shaft housing to the trans? I take it that housing is what keeps the u joint lubed? It is discouraging that I don't know much about this motor and trans, not mention I got hosed on the deal.

 

wow. pretty gnarly

 

the u joint is sposed to be in a housing that is full if grease. plese post pics of the rest of the car.

 

I'd start looking over the rest of the car very carefully.

 

Just found a guy on CL with parts, went an looked at them a few mins ago. He has the two halves and a ring that bolt to the trans. And a torque tube.

 

we are here to help. but need photos of the under neath trans. ect: and the car itself. JAN.

 

Don't get discouraged-I don't know what you paid for the car, but everything is fixable, and now you also have a good excuse to put a v-8 in the car if you want. Seriously, though, you can fix all this, and many, many people here will help you with good(usualy) info. PICTURES ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND !!!!!! No one can help if we do not know exactly what is going on. I have a stock model A in my garage. I have fuc**d up and fixed almost every inch of that car, and would be willing to give advice if I can help.

 

thank you to everyone.

i will post more pictures tomorrow of the whole thing.

i am currently building a 42 ford p/u with a 327 sbc so i intend to keep the 4 banger in the A. i think its rad.

 

basically they removed the torque tube . no lube for the u-joint . not a cool set-up .
i would either put a true open shaft , or put the torque tube back in it ...... steve

 

how would one acheive a true open shaft in my case.

 

I believe those model A rear bones are not going to take the load of an open drive rear end very long. Not a great place to mount the shocks either. Look up some local Hambers and have them look this over. I would really hate for you to get hurt from someone elses mistakes. It can all be fixed.