Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Saginaw 4 speed in '49 car

I'm getting closer to this installation (235 w/Saginaw - open driveline) and last night I got out the tape measure.

That Saginaw is a LOT BIGGER than the stock 3 speed!! It looks like the cross-member at the transmission mount will have to be lowered and 'U'd to clear the Saginaw, as well as re-routing (maybe by lowering) the emergency brake cables.

Then there is the shifter linkage; looks like a clearance problem along the left side for the rods and levers.

Has any body done this conversion in a '49-54 car? (I did look at all the topics in this forum but didn't see anything specific to my problems).

Maybe I should stick with the original trans and put a Powerglide rear in it.......

Anybody want to buy a '55 Chev rear and a Saginaw cheap?

You can solve the crossmember problem by removing the old one and replacing with a tubular, adjustable crossmember. Obsolete Chevy, RB's and others have them for about $60. Were you planning on using the original shifter? It mounts way back on the tailshaft, and it's a real problem with a bench seat - a Patrick's Saginaw shifter will move it forward. You'll be real happy with the Saginaw, it's worth the effort.

Jack;

What's the best (and easiest) method to remove the crossmember - cut it and leave 'stubs' or grind off the rivets?

What about the emergency brake, can it just be lowered under the new crossmember?

Best but not easiest is to grind off the rivets. I don't like to have excess pieces on the undercarriage, they always seem to get in the way, draw blood, etc - the new crossmember bolts to the frame.

I'm not sure on the E-brake. I've only done the Saginaw swap on a pickup, the brake cables weren't a problem there. The new crossmember, though, is much less bulky than the box-section original, so you should be able to work around it. If someone else has some direct experience with a car installation, please help us out here.

Before you get too deep into this, do you know which Saginaw you have? The number of rings (or grooves) around the input shaft splines are the key to what the internal ratios are. Some are better than others.

Jack;

Thanks for the reply on the x-member

After a conversation with 'Buffalo', I've decided I'm probably going to go with a 4 or 5 speed out of a Chevy S-10. It seems like there is a BIG problem with the car throw-out arm; the bell housing for the open driveshaft transmissions doesn't line up with the torque-tube clutch linkage. It is not a problem with the trucks. Buffalo makes an adapter plate, I can use the torque-tube bellhousing and the S-10 shifter is farther forward on the transmission.

The Saginaw I had was the one with 3-grooves

I figured grinding the rivets was the 'right' way......