Can a Ford 39 toploader handle a 327 SBC?

I've got a 327 bored .030 over and had planned to use a stock Ford 39 toploader trans. Someone had told me that the trans would not be able to handle the torque coming from the 327. I also have a 283 with less torque that I could place in front of the trans. Anyway, what are the chances of tearing up that trans hooked up to the 327? Here's the set up: 327+39 trans+40 banjo rear.

 

IF you drive it sensibly it will hold up for a while, probably. But if you start getting on it you will probably get very good at changing not only transmissions but keys in the rear axle. Sticky tires will accelerate their demise.

If you look at some of the old movies a lot of pretty quick cars ran this setup, like Norm's T, but I don't think many of them survived forever. That is why transmissions like Packards, Buicks, and Cad/LaSalles became the ones a lot of guys swapped in.

Don

 

Hello! How much does your car weigh? Tnomoldw

 

Hello ! How much does your car weigh?

 

I'm gonna run a 283 with a '39 Ford and a banjo rear.. It'll be just fine. They did it all the time back then. From what I've gotten from the guys who run this set-up, they all say to not drop the clutch. That's paramount.

But yeah.. It should be just fine as long as you don't try showing off all the time.

 

Even a stock flathead could tear up a trans and rear. The trick to survival was, and still is firstly to have lapped drums and correct axle torque, and secondly to roll start gently in first until the car is doing three or four mph, then lean on it. This takes the pressure of torque overcoming inertia off the axle ends. Well that's my theory, and of the couple of dozen flatheads I've had over the decades, I've never broken a trans, and only broken one key which was on a car I had just bought and so was probably loose.

 

70 LT-1 up to a 39 Ford trans. A pretty healthy motor.



You can't really speed shift them but they are not made of peanut butter either. I "Sunday shift" mine and then put it to the wood once it's solidly in gear. I never have broken one but I treat them with a little respect. ...They are old like me.

 

It's more a question of..."Can you handle the transmission"......rather than..."Can the transmission handle the engine..."

 

X2 if you never hook the tires . they work fine as a driver, not much for racing.

 

I'm running stock running gear in my 41. SBC 350, preformer cam and 3X2s. 3:54s and a Mitchell. Been driving it for 5 years, no problem. Just don't side steep the clutch.

 

I have run a similar setup and I got real good at changing axle keys and replacing cluster gears.

It is traditional and looks neat but for trouble free performance there are better choices. A T5 or T6 tranny and 9" rear would be close to bulletproof if you can afford it.

 

Lincoln Zephire gears also got swapped in, not just for the difference in gear ratio.

Lots of old hot rods had '39 trannies behind small blocks. A .030 327 is a little bit cryptic. I have seen bored 327s that would not pull an old sick woman off a bed pan.

A lot of variables here, tires gears vehicle weight, how the engine was built. Driver is also a variable. Can you drive or did you grow up in a Lexus?

Not ment as a slam it is just something to consider when making a desicion about how to build your car and what parts to choose.

 

I can baby my way around a 39 box, but ring gears are a different matter.

 

it depends on the driver as much or more than the parts----lots of people have lots of experience replacing and repairing these parts even when used behind a mild engine--me i like my cars to crab sideways just a bit when the tires are smoking --did not work for me

 

me neither...I blew my 39 box about 10 minutes after i bought the car...a 40 sedan with a stock flathead....but in all fairness I was showing off trying to lay rubber in 1st gear. I run T-5s now.

 

I agree with the above advice, don't try to dump the clutch and expect the old parts to last or you'll end up doing major repairs on either the gearbox or rear end. I have tens of thousands of miles on my 283 powered roadster with a '39 box and a Columbia axle. I don't expect any problems. Just don't abuse the drive train and yours should last too.

 

I have a customer that I swapped a 300HP 327 into a 36 Coupe with a 39 box. It has been in there now for about 9 years and he is not afraid to beat on it a bit. The banjo rear lasted about 500 miles (now a 9"), but the trans is still fine. He did upgrade to Zephyr gears after a couple of years.

 

Don
I find it amusing that with all the traditional being tossed around this site no one swaps in Zephire gears. It was the most common upgrade done even when I was a kid in the '60s.

 

There are a couple of things that will help a 39 box to live a long life-- first when you build it get ALL the end play and slop out of the cluster gear, use two rear thrust washers if you have to. The box will be very tight and run hot for a while till the thrust washer seats,then drain the trans and put new 90 weight in it. Second make sure it is ALL THE WAY in gear before standing hard on it when shifting.
Do those two things and I have seen them live behind a 392 Hemi and a hot 371 Olds among other mills.

 

I agree with Tommy (and several others here). I've put lots of miles on my '40 coupe with a 350/39 toploader/stock banjo rear. Nothing has ever broken due to horsepower. If you treat it with the respect it deserves it'll be fine and still have a lot of fun with it. If you want to go racing and not have to get good at changing axle keys and such.

 

Have the same set up in my model A and nothing has broken, even using it as a daily driver. The problem is the gearing makes it really slow and it takes forever to shift gears (could be driving it wrong). Hopefully the T5 will fix these issues.

 

Ol Fueler,
You could not be more correct. People run a junk yard tranny and when it comes apart they bad mouth the tranny.

The other thing that they do wrong is that they think they are Ronnie Sox and the '39 trany is a bang box.

 

Jakes tub. SBC and '39 trans

 

All above is good advice, but I'd pick the 283 and increase your safety margin. If you're going to drive sensibly, the 283 will do just as well as the 327. JMO

 

if you drive it like a real hot rod it will break if your making any power.

 

next pic is the guy sweeping up the guts

 

The word here is "Finesse"

4TTRUK

 

I know several that run SBC with 39 type trans and banjo No dumping clutch and no speed shifts, and it will live. As many have suggested, drive sensibly.

 

My 40 Std. Coupe had a 350 hooked up to the original power train. I learned in 2 transmissions how to shift properly and converted to the original column shift from an old Hurst unit on the floor. Then a change to 3.25 rear gears from the stock 3.78 set which got me better MPG and a lower RPM cruising speed.

 

First of all, thanks for the advice. I have a '53 bel air with a 235 and 3 speed that I drive daily. I also have a I deuce pickup that I am half way through with finishing up , which has a 283, 4 speed muncie and a 9" ford. I have not driven the pickup yet, so I don't know how that set up is going to run. The 327, 39 trans and a 39 mercury rear with 3:54
gears would go into a deuce roadster with firestone 550 x1 6 and 750 x16. I am aware of the trans being the weakest like, however, I would still like to move forward to a traditional set up. More so, than my pickup.