Ford  Top Loader Three Speed Transmission Gearbox Repair

The Ford three speed transmission gearbox was a simple unit with a cast iron case. Good used cores are getting harder to find. Many of these gearboxes were used in the early days of racing and suffered the abuse you would expect from that type of service. Cracked castings, broken flanges, stripped threads, and badly worn thrust surfaces are common. 

We have developed a method of repairing the rear thrust surface at the countershaft bore, which renews the cluster gear clearances. This keeps your cluster gear from shifting front to rear under load/no load conditions. The repair utilizes a new countershaft bushing made from 1144 stress-proof medium carbon steel. The bushing is combined with a new thrust surface made from Class 40 cast iron, carefully machined to duplicate the counterbore and oil groove of the original gearbox. These parts are combined and pressed into place from inside the gearbox case, setting the clearance for .008" (factory spec called for .005 to .017"). The bushing is surfaced at the rear of the case. The photos below show a sample of this repair.

The case is oven baked and shot blasted to remove all grease, oil, rust, and dirt. Each case is checked for cracks after this cleaning process. Damaged threads in bolt holes are repaired if possible. The case receives a coat of cast blast silver/gray paint and is ready for rebuilding. We recommend that the rebuilder pressure wash the empty case and allow it to dry completely before installing gears.

CUSTOMER SUPPLIED CASE

Contact us about sending in your gearbox case for our reconditioning process at (800) 299-7496. They can be shipped by UPS or FedEx Ground at a reasonable cost. Our service for this runs $325.00, not including the shipping. Each thread insert used for damaged bolt holes costs $20.00 US.

CASES PURCHASED OUTRIGHT

Contact us about buying a reconditioned used case. These are subject to availability, so we may or may not have cases available when you call. A reconditioned case purchased outright sells for $425.00 US.

Please Note: The prices above are for a gearbox case only, and do not include the gears, shifter housing, shifter levers, front or rear bearing retainers, clutch release shaft, clutch shaft bushings, drain or fill plugs, or any other separate components. The prices are for reconditioned cases used in Ford 3 speed transmissions used from 1932-48 passenger cars, and 1932-50 in light pickup trucks. Side loader or toploader cases are the same price and use the same thrust surface. We recommend that you consider purchasing one of our new counter- shafts (B-7111) which is the correct diameter for a perfect fit in the bores of the case. This and other parts are available - see the link below for prices.

VanPelt Sales & Service
Mail: 4525 Bells Lane #135 
Cincinnati, Ohio  45244 
(800) 299-7496 (USA callers only)

(513) 943-1537 (International callers)

Copyright 2008, VANPELT PARTS & SERVICE - All Rights Reserved