VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 auto vs manual rearend

My 51 Chevy Styleline has a bent rear axle tube. The car is a 216 manual. A friend has a 51 235 auto rearend. I know the wheelbase is common on the cars. I was wondering if this rearend and torque tube are a direct fit or will I have to swap over my manual gears and torque tube.

Because the rear end gear ratio is different you will either have to 1) live with your speedo showing 16.7% slow or 2) get a speedo shop to make you up an adapter or 3) get some powerglide speedo gears have them adapted to work with your manual transmission. Your car will also be slower off the starting line because of the taller gears. The upside is that your 216 will thank you because you will be able to cruise at freeway speeds at lower rpm.

Your '51 manual car has 4.11 gears and the '51 automatic has 3.55 gears. And it will fit fine and if your friend's is from a '51 the brakes will be the same Bendix type like your '51...Another way to go is the '53 and '54 manual cars have the 3.70 gears in the rear end and they will fit, too...

I believe you will have to use the driveshaft and torque tube from your car as they are not the same length.

Will the 53-54 torque tube and 3:70 differential gears swap into the 41 as well as the 50 power-glide (PG)?

I understand that the 50 PG's 3:55 will swap but that seems a little too tall a gear to me. I'm wondering if the 53-54's manual 3:70 would be a good compromise between the ratios of a 4:11 and 3:55. That is, if it will swap as easily as the 50 PG. Charlie

I don't believe you would ever see a noticeable difference between the 3;70 gears compared to the 3:55 gears.

Bob

Bob, maybe not but I would still like to know the answer to my question. I think the 4:70 ratio would work better if you were using a basic, no refinement, 216.
Thanks for your response, though. Best, Charlie

There won't be any noticeable difference in normal driving between the 3.55 and the 3.70 Either will make you a decent cruising and touring set of gears in either a 216, a 235 or a 261. The 216 has so much low RPM torque that you probably won't notice all that much difference, in a car, even in hills. What would be too tall? I don't think that you will find any.
I would use whichever set that looks to have the least wear, and best care and never look back.......(41 special deluxe), I think that either would be ok, even in an ugly, underpowered, over rated, 41 Chevy.

I wish I knew that they would just bolt into a 41, but I have never tried that. In fact i don't think that different wheelbases of the cars will tell that either, it depends on which transmission and tailshaft housing is on the car. Just because someone tried it once and it didn't work doesn't mean it won't work for you...I would try it.

Mr Mack, Thanks for the good advice. I think you are right-on.
Best, Charlie

BTW: As to the comment about the 41, I a-thinking of a good come back. Stand by.

Charlie, in all truth I consider the 41 Chevrolet a very handsome car. The only one of the Chevrolet model year models I don't really considet to be "Handsome" is the 1944 Special Deluxe model with the underslung suspension! It was ok for the time but I doubt that I would enjor "Touring" it.Ha!

This is the one, only came in one color, was a real gas hog, rode like, well like a tank, and was hardly ever seen in a dealer's showroom. Many of the specialized uniformed users used it with good effect, in spite of it's underrated performance. It was named for a man that died young. He was Gen. J.E.B. Stuart.


Let us never forget the ones that used the Stuart Light Tank to assure the freedom that we now enjoy!!!!, God Bless Them, everyone!!!

[img:center][/img]

MrMack, Now that there J.E.B. tank is a sturdy looking 41, for sure! I think I need one of those. But, alas, I doubt that I can get this ol' 41, with its current 4:11 gears and stock 216, to run fast enough to even give it away. What a mess! Go figure.

After all this, I still don't know, for sure, if a 53-54, 3:70/3:55 differential and torque tube will fit into a 41 or not.

Best, Charlie

If you have the Jan. 2010 issue of G&D ChevGene addressed this issue up to 40. If it was me I would install a 3:70 ring and pinion along with the carrier. You probably have the stock 16" wheels with six lugs and I would use that ratio with a stock 216. 53 and 54 rears have different driveshaft and Bendix brakes with five lugs and 15" wheels.By the way you have a nice looking 41. My next project is a 40 coupe. How does that "Knee Action" front end hold up?

The 39-48 knee actions hold up real well.

The length of the torque tube was what worried me on the 53-54 swap. So, in order to not to have to set/reset the ring gear and pinion, I'm going to go with the 50-52 torque tube and 3:55 gears and a 261. After I get back from Flint.

Thanks for the positive comment on my "underpowered", "overrated" and "ugly" 41. (grin)

Best, Charlie

BTW: I think the weakest mechanism of a 41 (39-48) is the steering gears. Unfortunately, I've never had the pleasure of driving one without it having excessive "loss-motion."

Charlie,
I pulled the torque tube complete with gears from a 54 4dr chevy wagon with powerglide and installed them into my 51 2dr sedan to replace the 4:11's it had. They are the same length, no problem. Even the axles are the same. Donn

UPDATE: Just got the rear end installed....eveything fit like a glove. I transferred the brakes over. Went for a test drive...all is good. Boy, was the old rearend bent. Both axle tubes were pushed forward...must of been done when it was tied down on a trailer at sometime.