Thank you!
Hi Joe,Dozerman51 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:42 amGreat work Zeph. So you are installing a later 3/4/1.5 ton WC Bellhousing and Trans. on your truck? You learn something new every day. I always thought the 1/2 ton BH and Trans. we’re interchangeable with the 3/4 f 1.5 ton trucks. . Looks like the Power Wagon and Early M-37’s use the same mounting ear set up also. I have a 1951 Pilothouse 1.5 ton early synchro. 4 speed that has the same mounting ear pattern as my WC 1/2 ton. Will be installing this tranny in my truck as 3rd and 4th are helical cut and thus much quieter than the straight cut gears in the crash box unit. 3rd and 4th are also synchro’d so a little less double clutching will be much easier on my left knee. I also am going to go back to my 750-16 wheels and tires. Lot’s less strain on the 8 & 3/4” third members. I had an NOS 4.30 ring and pinion set installed in the rear third member as I found out I was running around with 4 chipped teeth in the it. I still have the 4.10 third members ready to go in, but I will see how the 4.30’s work out with the smaller tires and wheels. There is a only a 124 RPM drop between the 4.10 and 4.30 ratio’s @ 60 MPH. -2667(4.30) vs 2543(4.10) which is the fastest I would ever want to go. At 2667 RPM’s that’s about 74% of the IND-7’s max RPM’s of 3600. I should be ok in that regard. Anyway again keep up the great work. I’ll be up your way a week from this Thurs. Maybe I can come by and see 1st hand the progress you are making.
Take Care,
Joe
Yes, the early bell housing and transmissions were a carry over from civilian production I believe. The tabs on the transmission are further apart on the driver's side vs. the passenger side. Later transmissions have equal distant tabs...shorter apart than on the civilian driver's side and equal to the passenger side. If you look at the bell housings, they have a location (boss?) for the hole to be drilled and tapped for the early transmissions. I almost mounted the wrong bell housing/transmission combo on my WC16 project before I noticed the difference.
Here's a shot from the VPW catalog of an early Dodge WC transmission. This confused me even more initially as the view shows the case with the tabs further apart on the drivers side, but has a PTO plate on both sides. The only transmissions I have seen that have the wide tabs on the driver's side do not have a PTO plate on the driver's side. Only the civilian style with the single plate on the passenger side had the wide tabs on the driver's side. Of course, I'm sure they exist as the drawing is from a manual. I just have not seen it.
Here's the transmission install on my WC16. One can see the extra non-drilled boss for the other transmissions with the closer tabs on the bell housing. No plate on the driver's side for the PTO block off on the transmission can be seen as well here. The casting was C35661:
If I had to guess, I bet the lower tab as shown above would be in the way of the PTO shaft. Maybe they were standardized to the closer tabs when they went with the PTO mounting on both sides. However, this doesn't compute with the VPW schematic above, so not positive.
Why do I care...I have no idea!