I have a -40 Plymouth with a not so good transmission and like to know from which year Mopar I can get another one for replacement? If theres a bolt in transmission from late 40 or early 50s. I dont want a fluid drive trans. Did the early V8 cars use the same transmission as for the flathead six? Heres a pic of my -40.
Hello, I believe the tranny is the same.. My 55 has a 303 plymouth in it. the manual tranny is out of a 47 plymouth .. it works fine.. Thats a Nice car you have there...
Thanks! Thats exactly what I like to hear cause theres not so many early Mopar transmission laying around over here in Sweden and if this is the case I should be able to find one pretty easy This is my first early Mopar so Im still in the learning process.
Don't forget the gasket between the bell housing and the transmission. If you don't install it, you WILL have leaking transmission oil. At least that's the case on a 1948 Plymouth.
your trans will have parking brake on tail of trans (trans brake) and use a propeller (ball and trunnion) shaft/drive shaft. Not sure what year Plymouth would have updated to a modern park brake on rear shoes and drive shaft with u-joints. It is possible they kept the entire driveline the same until the last 218 c.i. was phased out in the mid '50's? Keep that in mind when you shop for a trans. Nice coupe!
That's a real nice Plymouth - don't start "upgrading" the running gear unless you do all of it. They drive just fine when maintained as stockers, and become addictive with 2 coils cut & a split manifold.
Thats exactly my plan to keep the original engine and gearbox and use the Cherokee rear to get the rpm down on the highway. I have consider the T5 swap too but not at this moment, maybe sometime in the future. Thank you all for your comments.
I don't know if this helps but my 1954 repair manual shows all 1940 - 1954 manual trans, Dodge and Plymouth use the same trans. They might have used it even longer but that is all the manual covers. These guys would know if anybody does. http://forums.aaca.org/f154/ AACA forum. There are even a couple of guys offering transmissions for sale.
Thanks, that helps a lot. A guy over here offer me a 1948 3-speed in good shape so I keep my fingers crossed...
There is some differenses to consider. One is when they move the gearshifter to steerincolonn.(49 i belive) Another is that at least Dodges (53-54 with V8) and De Soto have longer inputshaft then plymouth. But the most internals are same and can be used as spareparts. The trouble i have seen in these boxes are the bottomstock (hope it calls so) tend to get to big movement over the years and the teeth start nagging with gears not engaged. It seems that the front copperwasher that hold it in place wears over the time. And 5-speeds are fore daily drivers with poor torque.
Yes, fluid drive trans has a very long input shaft. Also they changed to column shift from floor shift in 1940.
I would think if you are running the stock flathead 6 that at least any trans car or half ton truck would be bolt up. 48-53 trucks ran column shifts and I'm sure the cars did as well. You may need to swap bell housings but don't quote me Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
As Rusty said 1940 has column shifter from factory. Is there any fully synchronized 3-speed transmission of this era? I think I've read somewhere about that but couldnt find it now.
I suspect you haven't tried a Chrysler flatty, with a T5. My customers are over the Moon on how much more useful it makes the car on modern roads.
First American car with a full synchro 3 speed was 1962 Ford. You really don't need it in your car because it will climb anything in 2nd and idle down to 10MPH in high. The 4 speed or 5 speed is nice especially if you do high speed driving (over 90Km Hr). There should be some European transmissions, out of Volvo, Mercedes or BMW that can be easily found where you are, that could be adapted by a clever mechanic.
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