Just traded my way into a 55-57 235 to put into my fleetmaster. Car is currently running with a the stock 216 only 35000 miles if anyone needs it..... just want to upgrade. What am I lookin at here. Just need to know what I'm going to run into. Someone said something about flipping a motor mount around? Need a little guidance.

Also stock 3 on the tree. And how do I tell what rear end gears I have? Been told to upgrade those as well... Thank you.

The 55-57 235 has side block mounts whereas the 216 has a front block mount. You can remove the 216 front engine plate or more easilly drill the 235 front engine plate to duplicate the 216. You will have to use the 216 bell housing too. You could improve performance with a better rear gear too, but I don't know what your fleetmaster currently has.

Try this article from Patrick's. BTW- If you call them, they'll send you a free catalog.

http://www.patricksantiquecars.com/articles.html

thank you all very much. just ordered my dual header and dual carb intake! gonna be a fun winter!

A '47 car likely has a 4.11 ratio. There was a 3.70 option but they are quite rare. Unfortunately, there are no external markings to distinguish.

When the 'power-glide' transmission made the scene in '50 the rear-end ratio for these cars was 3.55. The torque tube and axle housing was identical to the 'stick' (3-on the tree) cars so they used a 'tag' on the drivers side bearing retainer to visually distinguish a 3.55 from a 4.11 on the shop floor.

These eventually were moved to the 2 o'clock position stud of the differential carrier:


I have used the ring-gear/carrier and pinion from '52 power-glide car on my '49 rebuild. The same style fully round tag shown above for the 'later' 3.36 was affixed to the drivers side bearing retainer of the '52 donor rear end . . .

The 3:55 is a desirable swap - even the propeller shaft would fit into your '47. Some would go so far as to reuse the whole third member (to get Bendix brakes) but Huck parts are readily available now so this is not as attractive as it once was.

I would stick with California Bill Fisher's recommendation when performing this swap. Retain the 'carrier' that the ring-gear is bolted to. These were always sold as a set.

regards,
stock49

man, with those 2.94 low geared transmissions with a 4.11 and a stock cam, you had to shift to second half way across an intersection. But if you could catch the light green, you could chug around a corner in high gear no sweat or lugging.

Frank McGurk always reccommended installing the 3.55 PowerGlide rears for almost any hopped up six. They work fine for the 194/292 engines too!

yea i found that im in 3rd at around 20mph.... lol just keep chuggin from there.

Hey biggerbob . . . heads up on a rear-end out of '50 on ebay:
Complete Driveline

It's probably a 5 or 6 hour drive from Wooster. You might inquire with the seller if the '50 was a Power-Glide car and ask him to eye ball the numbers on the face of pinion gear. There will be a part number, tooth count, 'GM', a month and a year. If the gear count is 9-37 it is a 4.11. If the tooth count is 11-39 it is a 3.55.

regards,
stock49

wow. THANK YOU! i asked for the numbers and a possible tooth count. the other set i had a lead on one fell through. another one to the crusher but i am getting a blown up 235 with all the 12 volt stuff and a good rochester on it for pretty cheap.

what year cars would i be looking to get this gear set out of? dose it need to be from a torque tube rearend?

I know that the ring/cases and the pinion gears from '50 thru '54 will bolt into the 40's era rear-ends. I don't know if you can use an open drive line pinion and ring/case in a torque tube.

At question is the geometry. For the torque tube the pinion bearing is pressed onto the pinion casting (which is threaded for a retainer nut and spline cut, as well as cross drilled for a retention pin through the propeller shaft - which runs inside the torque tube):



I have never played with a late fifties pinion so I don't know if it can be adapted to a torque tube. On those the spline end is designed to exit the pumpkin (through a seal) and mate with a Spicer universal joint.

I have seen postings/articles that show open drive-line differential carriers being bolted to a torque tube banjo. But I don't know if the internals from '55 thru '59 will transplant back into a an enclosed drive line.

regards,
stock49

You have been very helpful thank you very much

still no luck

patience patience biggerbob . . . I acquired my car 10 years ago next month . . .

It took years to lay my hands on everything needed for the project.

The important thing is to not tear down until you have all major components in hand.

The good news is that you are on the right side of the trend - most are ripping out torque tubes in favor of open drive line . . . so you should be able to get a deal when someone is parting out.