does anyone know about these replacemet tranny covers? they all seem to only come in fiberglass. why is that? i've got pictures here of the one on the truck and then an old one i found in the junkyard. don't think either of these will cut the mustard. no big deal right now. as you can see in the last picture, there's much more serious rust damage to worry about. maybe you guys have a suggestion?? jon
Ouch, that's some rust. Chevy Duty and several other old chevy truck parts companies (I'm not sure I can list their names here) offer entire replacement floor boards and toeboards, or specific sections. I know I've seen the components in metal, but for some odd reason I think I've only seen the transmission cover in fiberglass when there is a floor shift, metal when it's "three on the tree." Don't know why. You could always buy a metal transmission cover and then cut out your own hole for the stick shift. A lot of people are doing that when they put in a t-5 transmission. Dave
Jon, That is some nasty rust. I checked all my sources could not find any metal panel for you. Even the later trucks 55+ come in metal for 4-speed's. Not sure why only fiberglass for early trucks ? Did check with a friend with a '53 he states you should not try to modify a 3 speed to a 4 speed is different enough that will not work proper mainly in the middle area. Probably best to just go with the fiberglass or find a old one in better condition Steve
i am stupid, my 51 has the "3 on the tree", i looked at the picture and was like, "why is there a huge hole in that thing?" major brain fart. Good luck with the rust. ________ Mazda M5Od Transmission History
thanks, guys! guess i'll keep scouring the junkyards, and maybe i'll find a nice sheet metal cover. if not, i'll just have to deal with having some fiberglass on this baby. as for the floorboards, i'm still undecided whether i'll switch out the cab entirely or try to fix what's left. jon
My vote Fix what you have does not look that bad. Of course easy to say from across the country outside of Phila. At least the glovebox looks decent. Steve
WHOA ! when I talk about old trucks being a time machine for me , I didn't mean quite so close to reality . I remember working with trucks rusted like this in the 60's..... Anyway , I am sure you know the right hand rust is serious as that's the structural support for the cab showing through there , it'll need to be supported before you begin welding . I too often wonder why no metal floor plates are being made but it looks like you have one there that'll do once you've replaced the chopped out part . I look for these in my desert travels but they're always gone missing , even on working trucks sometimes .... Pre - AD trucks had a much wider plate that had to be removed to acess the battery , my old '46s had been cut in 1/2 with a cold chisel I hammered it back into shape as best I could then a <magician> I was working with fired up his torch and welded the two pieces back into one , it was great although he hated the job , said it looked nasty .
This is an easy fix!!! Hey Sloromon don't give up on this cab. That rust aint S**T as to what mine looked like. Seriously this is probably one of the easiest parts of body work and fabricating that you could do. Get a flat 4X8 piece of sheet metal, brace the cab, cut the floor out and cut and weld in a new floor panal. Then after the flat of the floor is in, then cut the toe board and weld a new toeboard in it. It really is that simple. I just cut mine out the last visit in with dad and braced under the floor and am in the process of cutting the firewall and toe board out. If you go this route then you can put any necessary holes in it and to what size they need to be, with out jerry rigging it all up with fiberglass. Be sure to have some grooves rolled back in the floor with a bead roller so it will not constantly pop the entire time you are driving your truck. Plus the rolls give the floor more support. If you decide this route the let me know if you need any help and maybe I can talk you through it.
here is the link for the Chevy Duty Metal Replacement with no hole for the transmission shifter. It should be easy to use one of your rusted ones as a template and cut a shifter hole out for a good fit. I have one that I plan to use for my t-5 transmission conversion, in comes out of their 1947-53 catalog. http://www.classicparts.com/products.asp?dept=29&pagenumber=3&sort_on=&sort_by= Dave
Nice Link ! That's pretty cool ~ I never look at OnLine catalogs but I liked the general look of that one , needs fleshing out with more text info though . Before $ending off your hard earned $ , I'd give them a call and aks them to measure both covers just in case there's a differance in width of orther bad thing waiting to blindside you.....
thanks!! yah, that's awesome psy999! it just doesn't have the hump in it, where it goes over the transmission. don't know how big a deal that is. and i don't know about fixing the cab, but i've got plenty of things on my list that i need to get done, so i guess i've got some time to think on it. i may hit you up, kevins 48, if i get that far anytime soon!! thanks for the help! jon
thanks!! yah, that's awesome psy999! it just doesn't have the hump in it, where it goes over the transmission. don't know how big a deal that is. and i don't know about fixing the cab, but i've got plenty of things on my list that i need to get done, so i guess i've got some time to think on it. i may hit you up, kevins 48, if i get that far anytime soon!! thanks for the help! jon
I don't think the hump would be a big deal. It's going in the right direction (up) so it won't hit the tranny. It's really not big enough to take up any leg room or cab space either. Not a bad price either if you want one to just bolt up. Just try and get it good and sealed so it doesn't splash water from under neath the vehicle into the cab.
I was looking in the "Brothers" catalog last night and noticed they are advertising a metal transmission cover for floor shifters. You might look them up.
Ha I finally saw one on Ebay looks good just needs a small repair at the edge. Under item #130075450632
Got my metal 4-speed trans floor cover by putting an ad up on the "Parts Wanted" part of the "Stovebolt" web page. It was on for less than a week and somebody had one. Hey Sloromon, try a guy by the name of Will Bartlett. He's in Connecticut. Got him off the Stovebolt page. Took a drive up to his place in CT to look around his property. Guy does nothing but AD trucks and has TONS of small parts and I mean TONS. Kind of an odd duck this guy. No job to speak of other than buying and building AD trucks. Must admit, his work is impressive. Saw two vehicles in the "build mode" in his shop space and his work is top notch. He buys these wrecks, puts them together and sells them. No trailer queens, but nice trucks that run and look real good. Kinda like daily drivers. Anyway, you may have to be persistant with him, but you might find a lot of small parts you need and I'd be willing to bet he has your 4-speed trans cover. BTW, I think the 'hump' in the cover is important. Seems like it just fits over the Muncie and the flat cover with custom hole cut by you may not provide enough clearance. Just a thot. Try this guy in CT though. Really...lots of parts...lots of 'em. I've been wanting to go back ever since I went the first time. He just emailed me to say he bought some guys 25-year collection of parts and trucks. Will's cell number is (203) 725-6413.
thanks, chiro!! i really appreciate that! i'll be lookin into it, CT is a ways off from NM, but maybe he can ship stuff to me. thanks again! jon
Yeah, he will ship. But that's what I mean by being persistant. You gotta keep on him to get him to ship. I don't know why because he sells a lot of stuff on the Stovebolt page. Good guy though. Just an odd duck like I say. Give him a call. Don't worry about being far away. I had a door shipped from MN and a tailgate shipped from CA. It all works if it ain't too heavy and the part you're looking for ain't heavy at all. Mine shipped from CA as well. I think shipping was 10 bucks or something. Andy
I read a post where a guy wanted to build the transmission hump into the flat floor pan, he said he bought a small metal "cake" baking pan (come in all dimensions), trimmed it to size, then welded it in. Gotta admire that type of creativity. Dave P.S., the flat metal transmission cover I have from Classic Parts is a good fit, no need to trim or shape. However, as I mentioned earlier it has no hole for the shifter so you have to cut your own (and possibly weld a small cake pan in for the transmission hump!)
