VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum 1930 drivetrain parts

Hey guys I'm a new guy to the site, I'm having a lot of problems trying to find parts to fix my 30, my car runs and drive but the trans growls like crazy in second gear, i have another engine and trans from a 1934 is what year I am told I have, I was going to swap the trans into my car cause the donor is in good shape but it is longer than my original trans and because it's a closed tube drive line it's not looking like that is possible, there are also disimalarities in the engine as well, I don't think any of the spare parts I have will work on my car. I'm not ready to swap in a small block yet because I want to keep the car in original shape, but if I can't find replacement parts that may have to happen. Any help would be appreciated ,

Luke in SoCal

Welcome to VCCA Chat. You will find this is the place to find information and parts for older Chevrolets. There are several folks that have horded parts and occasionally sell a few of them. I plead guilty.

The '30 transmission has straight cut gears that are frankly noisy. If you have bad bearings or bushings your transmission would make more than normal noise. A rebuild kit with shafts, bushings is available from a few sellers. The Filling Station is Oregon carries more parts for your '30 than anyone else. The transmission is designed to use a thick lubricant SAE 160 or 600W. If the transmission is filled with a lower viscosity fluid it will make more noise and be harder to shift without grinding.

Hi Luke,
Welcome to the site. You just received good advice from one of the sharpest guys on the site. All that I can add is that it will be much easier and cheaper to fix your transmission than to change the entire driveline. These old transmissions are not that hard to work on and parts are available plus you will be preserving a piece of automotive history. Good luck what ever you do.

Did you look at TFS?

The 1934 engine (207 cubic inches) and the 1930 engine (194 cubic inches) are two completely different animals. Definitely stay with your original drivetrain and repair your existing transmission instead.

I would advise that he pull the top cover with shift lever off the top of the transmission before deciding to take it out. First check for lube in the transmission. If it is okay then inspect the condition of the gears and test for slop between them and the shafts and shafts and bearings or bushings. If all that seems to be okay then put it back together and run it. There is a BIG difference between the noise of '30 and modern manual transmission.

Thanks for the advice, I took a look at the site in Oregon and they have everything but the gears themselves, so long as those aren't bad I should be in good shape. Hope you don't mind if I ask more questions in the future.

Also I forgot to mention that the transmission was leaking quite a bit, every time it got pushed in and out of the shop for years it had lots of oil under it, so once I got the carburetor fixed and got the car running I made sure I added oil before I drove it, I'm sure it had been run dry in the past at some point, the thing shifted good but once shifted into second gear the neighbors would come out of the houses as I would go by wondering what the heck was making so much noise outside , is there any special tools I will need to disassemble and reassemble the transmission, I'm pretty sharp, I've been a mechanic for about 18 years , but this car is a little different than my 65 chevy c-10, thanks for listening guys.

There is nothing too complicated. Two shafts are held in by large cotter pins. The front and rear bearings will generally slip out of the case but may need a bit of help. Make sure to at least use 140 weight lube. 600W is even better. The high viscosity lubes don't leak nearly as much as the typical 85W sold everywhere. You can put a sealed bearing on the input shaft as long as you remove the seal on the transmission side. Don't even think about a sealed bearing on the output shaft as the lube needs to flow between transmission and U-joint ball housing.

2nd gear howl gets in your blood..Get the 600 wt..Won't stop the noise but slows the leak and shifts alot better

If you do decide to pull out your trans for a rebuild I think I have a 30 trans around here. Make sure of what you have first. The 30 trans had 6 splines on the main interior shaft and the 29 had 10, so the main shaft gears will not interchange. I think the cluster gear will and the reverse gear as well. They will look almost identical on the exterior. I bought this one many years ago before I knew there was a difference.