A buddy of mine just picked up a 1947 Pontiac, it has a inline flathead 8 with a Cad/lasalle tranny. Would a Lasalle trans bolt right onto a Pontiac 8? Was there a special adapter made for this set-up? Is it floor shift or column shift? What other modifications will I need to make?
It's funny. I was contemplating this very swap. I have a 41 Pontiac with that little "Selecto-shift" of whatever that little peanut tranny is. I was looking at the shop manual for this car and it looks like the removable front bearing retainer is the same as my LaSalle 3 speed. The lasalle tranny has the same syncro- setup as the issustration of the pontiac tranny and the bolt pattern on the front appears to be the same. Several differences: The Poncho tranny uses one shift arm and the LaSalle has the more conventional 2 shift arms that go to separate levers, like a 41-65 chevy 3 speed. The Ponitac tranny is a short little shit while the looooooooooong LaSalle tranny is about 32 inches long. The rear mount is about half way down the Caddy tailshaft housing, putting the mount about 10-12 inches more rearward than the ponitac mount.. A 1950 Olds V/8 tailshaft and tailshaft housing will bolt-up to the LaSalle tranny, making it drastically shorter but I have no measurements to show it would then bolt into a pontiac, although it will bolt into an Olds after the tailshaft/housing swap. Hope this helps....Here's a photo of my sideshift 39 LaSalle trans....It's upside down and you're looking at the bottom...yes, the inspection cover is on the bottom! too bad I just sold it to Tuck. BTW, a 37 LaSalle tranny has the top shifter and needs no external linkage like my 39 tranny...don't know about a 38 tranny.
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