Started restoring my transmission. Not going as well as I had hoped. Some of the gears in the tranny out of my '53 are chipped/worn. It seems to be isolated to the first and reverse gears. I looked in my manuals and found that the '52 tranny that came with my 215 parts engine shared a lot of parts. I thought I might be able to swap them out. The '52 gears looked good so I had high hopes. That is, until I started disassembling the '52 tranny. The countershaft diameter is smaller so I can't use the cluster gear. There are a few other minor differences. Enough to lead me to believe that the tranny that came out of my '53 isn't original. Looks like it might be from '56 or later. Unfortunately, the tranny cases are completely different which is my I was going the gear swap route.

New gears are out of the question (found some at JobLot). The three gears I need add up to about what I paid for the whole truck (first & reverse slider $75, reverse idler $75 and cluster $250 ). Anybody have a 1953-1955 light duty three speed remote shift transmission holding their shop door open? I could use it.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

In a non sncro 1st tranny it's pretty normal for the 1st/reverse to be chipped and worn. If it really bothers you, you can take a die grinder and smooth out the sharp edges, but it'll most likely be fine .

 

Kevin, check the archives.I went thru this fairly recently and covered various car and truck sideshifters thru the 60's. Lots of interchangability exists.

 

Chipped and worn gears are normal for 1st and 2nd gear in a non synchronized tranny. Sounds like they were too darn lazy to shift properly or replace and or adjust a clutch when needed. Regardless, you will always get a little grunt of the gears when shifting those non-synchro trannies even if you watch you RPM's and double clutch.

I would go with the new gears from joblot. If you are rebuilding it yourself, the price for some new gears, bearings, gaskets and seals is alot cheaper than finding someone else's worn out gears that may not shift any better than what you have.

 

Thanks for the help, guys! I have decided to put the tranny back together as-is. I don't believe it's an original '53 tranny so I'll start searching for a replacement for my stock restoration. Sounds like I can get by with the worn gears if I go easy on the tranny.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Kevin, Do you live near Cissna Park, Illinois? That is near Watseka, Hoopston and ssouth of Kankakee.

 

No, I live further south by Champaign-Urbana near the small town of Mahomet.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Thought about bidding on a set of NOS rebuild gears on eBay. The auction ended at just over $510 which was about twice what I was going to bid. The weird thing is the guy that got outbid has zero feedback and has won auctions totaling over $40,000 in the past week. Huh? Something ain't right there. Doesn't look like a shill bidder but what are the odds the bidder makes good on all those auctions? I'd be a little upset if I put in that winning bid.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Yeah, it does kid of sound funny! Then again when you are spending someone elses money restoring a vehicle, price is no object, no wonder why restorations are outrageous. Not to mention vendors that will not reproduce certain parts but sell a catch all type part for many years of trucks, etc. Example: 1948-52 F series side mirrors. NOS part just went for $180.00 on ebay. Tried buying the part days before it ever was on auction from the same guy and he said, he didn't have any!! He lost my business. The chrome curved shaped side mirrors, that vendors sell for F-series trucks out there are not original parts.

 

Perhaps but this guy's spending spree ran the gamut from ricer bling-bling to vintage autos to motorcycles. One seller has already reported him as a scammer. I still wouldn't have won the auction but the winner probably over paid by a couple hundred dollars due to this jerk. I wonder if he has any recourse?



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100