Zephyr Gears

While we're on the subject, has anyone had experience with the repro 26-tooth gearsets sold by Macs, Drake, Speedway and others?
 
Tim Ayers said:
As I mentioned before, I thank you for posting your real world build-up & driving experience.

I have both sets; 26 LZ and a couple sets of 28's (one is a complete NOS set).

I go back and forth on whether I should sell the LZ's or not.
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So....what is your real world experience with zephyr gears?
 
Walt Dupont--Me. said:
2nd. gear is the favorite, you can drive for weeks in 2nd. Walt
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In the instruction manual for the overdrive it suggests you not drive excessively in 2nd gear OD. I can see why as the cluster gear constantly has a load on it. I agree with your statement but excessive use could cause needless wear.
 
Ghost of elmirage said:
At the end of the day though, is really worth the expense?
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I was lucky, I found an entire LZ O/D trans. with mint gears for $70 at Hershey two years ago. So cost isn't really a factor for me.

Still had the needle bearing U-joint attached as well. I figured I could sell the U-joint for what I paid for the trans. and call it a wash...
 
The LZ gears are worth it, from my experience- A-V8, 3.54 rear... The set that I have is pieced together, only the cluster is recent aftermarket... The first one that I bought had been machined large on the inside front bearing surface so that the finish grinding for the bearings to ride on was porous- not enough materiel to get a solid surface- Would have eaten the bearings very quickly- And then everything else... My supplier had never heard of this, but ageed with my assessment...

Point is, check every aspect of the new gears... I don't know a way to check the metalurgy... But would like to.
Karl
 
I have a set of original 25T Zephyrs...that I was considering using in my 32 sedan, with 4:11's and a Columbia. With a 279 ci flathead and 7:00 16's on the rear. Any real world comments on this combination?

Thanks,

Neal
 
Tim Ayers said:
I have both sets; 26 LZ and a couple sets of 28's (one is a complete NOS set).
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I thought the LZ's were 25T and 26T and the Ford gears were 28's?

I have a 32 trans behind a late Merc motor and in front of a late 4.11 rear set in my roadster and after driving it for a day or two, I could see why loosing the granny gear would be beneficial.

Z
 
I had a lot of help from the forum getting 19 tooth input gear for a 25 tooth cluster and it works just fine.This was for an old race car that weighs about 1400 pounds and in that application gives a very high 1st and 2nd gear.I don't think the 18/26 gears are much higher in 2nd than a standard Ford box but much higher in 1st.according to what I read.Might be wrong though. Cheers G.T.
 
I have just bought a 26 tooth set for my stripped A-V8 roadster. If you run a close to standard engine, I don't think you will have any good out of it.

But with my 296" flathead running 4 1/8 stroke and 3 3/8 bore, I am hoping it will help with the high first gear. Now it's hopeless to race it with the low first gear. Have to shift gears after just a short bit. Going 50+ mph on first gear is what some can do, I heard. I know people who run them, but have never used them myself. Running old transmissions, it's hard to make that shifting as quick as a modern box.

My combo is 7.50-16 rear tires and 3:54 rear axle ratio.

For my 1940 Merc, it is great with standard Ford gears and a Columbia in rear. Too heavy car for that high first gear.
 
"Going 50+ mph on first gear is what some can do, I heard."

J.B.,

With your combo (26T, 3.54, 7.50-16/215-80-16), 50 mph is going to take aprox. 4692 rpms in 1st gear ... I think.

Be interesting to see the numbers others might calculate.

(3176 rpms in 2nd at 50 mph.)

((25T at 50 mph ... 4270, 1st ... 2900, 2nd.))
 
Zaemo said:
I thought the LZ's were 25T and 26T and the Ford gears were 28's?

I have a 32 trans behind a late Merc motor and in front of a late 4.11 rear set in my roadster and after driving it for a day or two, I could see why loosing the granny gear would be beneficial.

Z
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Yes, that is correct.

That is why I put the "LZ" after the 26. The 28 tooth sets I have are both Ford.
 
Hoop said:
"Going 50+ mph on first gear is what some can do, I heard."

J.B.,

With your combo (26T, 3.54, 7.50-16/215-80-16), 50 mph is going to take aprox. 4692 rpms in 1st gear ... I think.

Be interesting to see the numbers others might calculate.

(3176 rpms in 2nd at 50 mph.)

((25T at 50 mph ... 4270, 1st ... 2900, 2nd.))
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Thanks, Hoop.

That sounds pretty much like it. I don't have a tach on my new motor yet. Hope to take it a little bit over 5000 rpms, but with the stroke I don't know yet.

I have no "bragging" use of the LZ gears. I just hope they are great for some street racing with a light roadster and a tuned flathead.

I would like to find a 25 tooth set too and try them both. Anyone with any LZ gears (26/25) or knows anyone that can sell them, let me know.

I heard the the LZ boxes before 1940 had 28 tooth, but I am no expert at all.
 
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Neal, you'll like the Zephyr gear combo mentioned. With 4:11s and a Columbia......that's optimum in my opinion. Be careful coming off the clutch with that torquey motor and big tires. First gear is pretty easy to scatter.
 
On our '39 coupe I have a 3.78 rear end with L78-15 tires, a '40 flathead with the sleeves removed and Offy heads, dual 97 2B carbs and dual exhaust. I need to rebuild my ****** (broken main drive and cluster gear), but having difficulty finding stock replacements. I am seriously considering Zephyr gears, as I found 1st gear to be lots of rpm with not much mph. Ops, almost forgot to mention, also have a Columbia 2-speed. Comments?
 
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Had a set of LZ gears sitting around for a couple years. Then the ****** went in my 32 roadster ( high boy, Brookville body, gennie frame, 39 trans, 3:78 rear gear). The bottom of the case was full of little teeny tiny bits of brass. Not much left of the brass synchro rings (my bad). I rebuilt another case with the LZs. Also doing some upgrades/clean up while the motor is out. Gotta love those 32s with the solid center xmember..*&^%$#...Should be running by weeks end .....Then I'll know all about 19T LZ gears......
 
This past winter, I had to pull the engine out of the '39 coupe...276, 4" Merc crank,Navarro intake & heads, 2 x 97's, Isky cam, etc....was tired of the granny '39 gears with the 3.78 rear end....running 8.20 x 15 tires. I love the sound of the flathead, but it did nothing in 1st gear...out of revs and no speed...had to shift into second soon thereafter....did not enjoy. In went the 25T L-Z gears, and now its enjoyable and able to speed up to a reasonable speed ( 35 mph ) in first without over revving the engine. Yes, it's a bit tougher to get rolling from a standing start, and I am not overdoing the clutch ( wide disc 10" ) and running gear on jackrabbits starts......so, all in all, I love my L-Z gears. Also have good comments from my buddies, as they see and hear me leaving the local rod shop.....about how nice the car sounds as I drive away and shift into second gear at 40mph.....nothing nicer than a sweet sounding flathead. I don't drive my car in parades.....Robert
 
Whether you need Zephyr gears depends on what you intend to do with the car and how you want to drive it. It is just math after that. The same ratios (or very close) are available in many modern transmissions with much better reliability.
Zephyr gears have a couple advantages especially the 25 tooth set.
One is, due to the higher ratios, you are less apt to break them with a bunch of hp.
(less torque multiplication)
Two is, if you intend to do a lot of down shifting, (ala sports car or autocross) they work great even into first gear due to the close ratios. Very easy to downshift to first even without synchro.
 
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