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1946 T & C trans question


rb6673

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And I know someone who needs a '46 T&C transmission ...;)

A bit off the original posting topic but...

Here's a question jcmiller has about a Fluid Dive tranny I have from a 46 Royal.

As far as I know a Fluid Drive tranny will work for an 8 cyl or 6 cyl car. There should be no difference

If there is anyone that knows differently please let us know

Thanks, Joe

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No... the eight cylinder FD coupling is eight only. It Uses a bigger pressure plate (10") and supposedly internal vanes are different for the more torque eight compared to the six.

You can use a six FD with an eight though... I've done it.

1950- 53 B- series dodge trucks with FD use an eight cyl coupling w/ 10" clutch.

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You can use a six FD with an eight though... I've done it.

By this do you mean that it will bolt on and work (perhaps with less durability/performance) or do you mean it can work with a lot of mods? I've been looking at other threads on this, including http://forums.aaca.org/f145/chrysler-straight-eight-questions-346078.html and I had the impression that the six FD wouldn't easily connect to the straight 8. I hope that is wrong though because it would be great news of the six FD bolts to the straight 8. Thx again.

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Hey Jeff, I have a bellhousing from a six cyl in my parts car. You are welcome to it.

It looks like the previous owner simply pulled the tranny and everything else is there. If I remember correctly what you could see is a throw out bearing so everything ahead of that is there.

That particular chassis is over at a friends house getting the body work done. But we will be doing the body swap shortly.

I don't have any use for any of the engine or running gear parts from this project. Body parts as well. If anybody is interested. No rear end.

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Thanks guys. I'm starting to get the picture, FD doesn't necessarily mean M5 transmission. Sorry to be so dense about this. I lack knowledge in all areas, but the transmission and fluid drive are a particular mystery. Was the M5 only on Chryslers?

Jack - Thanks for the post, I'll shoot you an email.

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No, the M-5 was also on 46-48 DeSotos. I have a 48 DeSoto business coupe. When I entered the Chrysler club many years ago, I was confused about Fluid Drive too. Then a man explained it to me. Most people just call the semi-auto transmission Fluid Drive. That's where the confusion starts. The transmission is not the Fluid Drive. When Fluid Drive came out in 1941, it was offered on Chrysler, DeSoto, and Dodge. Chrysler and DeSoto coupled the Fluid Drive with a semi-automatic transmission. Dodge coupled the Fluid Drive with a 3 speed manual trans. And if you didn't want Fluid Drive, you bought a Plymouth. Starting in 1949, Dodge starting offering a semi-automatic transmission on their bigger cars, like the Coronet. The smaller Wayfarers still used the old 3 speed manual trans. with fluid drive.

Edited by marcapra (see edit history)
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OK, the presence of that 3 speed manual with fluid drive on the Dodge had me wondering whether I even needed the M5 transmission. My car is a '46 New Yorker and it has no engine or transmission, but it says fluid drive on the steering wheel. I have been assuming all along that it had the hydraulic transmission with fluid drive and that fluid drive was only used with that transmission. Now I know that fluid drive was also used with manual transmissions, and it appears from your last message that Chrysler only offered fluid drive with the hydraulic transmission. Can you confirm that a 46 New Yorker with fluid drive would only have come with the hydraulic M5 transmission?

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The 1946-48 NewYorker would have only come with the FD coupling and the M-5 hydraulically operated transmission.

Fluid drive and the std 3 speed transmission was mostly a dodge setup. Most all 1946-8 Chrysler and DeSoto had the FD coupling and M-5 transmissions.

NOTE... the six cylinder FD/M-5 bell housings (Chrysler and DeSoto) will not bolt up to the chrysler staright eights! Engine to bell housing bolt paterns are different.

Bob

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I’m going to try to summarize all this for 1946-48 vehicles. Fluid drive was offered on Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler, but not Plymouth. Dodge coupled the fluid drive with 3-speed manual transmission,* while DeSoto and Chrysler coupled fluid drive with the hydraulic M-5 transmission. A 1946-48 New Yorker would only have come with fluid drive and the M-5, and most other 1946-48 Chryslers and DeSotos had that combination as well.

Regarding six cylinder cars vs. eight cylinder cars, the M-5 transmission is the same, but the fluid drive coupling is different, with the eight cylinder version using a bigger pressure plate (10”) and possibly different internal vanes. The six-cylinder version will bolt to a straight eight engine and function properly, but may not last as long because of the smaller (9-1/4”) clutch.** A bell housing from a straight eight fluid drive setup must be used, however, because the bell housing from a six will not bolt to a straight eight.

* Starting in 1949, Dodge offered fluid drive with semi-automatic transmission (M-5?) on its larger cars.

** 1950-53 Dodge B-series trucks with fluid drive, used the eight-cylinder version of the fluid drive coupling/clutch, even though they were equipped with six-cylinder engines.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on this topic. Please correct me if I misstated anything.

Jeff

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Everything you said above looks correct, except in 1949 Chrysler Corp. came out with the new M-6 semi-auto trans. The M-6 is very similar to the M-5 except the electrical system was updated and simplified. So, putting it another way, Dodge never had an M-5 transmission, but did have the M-6 transmission starting in 1949 - 52 on the Coronets and Meadowbrooks, but not on Wayfarers.

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