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37-39 Plymouth Transmission


SteveR

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I am having to rebuild my tranny in my 37 Plymouth. What I know of the car is it has a 230 engine swap. My clutch gear is worn and I ordered a new one from A Bernbaum. It is not like what I have in my tranny. My tranny has 2 brass synchro rings apart from the sleeve and the 37 has the brass synchro in the sleeve. In cleaning up the outside of the tranny you can faintly make out a 39 painted on the housing side. Do I have a 39 tranny? If so will the clutch gear work in this tranny? If not I will be needing the brass synchro rings and the 3 synchronizer shifting plates. The first picture shows what I have in my tranny. I am looking at numbers 38 & 39 on this 40-41 tranny.

Also are the trannys from trucks the same as those in cars. I'm really not sure what I have now. The second picture is what my tranny looks like except for the clutch gear

 

 

 

1941 tranny.png

37transmission.png

Edited by SteveR
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The 39 was like the later models.  It probably would be better to get the correct input shaft than try to modify the synchronizers

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24 minutes ago, dpollo said:

The 39 was like the later models.  It probably would be better to get the correct input shaft than try to modify the synchronizers

The synchronizers are what is worn on my tranny

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When you said "clutch gear"  I thought you were referring to the input shaft.

If you can get new synchronizer rings ( brass) then replace your worn ones and all should be well.

 

Just make sure the replacement rings are the same as your old ones.

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4 hours ago, dpollo said:

When you said "clutch gear"  I thought you were referring to the input shaft.

If you can get new synchronizer rings ( brass) then replace your worn ones and all should be well.

 

Just make sure the replacement rings are the same as your old ones.

There in lays the problem. My car is a 37, it looks like my tranny was from a junkyard with the 39 painted on the side yet the synchronizers appear to be from a 41. So I am wondering if the rings from a 41 will work on a 39 transmission?

In the top drawing # 39 & 38 is what I have in my tranny & are worn and need replacement. Are they from a 41 tranny or where there different trannys components for a 39 tranny that used this type of rings and plates?

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For more confusion:

 

My 38 tranny looks the same as bottom pic. With balls and springs. I picked a 1937 Dodge tranny. It too has balls and springs.

 

I was given a 53 Plymouth tranny. The synchros were the lever bar/ramp type #38 in your upper pic. 36,37, 39 parts were also identical in the 53 tranny.

It seems they went back and forth with the two types maybe? The upper pic you show is definitely the column shift type tranny. It has the side window for the shift linkage.

I suspect used up to 53/54-ish?

 

I cannot prove, but suspect the complete synchro assembly from the 41 will slide right in and work with the 37-39 tranny. I suspect #56 in upper pic may have same outer dimensions as #61 in bottom pic. The inside different to accommodate the steel balls, or the tilting bar ramp type in the upper pic. I will go dig around see what I can find in my horde pile to compare.

 

Anyone else tried swapping the parts out?

Edited by keithb7
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Inner groove cut for ball bearing style detent. 

 

I try to refrain from recycling parts but I guess I did. The other type, I no longer have for reference. 
 

41AE733A-A4E9-4879-BE65-36DD2250EBA6.jpeg

Edited by keithb7
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Here are a few photos of what I have.

The first is the clutch gear I took out of my tranny

Second Pic is the brass synchro

Third, the 2 different styles of clutch gear. The bottom is out of my tranny the top is from A Bernbaum (37-39)

Forth, The middle indent in the outer rings are not the same. It's hard to see in this photo. Also, the inner gears are not interchangeable

Fifth, Shows the tranny case with the 39 on the side. It almost looks like 'DODGE' written on the side

 

So are the synchro rings that of a 41? Is this clutch gear compatible with a 39? Is this a Dodge truck transmission?

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This is a pic of my transmission. Is from a 1938 D9 Dodge. Detroit made but the D9 was based on the Plymouth 201cu of that year. Numbers on the case very similar to yours. Am not sure of the significance of that, maybe all basic 3 speeds were the same around this time. Mine is original to the car.G1.jpg.c654519a6d26e911a1ff668ee5fcfc7c.jpg

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Sidevalvepete, I love the grill on your car. Do you remember what the clutch gear looked like in your tranny?

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I'm sorry Steve, memory isn't that good to remember difference that your examples show. I don't have photos of mine either. Will check with a couple of others with late 30s mopars to see if any information there.

Perhaps others can help here, even  just check the numbers on the case of their 3 speed transmissions.

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