Looking for a couple of parts specific to a box that has been converted for early Ford use. (torque tube) Tuck, Bleed, and Paul have hooked me up huge with the basics and some other hard to find parts. Just missing a couple of vital bits.
There's a guy in Ohio that sells alot of this on ebay. I can't remember his user name for sure but something like hotrodjohn or bob maybe, but he also has items definitely listed under plainjane038, maybe his wife? What do you need? Eddie
Huh... oddly enough I need the parts Hot Rod John from Ohio failed to send. As well as replacements for the junk I recieved from him that was represented as good. So thanks, but I won't have any more dealings with him or anyone associated with J&K Trans Service.
The gentleman from Ohio is John Kovar, and he is really the most knowledgeable early Ford Trans guy on the planet. Yes, he is hard to deal with, but he is the man when it comes to straight up knowledge. I hung out with him for a few days over thanksgiving here at the Turkey Run, simply incredible knowledge. Kevin, I cannot imagine that John directly misrepresented anything to you. He and Ginny Lobeck started the V8 shop 30+ years ago, and John has a great reputation in the industry. How about we give him a call and see if you can work it out?
Never had a problem with Hot Rod John (John Kovar). I have spent quite a bit of time on the phone with him and he has been very helpful in educating me on LaSalle transmissions and modifications. And the parts I have purchased from him have all been fine. What exactly are you looking for?
I'm sorry but I was a little confused by your post. Are you looking for Ford or Lasalle parts? I find that Canter Auto has a lot of good stuff at good prices. If you looking for a Ford Torque Tube, my grandfather has one sitting under his house. Probably been there for 30 years. Not sure the specific year. If you want it let me know.
You may try some of the sources in this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229440 They cater mostly to restorers, and may have just what you need as an unwanted piece in the back.
I am sure he has a lot of knowledge - at the beginning of our dealings he did take time over the phone to share some knowledge. But that can't make up for what I ended up with. So I don't believe another call could help at this point. I have let him know that I am the one calling it quits and prefer to work it on my own. Believe me it was a decision I did not take lightly as I have learned this community is smaller than most people would realize and I don't see myself as one to burn bridges simply out of spite. At the end of the day I paid a large sum of money in advance + the required good core + the promise of reimbursing him for shipping for the following: 1) New adapter with cross shaft and good (used) throwout fork installed. 2) Sideshift LaSalle transmission converted for early Ford use minus cluster. (drop in your cluster and you will be good to go is what I was told) This was to include a Ford rear mount with required machine work to fit LaSalle trans. 3) Brand new snap ring (which he sends out with all orders like this) Subsequent followup calls revealed the trans was missing the synchro as well. I was fully invested with money and core at this point and had been told John was going on vacation by Christmas and would not return until May - so I decided to suck it up and not make a stink as I had another synchro. As soon as I saw the box I knew there could be issues so I took photos of the parts as I pulled them out. 1) No cross shaft 2) No fork 3) No rear mount 4) No cover or bolts (at least two of which are a specialized part) 5) Some shift parts and detent missing 6) low/reverse slider mulched 7) Really poor packing job is evedent resulting in damage to the adapter 8) Bent bushing where it extended into the bellhousing and was smashed by trans. 9) And the icing on the cake was the grimy used snap ring taped to the outside of the box. (I don't care about the snap ring, except that he mentioned uncluding the brand new one a few times) At this point I called and was told he had been very busy, given a sort of half apology and told that those gears "are just like that - no good ones exist" and will work fine. And he would send the rest of the stuff which was missing. I then recieved a box with a new cross shaft, a bent fork still attached to the torched off shaft, an open drive Ford rear mount - useless for this application, and a couple of shifter parts, some of which I already had. I have not taken pics of these since at this point I decided to cut my losses and make my own way - I did not have the energy to persue it any more. I then sent John a message letting him know. I fully understand I am looking to buy parts that are 60+ years old in some cases. I do not expect new old stock unless isted as such. But I do not think I am out of line. This is likely an isolated occurance as I see his stuff listed on ebay and it looks nice and he has good feedback. And my hat is off to him for investing the time to reproduce some pretty rare stuff. But I do not feel like I was treated fairly. If John can defend these pics then I will fully retract and apologize. I am done. For what it's worth I have recieved PM's getting me hooked up with all I need. So thank you to those HAMBers.
Kevin, I cannot imagine that John directly misrepresented anything to you. Gee..... from those pictures...... he sure sells quality parts.......And really can pack parts well. Man.... that ain't right. What the hell happened to that adapter?!?!?!.....was that gear cluster used for a hammer? sheesh!
Kevin, Thanks for letting us know a guy to stay AWAY from! I too had seen his nice looking parts on Ebay, and had filed his info away as a resource. Gonna clean out that file now. I have an extra case, but that looks like about the only part you have that is still usable. Keep us informed of any sources you find, HAMBers or otherwise.
Judging from those pictures, I can see why you're upset. I was going to send him my '37 case and mainshaft for conversion to closed drive, but after seeing this, I'll just do it myself. I would definitely send the parts back and demand a refund. It's the least he can do at this point.
different outfit but, I had a similar deal when looking for a slider gear for a Lasalle a while ago called a well established vintage auto parts dealer told the guy I wanted NOS or very good used and this is what I got
this sucks for everyone.. i feel for you man.. i have a grind going into 2nd gear im going to have to fix one day and who the heck knows where i can get good parts!
My neighbor has a friend who makes gears. Don't know if it's cost-effective to repop these, but I'll check into it when I pull mine apart for a rebuild in a couple of weeks (I have both '37 and a later side shift). Not sure what to do about syncros though. Those are pretty much impossible to find.
Man Oh Man! The picture of that gear and the machine work is complete crap! I'd be so pissed -- to think you paid good money for those parts is enough to make me sick. Guess I don't feel too bad about the decision to put a Tremec TKO behind my 392 Hemi No, it isn't traditional . . . doesn't look traditional . . . but I can get plenty of high quality parts anytime I need them. Hope you get your tranny straightened out . . .
I don't know how plentiful complete Cad/LaSalle transmissions are in Missouri, but I think you'd be better off buying a complete gearbox as opposed to looking for individual parts. I've managed to find a couple within driving distance that spent their lives in the stock Cadillacs they were born in, and both have excellent gearsets. Most Cadillac owners didn't know what a speed shift was. Any I've looked inside that had hot rod heritage looked like they'd been driven by driver ed dropouts.
Watch Epay..........and search for the "funny words"......I saw one end last week for a couple of hunded bucks.........it was the shippng that would kill you. I have the one that sold on my saves incase the buyer flaked if I can PM you the item number. Chris
So Kevin, did you find the info you needed? I'm cutting loose with a few of my LaSalles 4 of them. I only have one 37 but a few of the 39 with and with out shifters plus parts. So how does one put a close tube on it? I don't know if I do indeed have the parts.
I contacted this guy a while back about taper pins for the shift forks on my '37 box. He told me to just tap the holes and screw in bolts! .......CHEEZY
I passed a few 1939 sideshift trans at the swap, my buddy had for 75 bucks each. I should have just bought them to learn what the skinny on the trans itself. Another freind bought them so maybe it will work out yet. Any old articles on the conversion? Closed tube to open? thanks
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