crossmember modification

F

fast fredy

Senior Member
I seem to recal a post where a guy modifided the rear crossmember to fascilitate easier transmission R and R on 55 ford . He cut a section out and then replaced it after. He had some photos attached anyone seen this.. thanks Fred
 
I'm not the one who posted it, but back in 1998, I cut an OEM transmission crossmember in three pieces, shortened the middle piece and welded 12 ga plates on the end, then welded the end pieces back on to the plates. This allowed the crossmember to be moved from the original set of mounting holes in the car frame to the second set of holes. It was a v8/Fordomatic crossmember. Ford stamped both sets of holes in the car frames. I was installing a 223 I-block with Fordomatic. Ford had two different crossmembers back then. Later on, I got one out of a 54 with 223/Fordomatic, but never swapped my modified one for the factory one.
 
I may have been the guy you write about. I had several transmission in my 55 over many years. The SROD was taller than the stock, so I cut the ends off the removable trans crossmember, added 1/4 stock on the ends to lower the center. I didn't like the ratios in the SROD, so I stepped up to a T3550. It is huge compared to the stock three speed. It would not fit without removing the engine to get it in. I didn't want to make that much work for myself, so I cut the frame out near the center, and welded flanges on with a bunch of 5/16 holes to bolt it back in after the trans was in. It took a bit of time, but was not difficult. The next thing to overcome was the trans itself. At 100 pounds, I could not handle it. I made a cradle to fit in place of the floor jack pad that held the trans and had to lift the car higher to fit it all under there, but I loved that five speed. Old guys have a lot of time.
 
Ole Don said:
I made a cradle to fit in place of the floor jack pad that held the trans and had to lift the car higher to fit it all under there.
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I did something similar. My floor jack has a cup on the top that fits thru a hole in the lift arm. It is removeable by pulling a pin out below. I cut out a 1/2" plywood sheet and drilled a hole in the middle for a countersunk bolt to fit into the hole and used a large countersunk bolt with nut and washer on the bottom to hold it on the jack. It seems like the car had to be jacked about 30 degrees to fit the jack with Fordomatic with the bellhousing on it.
Ole Don said:
Old guys have a lot of time.
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Not only that, but tons of willpower and enginuity.
 
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