Synchronized Transmission

For those of you who, like me, don't know what a Lenco transmission is, it is a stack of planetary transmissions, each with its own gear shift knob. See https://lencoracing.com/.
 

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Joe K said:
I can go from first to second without double clutching.

From second to third I can do it - but it's a lot easier to double clutch.

Funny. When I first got the Model A and before any work on it I drove it around town quite a bit. Even my father remarked on the lack of "grinding" which in his previous experience seemed "unavoidable" on occasion even for experienced drivers.

Imagine my chagrin to dismantle the car, remove the transmission, remove the top and pour out what was in the case.

600W oil and SAWDUST. The gears were none too good either - probably the reason for the sawdust.

It's never been quite as quiet since. My best luck for a transmission lubricant is STRAIGHT STP. I see now there are some versions of this which have zinc. Probably not the best for a ******.

Yeah, yeah, I know. STP is not a lubricant...

Joe K
Click to expand...


I've read that some mix both 85W-140 gear oil and STP, half and half in their ******.
 
For a while, 600W oil was (um) substituted with something else. There was complaints on the quart cans of oil everyone was buying from "proven" Model A vendors.

One of the nice features of working in a power plant is that "period" machinery frequently require "period" lubricants. One of these was ACTUAL 600W oil which was assured to meet the SAE standard. Quality Assurance was and is a major motivating force when up to $1M per day is lost on a unit outage. The standard number and grade was actually on a sheet glued to the top head of the 55 gallon drum.

This is the standard which has been revised bi-annually for many years. Automotive Gear Lubricant Viscosity Classification J306_201902 $92 and you too could own the actual standard.

Of course I grabbed a gallon or two while I was there.

I've mentioned the STP. In the punkin I use 600W oil. I feared that "slinging" of the oil on the gear would be impeded if I used STP in this application - and this might cause undue "working" of the oil - and consequent heating of the oil.

Which might "undo" the stick/pressure capability of the oil.

Dunno - it's not exactly rocket science. But it is nice to have "actual" 600W oil as an option.

Joe K
 
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The later 1930's Ford transmissions have a better gear ratio and the 1939 has good synchros. I changed to a 1936 for the gear ratios but it has pretty weak synchronization.
 
All the above is good advise. Using the stock transmission the biggest novice driver
problem I see is trying to drive the car like a modern car and and revving the motor
to high going into 2nd gear. As stated above it needs a "short shift" (shifting at a lower
motor speed.)
You should be in 2nd gear before you cross an intersection. The double clutch is not necessarily needed mechanically but it gives the right amount of time to make the shift
letting the gears mesh.
 
I’m on the waiting list for a Snyder synchronized. I just bought my dad’s old 31 coupe. My mom and dad toured a lot in it. 106k miles/49 states from 2002-2022. After 95 yrs, plus, those additional touring miles and it needs a new transmission. I plan to drive this car a lot and with Atlanta traffic, having to shift so slowly and the huge gap between 2nd and third is a big safety concern and it’ll get used a lot more. I don’t know how they never got hit before with how much they held up traffic and I’m trying to mitigate risk. It already had overdrive and a high compression touring motor so driving hwy speed isn’t an issue. He had the brakes really dialed in too. It stops surprisingly good with only a cast iron drum upgrade over stock.
 
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