Looking to bring a 53- 5 window back to life. Anyone know where I can find a working/rebuildable 4-speed with the granny gear? I know a lot of resto-mod folks are pulling these out and replacing. Thought maybe someone had one sitting in their shop gathering dust. Thanks Gerry
Muncie SM420 Tranny Is yours so far gone it's un rebuildable ? . parts abound for these fine old trannies . Look in the classified section or better yet , cruise the Task Force pages of this forum as those are popular Hot Rods and the used tranny wieghs roughly a double hernia so they're REALLY cheap , like $50.00 in VGC takout condition Look at all the older posts from years ago , the 6 Banger engine and tranny is still sitting behind the garage and can usually be picked up for $150.00 complete fan to tailshaft . often cheaper . Dodges used this tranny too , all the way up to 1967 , Gamma Goats (military vehicle from the Vietnam War) used this tranny and they pop up on surplus truck parts places for $350.00 brandy new once or twice a year... Google " SM420 " and " M420 " , you'll be amazed at what pops up for parts , gaskets , bearings etc.
Best Bet In that case is to buy some entire driveline or a crusty old chassis after the body has been taken away for an S-10 conversion , this way you'll get all the correct , " Just So " hardware that will make your '53 a good old truck instead of a problemaic piece of junk you come to hate in a few years... ALL the high mile drivers , are stock or nearly so , largely for this reason .
Good Point ! If you go to the Task Force section , there's always lots of takeouts as those are being Hot Rodded these days and NO ONE wants the 300 # greasy cast iron lump . If you have a Torque Tube , you'll need to buy at least a dead one from an AD and swap over the tail housing , not terribly difficult .
Why not get the newer T5? It has overdrive and is light weight. Do you have your clutch & bell housing? If you do I think a Vega/Monza will fit. They came with the Saganaw 4 speed. Used to get the whole car for $75 and that was low mileage. Seems the engine never made a high mileage car.
