Technical Transmission, Lasalle transmission gets Olds tailshaft

Nice parts pile Paul! And to think I thought I had too many

 

The countershaft size is smaller on my 37 than the later side shift ones. Gary

 

I had a spare '37 case bored out to accept the later countershaft,
haven't put it together yet
but it is on the leading edge of the pile..

 

Beautiful post... Admire the perseverance with the camera work... I'd forget what the hell I was doing if I tried to do that. Thanks.

 

Here is the pic of the snap ring and it's partner

 

Will measure and photograph over the weekend. I reserve the right to be wrong! ;-)

 

Darned if you weren't right!



SKF 6208-2ZNR for the front/input shaft
Nothing available for the center bearing (this is the special 1937 one 47508-7)
SKF 6206-2ZJEM for the tail housing
SKF 15412 seal for the tail housing (narrower than original, but should work)

Note: The Stens 230-254 has rubber grease seals which may not be optimal for this application. The SKF bearing numbers I have provided have metal shields like the original bearings. They are shielded on both sides so you can pry off the extra shield if you like to more closely match the original bearings. This is what the bearing house recommended.

I got the bearings at Applied Industrial Technology in Long Beach, California. They are based in Cleveland though and will do mail order. The two bearings and the seal were just under $100 with shipping and tax.

 

excellent info,
this belongs in the THE oldsmobile rocket 303 324 371 394 post to end all other posts, (lasalle related ) thread

 

Just cross-posted there for all those Olds guys...


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Yes, yes, yes, of course you are right. One of the three bearings is no longer available for the '37. By a process of elimination it must be the one between the trans case and tailshaft. I had to clean and reuse my old one. Hopefully it will hang in there. I made my own gaskets which was no big deal and found an o-ring that fits the shifter-shaft groove perfectly. Getting the shifter re-chromed now.

 

I know this is an old post! Thank you for posting. My friend has a 50 olds trans I'm trying to get from him and I have a 37 La Salle. This exactly is what I want to do.

 

Great thread!!!

 

Has anyone had 37 LaSalle Low/reverse and 2nd /high shifter shafts machined? I am planning to get some bar stock (drill rod?)and have them made IF I can find dimensions or a set to copy. Maybe there are others here who want a set?

I started with a 1940 Cadillac complete gearbox, and just picked up a 37 case, shift lever, tail housing. Picked up the shifter forks off eBay. Plan is to modify the LaSalle box to take the 40 innards but I have a ways to go putting this shifter puzzle together.

 

This is such a fantastic thread with amazing detail & info! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this... I know the thread is very old, but I am trying to help my 80-yr old Dad with his 50 Olds 394. Back in the day he put a 3-speed Cad transmission in it (he believes it was from a 50 or so Cad but it's been about 60 years and he's not sure) with the Olds tailshaft like this combo. We're trying to run down some parts for a partial rebuild of it, and I'm a bit confused on the bearings listed in several of the replies in this thread.
RockAuto lists an input shaft bearing for a 50 Olds manual with the following specs:
Inner Race Bore: 35mm
Outside diameter: 72mm

The SKF 6208-2ZNR (or Stens 230-254) both list an inner race bore of 40mm and OD of 80mm. Is this because the input shaft on the Cad trans is 5mm larger in diameter than the stock Olds 3-speed input shaft? Dad thought the two boxes were pretty much the same, but his memory is understandably fuzzy on this stuff 60+ years after the fact.

Rock Auto doesn't list an output shaft bearing, but they do list the same SKF 15412 rear seal.

They also don't list anything in the way of a clutch kit, so if there are any suggestions on that front, please let me know. I'm headed cross-country to see my dad in CA in a few weeks, and was hoping to order stuff we might need before I get out there so we can hopefully make some progress while I'm there.

Thanks again!

 

Sorry, meant to quote this one originally as well. See my post above about confusion over the input shaft bearing size (at least when compared to what is listed at RockAuto for a 50 Olds 3-speed trans).

 

call Northwest transmission in OH. Talk to John in the PM.

 

I’m new here and signed up just to comment on this thread. I have a 1955 Olds 88 with a LaSalle trans and a short tailshaft. I’m trying to get a output shaft seal. Who knows the part number Napa and Advance sold me the wrong ones. I’m having a heck of a time trying to find one.

 

The one listed in a post here on HAMB is xxxxxxxx SKF 15142.

Rockauto lists 15041, but it appears they also list the wrong front bearing, so I’d go with HAMB.

 

I have that seal and it doesn’t press in it’s slightly bigger than the tailshaft opening

 

By short tail you mean you have the 50 Olds tailstock? If so,
Call George at Olcar bearings. He has helped me out before and may have the correct seal.
135 James Creek Rd

Southern Pines, NC 28387-6833

(910) 693-3324
If that fails to help I may have one in the shop somewhere or at least the part number. I will look today or you could pm @Eddie in GA as he has been working with these trannies for a while now and may have the current part number.

 

I had a typo in my original post - the SKF listed here in another post is 15142.

The 15041 on Rockauto has the following specs:
Width: 0.453
Shaft: 1.5
Bore: 2.377
OD: 2.381

15142 has:
Width: 0.313
Shaft: 1.5
Bore: 2.502

So if you have the 15142 & it’s too big, maybe Rockauto is right and it’s the smaller OD 15041?

I’m trying to help my 80-yr old Dad with his so I’m interested to hear what you find out...

 

I have three original rear seals that I removed and saved. They are Victor49325 and National 6010. They measure 2.152 to 2.155 for the tail stock opening. According to my notes the Napa N1136 will work albeit a smaller unit in depth or width.

Correction on the N1136....that is a clutch release bearing not a seal...my notes are not too clear

 

Wow, really interesting, that’s different (smaller) than both the ones in the HAMB posts and the one on Rockauto. But hard to argue with original parts!
I wonder if there were variants of the Olds tailshaft? Really confusing (especially since my Dad’s in CA & I’m in VA so I can’t just go measure the stuff he has). He’s going to, but hasn’t quite gotten around to it yet.

 

I am not aware of different tail stocks for the 50 Olds. It was a one year only tranny. Does he have the old rear seal? Can he post a pic of the tail stock?
51 and up tailstocks had many changes and different seals. It is doubtful that it is a later unit as the go to conversion with the lasalles was the addition of the short 50 Olds piece but there is some weird stuff out there.

 

According to my cross reference the victor crosses over to these:
PAYEN NA404
TIMKEN 2194
TIMKEN 7692S
NATIONAL 10964
NATIONAL 2194
NATIONAL 2194S
you could check th spec on these to see if they are close, some may not be

 

Today when I talked to him I asked him to measure the OD & shaft on the trans he has out of the car (which I believe is the same setup as the one in the car). I have one pic of the trans from the last time I was there and will post it here. Ignore the fact that we mixed up the yellow 2 & 3 markings, figured that out after the pic was taken...

 

I looked at the three I have
The transmissions are all assembled so I couldn't get the critical dimensions as the seal is stepped, the bore in the transmission is a smaller dimension than the exposed portion of the seal,
but the outer exposed part does match the Rockauto of 2.375, not necessarily a good sign..

The seal in the black one, like one of vtwhead's, is a National # 6010

 

Thanks for the replies - both you & vtwhead! I'm confused by the picture of the trans mounted to the engine block - is that a shifter going into the top of the trans case? The transmission my Dad has in the 50 Olds (and the extra one that's pictured in my post above) have no provision for that (only the side-mounted shifter linkage).

I'm hoping Dad can find a number stamped on the tailshaft seal (as well as maybe the input shaft bearing?), as otherwise I don't know how we can be sure of what to order without disassembling it first. I was hoping to order stuff in advance of my trip out to CA in early June so we'd have the parts available to do the work.

 

One interesting note - I went back and looked at your amazingly documented original build post and see that the casting number on your Olds tailshaft is 1457122-3. The one my Dad has out of the car is different by one digit - 1457122-2 (no idea about the one currently in the car, at least until I can get out there in a few weeks and get underneath it). I wonder if there's any significance of that?

 

It's a one year only 1937 Cadillac LaSalle transmission with a one year only 1950 Oldsmobile tail shaft.