Chev 235 trans swap keeping torque tube?

Are there any? Sort of odd but it took me so long to find a replacement tube rear just to get it going and well now that it's going i see why so many people swap these things out. the engine is crying on the highway with the stock 3 speed. has a 54 stick rear which has 3.73 in it off the top of my head. am i shit outta luck cause i'm livin' lo' cash right now?

 

anything is possible if you know a good machinist and have lots of cash.

isn't the powerglide rear like a 3.54 or somewhere around there?

 

You can use a glide rear its a 3:55, but I gotta tell ya, 5 gears is better than 3.

 

The difference between a 3:70 and 3:55 won't be enough to solve the issue of too many rpms. Either a lower gear or and overdrive are neede to solve this issue, and that means an open driveline if you are realistic. Otherwise....

Gear Vendors makes a unit that would work with the TT rearend, but its hardly worth the cost.

I think there is someone out there that takes the TT 3spd and converts 3rd gear into an OD gear, but that is also more expensive than its worth, and the way you would need to drive it, it would probably make you wonder why you did it...

 

Don't know if it would be any better or if they still make it but Patricks used to make a kit that allows you to adapt a Saginaw to the torque tube.

http://www.patricksantiquecars.com/ You might try them.

 

i saw the patricks in another thread. guess i'll start looking. everything in jersey seems to get crushed though so i dunno how much luck i'll have. thanks again. can anyone who has done a swap give me an idea on cost and how much does the crossmember need to be modified.

 

I'm trying to get patricks Saginaw and an old overdrive in the torquetube driveline.

Cost: lots so far

 

Patricks still makes the kit.

I am swapping out the non synchro 3 speed for a Saginaw 4 speed and keeping my torque tube quick change rear in my modified.

But it still leaves a 1 to 1 4th gear which won't help him with the highway RPM's.
He needs to go overdrive final gear or different rear ratio. '22

 

i guess in my head i was kinda thinking of an old chev 3spd overdrive. but in searching i just found references to T5s

 

Yeah, it's too bad that no one has tooled up to make an overdrive fourth gear for a Saginaw four speed. Although they're weaker than a Muncie or Super T-10, they're definitely tougher than a T-5, and are still easy to find.

 

Switching to a 5 speed cost me under 500, and 200 of that is a new driveshaft.

 

get the tallest tires you can stand.. that will help a bit.

 

Is that including an open drive conversion on the rear end?
Or were you already running an open drive? Just curious. '22

 

if your lo on $$ just get the 3:55 powerglide rear,it will make it drivable till you get more $$. add some taller skins. thats not a bad ratio for a 235. lotta V8 guys gettin rid if them torq tubes.

 

Make sure you know exactly your existing rear ratio first.
If it's 4.11 it would scream like you say and going to 3.55 would make all the difference.

I got a 3.55 rear with my daily 235 and also got the same rear and torque tube with my new 261.

On the freeway with stock tire diameter you can go 70 at around 2800rpm all day.

I also wish the available torque tube overdrives would be more affordable, but I'm happy without them and get to spend the savings on other important stuff for the car.

 

it was definitley out of a 54. we drove to PA and pulled it out from under a sedan. 4:11 were in the stick cars from 49-52. 53/54 has 3:70.

 

I was going through the same thing you are now and I decided to change over to open drive line... so far I'm into it for about 200. I got a '57 rear end, the correct bell housing to hold a saginaw to the 6 cyl., and a sag 3 speed. I'm picking up a sag 4 speed next week so I think I'm going to use the 4 speed

Mike

 

the 3.55 powerglide rear is the only cheap answer. other than that the next step is a 3 or 4 spd and a high gear open drive rear. the 235 has lots of torque and will handle a rear as high as 2.50 ive done it.you dont really need a 5 spd again the torque thing, you dont need to keep a 235 wound up with a close ratio trans. the 5spd deal is really to increase low end take off as cars have had 2.50-2.70 gears since the 70,s. so a 5spd with a 3.73 gives you a lot of take off but you still end up at 2.50-2.70 in high gear,the same high gear as a saginaw 4spd and a 2.70 rear .

 

I have wrestled with this problem A LOT. and came to the same conclusion as DIRTTRACKER. inlines handle 3 speeds with no problem. 235,s with the stock 3 speed and torq tube, are simple and strong. That trans has a good low gear, [wide ratio]they will get you away at the stoplite. wind it up a bit and throw it in second, let that 235 handle it from there. get it up on the freeway and the 3:55 gear will take you down the road. use a taller tire if you need to. no need to spend bucks on all that opendrive 4sp, 5sp, bandwagon.

 

i'll have to see if i can find a set of gears. i think i already have a pair of axle seals cause i was gonna swap out parts of two bad rears but they were both too far gone. anything will help. this is gonna end up as a daily and i do a lotta highway driving. thankss.

 

I have a 235 motor, stock three speed trany and a power glide rear-end and tall tires on my chevy.
I cruze at 70-75 mph on the freeway no problem, with power to spare for passing.

its no hotrod and I would not push it past 85mph , but thats pleanty fast for me.

 

Ryan Ive got a power glide gear set with the front loadder and torque tube attached..pm me if your interested

 

I wonder if anyone would pay the $2,000 - $2,500 per unit that it would cost to redo the old trucksetll overdrive for our torque tubes.

Just a thought

 

That's about the price of a Gear Vendors torque tube OD, currently available.

I also heard about some Volvo torque tube OD unit that can be made to fit.


Just swapped my old 4.11 torque tube and gears with a powerglide 3.55 earlier today on my coupe.
Cheapest, easiest upgrade for pre-50s torque tube cars and all you ever really need.
Glad to read about others driving the same setup.
Keeping things simple never fails ...

 

yeah, but gear vendors aint "traditional"

 

can i just swap out the ring gear in the pumpkin or do i need to dump a whole new rear in it? if the pinion gear was the same between the 3:70 and 3:55 it'd make life a whole lot easier.

 

the fast easy way to do it is to take the torque tube with the 3.55 or 3.70 gears and swap the whole thing into the existing differential - keeping your axles, brakes, diff housing. You can even do it without taking the whole unit out of the car.

 

Maybe I'm spoiled here, but there's a number of you-pull-it type yards in this area. I could buy all the parts to go to an open drive with a T5 for a couple hundred bucks tops. It's just a matter of what they get in stock - but S10s are so common, worst case you use a rear out of one of those. I wouldn't even mess with the old stuff unless someone gave it to me.

As it is I traded a buddy for an S10 with what turned out to be a T4 instead of a T5.. I almost had a rearend out of a Camaro, but the yard it was in I can't bring power tools in and I needed some to cut it out. I'll get one eventually... it may even still be there if I go back. Haven't had time.

 

First off, again, verify that you don't have the 4:11 gears. Just because the car was supposed to come with the 3:70 does not mean that someone didn't do a swap/repair. I found 2 1954 chevy's with the 4:11 gears in my 15 years of dealing with chevys. If you do have the 3:70 gears swaping out for 3:55 will only give you about a 3-4 mile gain at 60, so instead of turning say 3k rpm at 60 you are turning 3k rpm at 64. So, it may not be worth the time and effort. Remember, you have to get your speedo re-calibrated to read correctly as well.

With this being said, the swap is easy (about a 4-5 hour job with lots of beer). I have been running a 53 with a 235/3 speed and 3:70 at 65 mph with no problems at all. It is a bit loud but the 235 is built to last. I have a complete 3:55 unit (tube and gears). PM if interested.

 

I agree with Zirad = check what it is first. About 2 weeks ago i took apart 2 - 4.11 's apart - one turned out to be a 3.55 and one was a 3.70. So much of this was swapped over the years, you dont know what is what anymore without checking