'39 trans with Linc Od ???

C

Charlie ny

BANNED
I'm looking to install an early Lincoln OD unit on the back of a customers '39
top loader. I'm thinking for sure I'll need the output shaft from the Linc trans
as well as the BW unit ,not sure what else..........anybody do this, ever ? The torque tube and
banjo rear must remain, shortening the TT is not a biggy.
A T-5 is not on the table this time.
Many thanks,
Charlie ny
 
We have talked about this for years and it would be a neat conversion. The back of the 39 case is different from a Lincoln, so some machine work/adapting will be required.

The other day, someone showed a neat bell crank solution to move the solenoid out of the way on a Lincoln OD.

Let us know if you get this figured out.

Neal
 
There are two hurdles that must be addressed for this combo.

The rear bearing opening of the '39 case must be bored larger to accept the mid bearing carrier (adapter) of the OD unit.

Also a plate must fashioned & welded to the rear of the case to pickup the bolts that are out in the air. Some of the bolts can be drilled & tapped into the case where the rear mount used to bolt up.

Next, figure out how to actuate the OD reverse lockout with the floor shift.

Then 13" out of the torque tube & drive shaft.

All in all not a real big deal.

Don
 
I haven't done this, but I did adapt an O/D from Gear Vendors to a Ford toploader 4 speed using a Jeep case. To de-activate the O/D when selecting reverse, I used the backup light switch to "pic" a relay to drop the O/D whenever reverse was used.
Maybe something could be adapted to a Ford shift housing to do the same thing?
Maybe remove a plug and install a momentary switch to trigger a relay?
Just a thought
 
It's more than just electrical with the BW OD. The OD must be locked to overcome the free-wheel function. Otherwise, it will just slip in reverse. It can be accomplished with a factory-type pull cable, but would be inconvenient.
 
All that would be needed for the reverse lockout to work is to drill the case for the lock out shaft & add a tab to the low/reverse shift fork.
Just about like the stock unit.
No need to over-think this.
 
Charlie ny is not a newcomer to transmissions and machine work. I'm sure he has most of this figured out.
 
It would be easier to fabricate a top shift mechanism to the side shift case than it would be to make a new transmission case. One of our Ford Barn contributors fabricated a real nice set up using a truck shifter top and some machined slider plates and shifter arms to allow the modified top shift mechanism to shift the side shift mechanism. He then attached the shifter top to the case utilizing existing fastening options. It looks pretty slick to me. A person can use a Mercury trans for an open drive or a Lincoln for closed drive.
 
This is the trans rotorwrench is talking about.

Bob
 

Attachments

  • 49-Merc5.jpg
    49-Merc5.jpg
    95.1 KB · Views: 142
Charlie ny has stated a different set of design parameters for adapting the Lincoln O/D to an early top shift transmission. Those parameters don't fit the modified shift tower approach that we took when adapting the Merc O/D trans to a topshift configuration. The engineering challenge is not so much in adapting the O/D tailshaft to the box, but in fabricating a new transmission mainshaft that will be long enough and properly splined to mate the two together. Here I'm making an assumption that the 39 mainshaft won't work. Attached is the schematic for the Lincoln EH-El overdrive which is a later unit, but shows the relationship between the mainshaft and all the BW components in the O/D unit. The connection between these elements needs to be maintained if this redesign is to work and the key to that is the mainshaft. Not an insurmountable barrier, but a design and production challenge. Its this sort of thing that keeps us old guys on our toes...:D
 

Attachments

expavr said:
Charlie ny has stated a different set of design parameters for adapting the Lincoln O/D to an early top shift transmission. Those parameters don't fit the modified shift tower approach that we took when adapting the Merc O/D trans to a topshift configuration. The engineering challenge is not so much in adapting the O/D tailshaft to the box, but in fabricating a new transmission mainshaft that will be long enough and properly splined to mate the two together. Here I'm making an assumption that the 39 mainshaft won't work. Attached is the schematic for the Lincoln EH-El overdrive which is a later unit, but shows the relationship between the mainshaft and all the BW components in the O/D unit. The connection between these elements needs to be maintained if this redesign is to work and the key to that is the mainshaft. Not an insurmountable barrier, but a design and production challenge. Its this sort of thing that keeps us old guys on our toes...:D
Click to expand...


The Lincoln or '49-'50 Merc OD mainshaft will fit the early ( late 39) case & gears with no problems. After the case is bored to accept the mid bearing carrier.
 
Another big problem besides the mainshaft is the gear case itself. The overdrive case has four BIG bolts that attach the overdrive unit to the overdrive type front gear case and is a more rectangular shape. The old style Ford top loader just has the small pattern bolt up for the rear mounting flange and is a lot different plus the reverse lock out of the side shifter is just not adaptable to the top shifter type case. It would take more than a little work to make a case that functions with all aspects of the original design. I think an external top shift would work on the Lincoln design. It's not that much different than the 49 to E51 Mercury design with exception to the tail shaft, housing, and mount.
 
Last edited:
I think he was talking about the early Lincoln with a torque tube to mate up to a
closed drive rear end.
 
It is a side shift transmission with a long tail shaft and yes a torque tube mate with U-joint. The Lincolns used this transmission for a fair bit of time in the 40s. The early ones were top mounted off to one side and still basically a side shift with a top control stick but they didn't have the Borg Warner electric overdrive. That came along in the 40s. The 49 & later Lincoln transmissions are much bigger for the 337 engine and they are open drive.

Unless I'm missing something, this is the way I see it. There was a thread about the Lincoln Borg Warner transmission not too long ago with photos.
 
Last edited:
42merc said:
The Lincoln or '49-'50 Merc OD mainshaft will fit the early ( late 39) case & gears with no problems. After the case is bored to accept the mid bearing carrier.
Click to expand...

Looking at the Lincoln schematic is the "mid bearing carrier" you refer to the same as the "adapter plate?" If that is the case it would seem that some sort of a girdle could be fabricated that would have ears that match the larger O/D tailhousing bolt pattern and could be attached to the case by brazing or shouldered bolts or both.
 
Hoop said:
Here are a couple of pixs showing a case machined out to the proper opening and a white template for an adapter plate to be welded in. With the right metal skills, shouldn't be too tough including reverse rod. On the other hand, some of us easily get distracted by other projects.

Get rid of those other distractions! Which BW O/D are you putting on that trans?
Click to expand...
 
Which BW O/D are you putting on that trans?

"The engineering challenge is not so much in adapting the O/D tailshaft to the box, but in fabricating a new transmission mainshaft that will be long enough and properly splined to mate the two together. Here I'm making an assumption that the 39 mainshaft won't work."


Wrong approach. How would you avoid having to worry about the mainshaft?
 
First the disclaimer---I am not doing this job---however, if I was, the adapter plate, which is to be made from the white template, should be attached to the case BEFORE the case is re-bored.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top