Hello,
I have been thinking about returning the flathead into my truck. I have been running a 68 302 mated to the original 3 speed for the past few years. That set up has worked well but I'm tired of the truck in rat rod limbo. I want to restore it to at least a late 50s appearance as a mildly souped up nicely cared for 50 model. The engine block is original to the truck. It was ran in a 50 Coupe I owned so the water pumps and fan are set up for the narrow fan belt. Can I get truck pumps with the narrow pulleys? Will truck pumps work with the wide pulleys using the narrow belt? If not I will haft to replace the Genorator and fan.
The old 3 speed has served quite well. It still shifts well but it is very clanky and leaky. It could use a new set of bearings. Is this a job a modreratly skilled mechanic like myself should attempt. Ive done engines but this would be my first transmission.
Thank you for your comments.

 

It's a simple trans to rebuild. I did my first tranny for my 50 F-1 after rebuilding my engines over the years. I found the worst thing was the lower long pin you slide thru the bearings in the cluster gear. It would have worked better if I had a "dummy" shaft in there before I put the normal shaft in. It's a small case, so space for your hands is at a premium. Parts are easy to get for it. My original gears were beat rom years of abuse, so I took the guts from a 51 side shift and put them in the 50 case. As long as you use all the 51 stuff, it will work. You can't mix and match as the teeth counts are different.
I would go for putting the flatty back. You can get new pumps from NAPA and other sources and the fan and generator stuff is everywhere. Go for it!!

Barry

50 F-1

 

If someone were going to rebuild a unit would it be better to get an overdrive unit and rebuild it?

 

An overdrive would be better behind a flathead, but that entails doing some creative work to the driveline because the overdrive tranny is much longer and doesn't match the crossmember in a F-series. The driveshaft would have to be cut, etc... It sounds like he's going back to a somewhat stock truck.

barry

50 F-1

 

I haven't checked your gallery to see what year you have, but I have been down the same paths on my '52.

Yes, you can get truck pumps easily but not with narrow pulleys (that I know of). I got narrow car pulleys pressed onto the truck pumps at NAPA (they tweaked one a little, but it works). You need to press them on/off if you ever need to replace the pumps. If you can find someone who is a craftsman and not a $10/hr hack, it is not a big deal; the cast iron pulleys are easier to press than the sheet metal ones, without damage.

The OD is as much trouble to fit as a T-5, and they are a PITA IMHO; parts are scarce and getting worse. To fabricate all the various controls from scratch is a major effort, although you could run it "manually". Major hacking on the crossmember is required, as stated earlier that original 3-sp is very short compared to almost anything else. If you're going to the trouble, the T-5 is the better choice, but it's definitely not "50's" looking...but everyone I know who is running one raves about it.

Ross