Will a tranny from a flathead six bolt up to a flathead V8. This drivetrain I am being offered (for free) is 53 flathead six. I have just purchased a 49 F2 (no engine). The F2 has the rest of the drivetrain. I am interested in the 53 drive train as spares for the 49. The free drivetrain is near Seattle and I am in a suburb of Houston so I want to make certain it will be of some value to me before I act on it. Any help would be appreciated. The 49 F2 has a floor shift and I believe it is a three speed. The 53 I believe is a four speed (obviously also a floor shift) and is also out of an F2.

 

Are you sure it's a flathead six, or a '53? Ford went to the OHV small six in '52.

 

Are you sure it's a flathead six, or a '53? Ford went to the OHV small six in '52. It could be a 254" six, Ford still offered those in '53, that wouldn't be too terrible. Not sure what it would take to stab it in the '49, though.

 

He states it is a 215 I-6. Not a flathead???

 

Since nobody answered yet. A 215 is the overhead valve 6, not the flathead 6, they were 226. I know the flathead 6 trans will not bolt to a flathead V8, not sure of the trans from the 215.

 

Appreciate the reply. That helps clear things up for me somewhat. I ended up purchasing a real rough 49 or 50 F1 with the Flathead 8 still in it. If the engine salvageable, I will use that in the 49 F2 with the better body.

 

How do you know the trans will not fit both Flathead 6 & 8 cylinder engines. How do you tell the difference between the two units. I'm just asking because I'm looking for a 3 speed trans for my 51 F1 with the Flathead 226 6 cylinder. My reasearch is leaning toward the fact they will fit both engines.

Rod

 

Because I had a '51 H series flathead 6 in my '46, which was bolted right up to the original '46 G series transmission (VIN is factory stamped on bellhousing) and I have 2 '46 flathead V8's, as well as a '49-'53 flathead V8, and have seen that they do have a different mounting area. The flathead V8 is a circle shape, while the 6 cylinder has a bump in the circle, it's not a perfect circle. I am pulling the flathead 6 and trans and replacing it with a '46 V8 and '48 F1 heavy duty 3 speed, had the stock 6 cylinder trans been the same I would have used it.

 

I could use that 6 cylinder trans I have a 226 with the non-syncro 4 speed in my 51.

 

I am planning on keeping it, just because it is the original VIN stamped trans for my truck, in case I decide someday to restore the truck bak to original. I have seen the engine/trans combos on eBay, and usually they go dirt cheap, nobody really wants the flathead 6.

 

Gary, it sounds like you've got the scoop on these. Since I've never seen the 6 cyl setup, I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.

I haven't seen anything in the shop manual that specifies a different tranny for the V8 vs. the 6's. Am I right to believe the difference is in the bell housing/half-bell area?

The V8 set up uses the following variables.
The 59 series V8 has a cast half-bell as part of the block. The 8BA uses a detachable half-bell or ring. This is the easy part.

The light duty 3 spd trans has a non-removable half-bell. The HD 3 spd uses a detachable half-bell.

I guess my questions are: where does the 6 cylinder fit in this mess? Are the G and H series different? Do they have a cast in half-bell or a separate ring? Where exactly is the bump you described?

Thanks for your input. I'm not describing this very well - hope you can make sense of this mush.
Tim

 

Yes, the HD 3 spd has a sep bell, while the light duty 3 spd has a cast in bell. The bell that is on the engine is the original G series, had to use it because the H series had a passenger car bellhousing, needed it to adapt to the G series trans. The bell on the G is a half bell, not a ring. If you look at the Ford Chassis Parts Catalog (aka Green Bible) you'll find that there is a different trans listing for a 6 and V8. The 6 used case with prefix 1GC and the V8 used a case with prefix 78. These are 3 spd transmissions. Of course, the case on the 6 cylinder does use a cast in bellhousing, integral with the whole trans. And the bump is where the back of the starter gear is, the trans bolt pattern goes around the starter.

 

I'm a little confused, I went out in the garage and unbolted a 3 on the tree tranny that was bolted to a junk 1950 flathead v8 and bolted up to a 1948 H series flat six with no problems. So the G series has a completely differnt bolt pattern from any other engine?

 

The G has a removable bellhousing, but that bellhousing has the same engine to bell pattern as the H. But yes, a G series has a different bolt pattern, you need a G series bell to adapt to an H series engine. Sorry I wasn't real clear in specifying everthing. Thinking back now, the trans from an 8 may fit a 6...I never tried since I immediatly got rid of the '51 passenger trans I had.