53' Merc auto trans converter bottom cover

Merc Cruzer said:
VABOOM, the parts book shows that they are both 5" long but one is 2 1/2" (for the 51') vs 2 7/8" (for the 52'-53'). Yours might take the 2 7/8" cover.
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Time out :eek:
The plate I have and show is for a '52-'53 (2 1/2" wide)
The '51 is (2 7/8 " wide) as is the one on my car.
 
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I'm late to this thread but its interesting since I don't recall noticing if my 52 even has that cover. It would not be surprising if it had disappeared since the car ran on mud roads and winter snow most of it's life before retirement. Next time I'm under there I will check just to satisfy my curiosity.
 
RalphG said:
I'm late to this thread but its interesting since I don't recall noticing if my 52 even has that cover. It would not be surprising if it had disappeared since the car ran on mud roads and winter snow most of it's life before retirement. Next time I'm under there I will check just to satisfy my curiosity.
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Get under there! Just kidding.
 

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Merc Cruzer said:
The 1949-1953 Mercury chassis parts book, page 401, says there are "two covers" for the 52'- 53'......I stand corrected.

E-bay listing for the cover I bought: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1951-MERCU...ver+1M-77979-B&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_TitleDesc=0
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Not really correcting but trying to make sure you end up with the correct one.
According to your parts listing they don't even list one for the '51. (suspect it's erroneous )
This is how they are listed in my parts book. (check page 163)
 

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51 MERC-CT said:
Not really correcting but trying to make sure you end up with the correct one.
According to your parts listing they don't even list one for the '51. (suspect it's erroneous )
This is how they are listed in my parts book. (check page 163)
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The temporary cover plate I made for mine is 2 1/2" X 5" (pictured in prior post), so I think the 2 1/2" X 5" will be correct. The e-bay add stated:

"UP FOR AUCTION IS A NOS TRANSMISSION CONVERTER COVER PART NUMBER #1M-77979-B. FITS 1951 MERCURY, MEASURES 5 X 2 1/2. SOLID COVER MOUNTING TABS ARE GOOD, THIS MIGHT ALSO FIT OTHER YEARS PLEASE CHECK FIRST. LONG OBSOLETE GOOD ITEM TO KEEP AS A SPARE. E-MAIL ME WITH ANY ?????"
 
Merc Cruzer said:
The temporary cover plate I made for mine is 2 1/2" X 5" (pictured in prior post), so I think the 2 1/2" X 5" will be correct. The e-bay add stated:

"UP FOR AUCTION IS A NOS TRANSMISSION CONVERTER COVER PART NUMBER #1M-77979-B. FITS 1951 MERCURY, MEASURES 5 X 2 1/2. SOLID COVER MOUNTING TABS ARE GOOD, THIS MIGHT ALSO FIT OTHER YEARS PLEASE CHECK FIRST. LONG OBSOLETE GOOD ITEM TO KEEP AS A SPARE. E-MAIL ME WITH ANY ?????"
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Ya' I think you got the right one, just hope it doesn't get lost in the mail.:)
 
The way the parts book lists them is by transmission number. The 1M-77979-A is listed to fit the 1P-7000-ARC & BRC transmission. The 1M-77979-B is listed to fit the 1P-7000-C, D, & N with it being the narrow one of the two at 5" X 2.5". The Borg Warner numbers should be on a plate on the transmission somewhere. The later P/N also list two 5/16-18 X 5/8" bolts to hold it on.

The 1P-7000-N is listed for the 1953 in the book and is likely due to the under hood dip stick. 1952 models that may have had that dip stick would likely use that transmission.

I don't know these transmissions real well but it is possible that the bell housings may be interchanged depending on the torque converter usage or some other reason so it is possible that parts have been mixed & matched due to previous repairs. This muddies the water further as to what is there versus what would have been there originally.
 
Either way, once it gets here I will install it and post a follow-up picture. The flange in the casting on mine versus no flange on WABOOM's housing would seem to determine which cover is used.
 
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rotorwrench said:
The way the parts book lists them is by transmission number. The 1M-77979-A is listed to fit the 1P-7000-ARC & BRC transmission. The 1M-77979-B is listed to fit the 1P-7000-C, D, & N with it being the narrow one of the two at 5" X 2.5". The Borg Warner numbers should be on a plate on the transmission somewhere. The later P/N also list two 5/16-18 X 5/8" bolts to hold it on.

The 1P-7000-N is listed for the 1953 in the book and is likely due to the under hood dip stick. 1952 models that may have had that dip stick would likely use that transmission.

I don't know these transmissions real well but it is possible that the bell housings may be interchanged depending on the torque converter usage or some other reason so it is possible that parts have been mixed & matched due to previous repairs. This muddies the water further as to what is there versus what would have been there originally.
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This is the only ID tag I can fined on the transmission. I would have thought it would have more information like manufacture, model, production date...
 

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Transmission tags are infamous for not having much info but it was just basic application info. If tags were painted or etched, some information can get lost. That tag looks a lot like what the later ones had too. The 1P-7000 number looks to be obliterated so it further muddies the waters. There were 58 different configurations for these transmissions between 1951 and 1959 so it makes things difficult to identify some times. The air cooled jobs were used till 55 on V8 cars but they were still used on the 6-cylinder applications for some time after. Post flathead units would have a bell for either the V8 Y-block or the six but the main case and rear tail housing have some interchangeability. Folks repairing these things used what was at hand that worked so parts can be varied over those years. The ones in the 1955/57 Thunderbird cars seem to get the most attention of all. You can find Cruise-O-Matic parts in those cars relatively often since it was a good design starting in 1958. It made an honest dual range 3-speed out of it.


If yours is working well then keep doing what your doing and rub it on its belly now and then. They like the attention.
 
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Don't know why anyone would try to connect converter housing dust plates to transmissions, when the plates are made to fit a specific converter bell housing and not any transmission. (the dust plates don't care what transmission is attached behind them) :confused:
 
As promised, the part arrived today and after a little cleaning I installed it. Looks like a perfect fit to me! One more thing checked off the to do list. #1M-77979-B MEASURES
5" X 2 1/2".
 

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I looked at my wife's 70' Cougar and there is no opening or cover plate in her housing. Anyone know when the design changed?
 
The 6-cylinder types were the last of air cooled converter types but they had a different lower cover plate for 54 & 55 and it changed again in 55 thru 59 . In 1955 the V8 engines with F/M changed to the oil cooler type converter bell housing. There were a lot of changes in the later 50s. Some of the bottom covers plates has screws to hold them and some had the screw and clip combo. The F/M 2-speed came out in 1959 and it was completely different. The Cruise-O-Matics starting in 1958 were different too. They just had access from the front lower cover.
 
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