50 Plymouth Transmission wanted

[raystewart]

Hi Guys, I spent the day Saturday wandering around Carlisle in search of a floor shifter to fit our 50 Suburban Deluxe; after much research I know this is a tough item to find.  I got lots of sympathy for this search and a few suggestions, i.e. try a truck trans that came with a floor shift, a more modern running gear, etc.  I've done searches here and have seen a number about fabricating your own shifter and what I would like to do is find a spare transmission to use to fab one.   Anybody in the Eastern PA/NJ/NY area happen to have one laying around?  I'm not looking for one that is necessarily "good', just something to be able to throw up on the bench to experiment with.   Why floor shift you ask?   Wife can't master the 3 on the tree and a desire to add one of those in column power steering units.  We really want to keep the Flathead and don't feel the need to get involved in the $ to add a T-5 along with the E brake and driveshaft mods needed. Our vision for this car is just a nice, presentable driver.  She is pretty much rust free, about 95% straight and runs like a watch.  I think with a touch of bodywork, a quick respray and some fresh wiring we will be set.   Any help or suggestions appreciated, Thanks!   

[knuckleharley]

2 hours ago, raystewart said:

Hi Guys, I spent the day Saturday wandering around Carlisle in search of a floor shifter to fit our 50 Suburban Deluxe; after much research I know this is a tough item to find.  I got lots of sympathy for this search and a few suggestions, i.e. try a truck trans that came with a floor shift, a more modern running gear, etc.  I've done searches here and have seen a number about fabricating your own shifter and what I would like to do is find a spare transmission to use to fab one.   Anybody in the Eastern PA/NJ/NY area happen to have one laying around?  I'm not looking for one that is necessarily "good', just something to be able to throw up on the bench to experiment with.   Why floor shift you ask?   Wife can't master the 3 on the tree and a desire to add one of those in column power steering units.  We really want to keep the Flathead and don't feel the need to get involved in the $ to add a T-5 along with the E brake and driveshaft mods needed. Our vision for this car is just a nice, presentable driver.  She is pretty much rust free, about 95% straight and runs like a watch.  I think with a touch of bodywork, a quick respray and some fresh wiring we will be set.   Any help or suggestions appreciated, Thanks!   

I would try sending emails to people like Summit Racing,Jegs,and the manufacturer of every floor shift conversion kit in existence,and ask them.

 

Baring that,find out EXACTLY what transmission you have right down to the casting numbers,and and then see if that transmission also fit into other manufacturer's cars. Chances are there are floor shift conversion kits out there that will fit and work perfectly,but they are not listed as fitting a 50 Plymouth because nobody ever orders one.

 

I have put a floorshift conversion in a Chevrolet truck that were made for Fords because that happened to be what I had,and then a few years I ended up putting a Chevrolet floor shift conversion kit into a Ford. The only real problem with either was the 1st and reverse gear shift positions were reversed. In both cases if I wanted to back up I had to shift into what would have normally been low gear,and had to shift into what would normally be reverse to go forward. Second and high gear were in their normal locations.

 

I guess I could have turned the first and reverse shift arm 180 degrees and made a new shift rod that was longer and bent and it might have worked,but I didn't care enough to even think about it. I was doing this because the column shifts were worn out and they were just work trucks.

[raystewart]

That is where I started but this vintage 3 speed is a bit of a freak, it is a "selector" type where one lever controls what gear you are in and the other controls if you are choosing between R&1 or 2&3.   Seems none of the shifter manufacturers have made anything since the 60's for this type of trans. At one time a company called Foxcraft made them 50 miles from here, problem is that was 50 years ago...  I was hopeful to stumble on to one at Carlisle.  There are several guys here on the board that have fabricated one and I was thinking of doing the same and a spare trans sitting on the bench would be essential.  I'm too old to be crawling in and out from under the car doing the engineering!

[MarkAubuchon]

I have one out of a truck.  Would need to change the bell housing

[greg g]

I have a 46 unit sitting in my garage but I needed to use the shifter arms on the od l just put in.  There was just a thread where two members high lighted floor shifters Faber up using threaded rod, him joints etc.  Was about a month ago. I think Fargo 55 may have been one of the starters or contributors to the discussion.

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/45127-three-speed-od-floor-shifter/?tab=comments#comment-480851

[greg g]

http://p15-d24.com/topic/47606-overdrive-transmissions/?tab=comments#comment-505461

[raystewart]

Yeah, I've seen the posts and pics of the various shifters but nothing works quite like having a box to work with out of the car.   I have a line on a 39 Dodge trans with a floor shifter that was also on the back of a 218 flathead, anybody have any idea if it is the same length as the 50 trans or would work (other than the obvious need to cut a hole in the floor)?   I have some Motors manuals that go back to 40 but there isn't much in them on the trans.