Transmission needed for 1937 Buick Special

[Guest Dwight Moody]

Hi,

 

I'm new to the forum, I recently bought an 1937 Buick Special from an older neighbor.. He removed, then lost the transmission through the years.. Ugh.

 

I bought a trans off Ebay with the 5-bolt cover, and the 1293153-4 casting number, and was told it would work.. Nope! It was from a '37 Pontiac and has a different output shaft and tail housing.

 

If I can't find the complete trans, I was thinking maybe I could change out the shaft and tail housing with Buick parts? I would need the torque ball assembly as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1939_Buick]

Welcome to the forum and pre war Buick's

 

The Ponti casting may be the same. And some internal parts

With pre war Buick's each model is/can be different

 

You need to contact Dave T.  Can be hard to contact, but keep trying

http://forums.aaca.org/topic/206688-dave-tachney/

 

http://forums.aaca.org/topic/207201-39-buick-team-membership/

 

 

http://forums.aaca.org/forum/12-buick-buysell/

http://forums.aaca.org/forum/60-buick-pre-war/  (good & helpful information here)

Edited November 11, 2015 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[dibarlaw]

Dwight:

 Where are you located ? As I may have a lead on one near Baltimore.

[1937-44]

Dwight when posting more information is better than less.   I'm with Larry as location on large heavy items makes a big difference. I live in Northeastern Ohio and have a 1937 Buick Special transmission I would be willing to sell. Thing is I don't know if it is any good and I'm not  going to check unless there is an interest from someone who is willing to pick it up. I do know the shaft turns by hand.

 

                                                 Carl

[Guest Dwight Moody]

I am in Roseville Michigan. Those transmissions weigh 66 pounds, and once the gearshift lever is removed, can be boxed and shipped through Fedex or UPS, as the wrong one I got came from California.

 

Carl, I don't mind if there are problems with the one you have, as long as it still has the torque ball and tail shaft.

[1937-44]

  I turned the front shaft before responding to make sure it wasn't all frozen up inside. As I recall the torque ball was on it.

  I've never shipped freight through UPS or Fed Ex and admittedly reluctant. I assume all gear lube would need to be drained? Roseville is probably about a three hour drive from me, do you ever get out towards Cleveland?   I'll try and go out tomorrow and get some pictures and we can discuss price and shipping  after I make sure I have what you need.

 Have you gotten ahold of Dave Tacheny? I'm sure he is used to shipping trannys.

 

                                       Carl

[Guest Dwight Moody]

No, I have not contacted Dave yet.

 

When the yard shipped the trans to me, they drained the gear lube, removed the shift lever, put a cardboard sleeve on the input shaft, then wrapped the trans in cardboard and put it into a box!

 

They shipped regular Fedex ground.. It ran around 70 for shipping from California.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Dwight Moody (see edit history)

[1937-44]

 I'll check on the tranny tomorrow. Your photo definitely helps the cause as it made me chuckle. Reminds me of Zallman T Tombstone and Svengoolie. 

 

 Btw in the future if you scroll down a bit you will find the BCA forum along with a prewar section.

 

 There is also a 1937-1938 yahoo group that is free to join that might be helpful at times. Then there is the Torque Tube archives you will find here;   http://www.1937and1938buicks.com/information_links/information_links.htm The Torque Tube was a predecessesor of the present 1936-1938 Club.  Just be forewarned going through all the old Torque Tubes will take a while but the information included in them is awesome.

 

                                                                   Carl

[Guest Dwight Moody]

LOL! I try to keep things light and humorous, less stressful that way..

[1937-44]

 I like the sentiment.

 

 I took a few pictures for you for future reference. As you can see I didn't clean it all up for pictures and there wouldn't be any extra charge for the protective coating that has been preserving the transmission for years.

 I'm not in the business of selling parts although I do need to get rid of some of this stuff. After trying to get a rough estimate on shipping costs through the Fed Ex and UPS websites I became extremely frustrated and threw up my hands. Betweeen trying to deal with a freight company, buying a sheet of plywood and a 2x2 to crate the tranny and my time I decided I'm not shipping it. If you would like to pick it up in Streetsboro, Ohio you can have it for $100.

 Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear.

 

                                                                  Carl

 

[superbuick]

I have a good used trans that was removed from a driving 37 4 door special during restro mod restoration. He put a turbo 400 in place.
It was working well when removed several years ago and stored inside. I could box it and ship it to you for $200 plus shipping.

Or drive to get Carls unit.

Steve

[Guest Dwight Moody]

I understand not wanting to ship it Carl.. It can be a pain! I restore vintage Electronics (Radios and Televisions) Basically anything with tubes, and it can get fun figuring how to pack the items for a rough journey.

 

Years ago, I used to do a lot of work for John Sheldon at Radios and Wheelcovers. He used to get a lot of radios in that had their volume control shafts smashed in from rough shipping/poor packing. Was good for me though, as I had a steady income!

 

Actually, that trans is not hard to ship if the shift lever is removed, and the part by the mounting ears is wrapped with enough cardboard to keep them from breaking off. Then all you need is more cardboard wrapped around the input shaft, and put the whole shebang in a nice sturdy cardboard box not much bigger than the trans.

 

That's how the salvage yard shipped the '37 Pontiac trans to me from California. It arrived fine, and no need for a custom wood box!

 

My funds are limited, as all I have for an income is the Vintage Electronics repairs (that I seldom do anymore!) and being a Pastor at The Macomb Help Center.

 

So with that said, I could try and find someone that might be going to Ohio soon, as it looks like you are 200+ miles from me.

 

Thank you both Steve and Carl for finding my needle in a haystack, I will try and see what I can do on my end.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Dwight Moody (see edit history)

[GARY F]

check with your local fastenal for shipping

[1937-44]

  Wow, reconditioning the old tube radios around here is a somewhat lucrative business. Actually had a radio worked on recently and the gentleman that worked on it has been doing them for years and according to him it is how he paid for his collector cars. That being said I understand the need to keep costs down and that most of us need to watch our expenditures. I never expected a cardboard box to survive shipping cross country with that much weight and had just assumed it had been crated.

 I don't know anything about the condition of this transmission except that the shaft turns and that I removed it from a 1937 Buick Special a few years back. I also know the speedometer cable housing although present isn't any good.  Would you like more pictures?  Depending on Steve's location and shipping costs his might be a better choice.

 If you are seriously interested let me know by a private message and I will see if I can find a cardboard box that the tranny will fit in.

 

                                              Carl

[1937-44]

 Thanks for the suggestion Gary, I've never used Fastenal for shipping or for that matter thought about them for shipping.

[Dwight Romberger]

Dwight

 

A '37 Buick Special trans auction on ebay ended yesterday without being sold for $120.00

 

If you contact the seller, I am sure he will relist it if he hasn't already.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1936-1937-Buick-Special-Transmission-1293153-RARE-/121806976425?vxp=mtr&hash=item1c5c42f5a9%3Ag%3AJCQAAOSw~bFWOo27&nma=true&si=oalAF3ggm4iUpiY7NcoAWsLmbs4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

Ask him for a $100 Buy It Now listing. I bet he will take it,

 

Dwight (we Dwights have to stick together, there are not that many of us around!)

 

P.S.  For you other Buick guys, the seller has quite a few pcs. of NOS 40's and 50's Buick trim listed for sale

Edited November 12, 2015 by Dwight Romberger (see edit history)

[Guest Dwight Moody]

Thanks Dwight! That's the same guy that sold me the Pontiac trans! He said by the casting numbers it would fit.. Not so! Either way, he was nice and refunded $40 of the $100 I gave him for it. 

 

And the one he has listed now looks like maybe? an Olds, as it has no torque ball. 

 

So far, from what I have seen, (and what little I have learned) is I need the 5-bolt top cover trans with the torque ball. My engine is the smaller 248. The bigger 320's used a beefier 6-bolt top cover trans.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Dwight Moody (see edit history)

[Dwight Romberger]

OK. Sorry about that. Now that I compare the pics, I see they are quite different.  I just went by what the seller claimed.  Unfortunately, I have made this mistake before.

[Wogden]

Dwight, just saw this post and don't know what you ever did with the tranny. I have a complete 37 6 bolt cover tranny gut that I took out of a good tranny when I converted a stock tranny over to an Olds gut and open drive line for a client. So, if you would be interested let me know as it is just taking up space in the shop. Walt