VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 syncro rings

Hi All
I have tried all the usual suspects but no luck so far.
Does any one have a lead on syncro rings for a 1938 3 spped box ...

Ollie

Fillingstation.com has them listed, part# RW-453.

I assume you have the syncro clutch assembly in pieces and checked the rings out?

My trans is in pieces now, surprisingly everything is nice & tight. Going to replace bearings & bushings anyway.

The floor shift and non-vacuum shift cars seldom had syncro. problems. The vacuum assisted cars had the problems due to the vac. assist forcing the shift (in the transmission) with a lot of force and quickly.

Filling station has no stock and no current supplier . Shifting 3rd to 2nd is problematic ..all else is smooth and fine .. floor shift not vacumn.
Ollie

Every bodys gears are gonna be crunching soon :( with no parts :(

The small parts kit I got from the other vendor had parts for both the 3 speed & 4 speed Saginaw transmissions, looked online to see what else is available, found these suppliers, may need to call them with dimensions of the syncro rings to verify:

http://www.dandltransmission.com/saginaw.html

http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_catalog/manual_transmission_overhaul_kits/saginaw_3_speeds.html

Got my new synchro rings and installed them in the synchro drum, everything seems good, will see when I finish install and take 47 for road test.Got rings from a company in Washington USA .

Stylemastermel .. if you have E-contact details for the source of said synchro rings it would be very helpful.

cheers

Ollie

parts page for the 3 speed floor shift only shows x 1 ring 4.383.
The exploded view for the column shift (vac assist) shows x 2 of the same part.
Am I reading this correctly ?? and is this for top to second only ??

Ollie

There is one for 2nd and one for third and I believe they are the same. That is for the 3 speed on the floor.

The floor shift cars seldom required syncro. ring replacement. If you can make a mild speed shift with no gear clash the syncros are OK.

3rd to second can be done smoothly at very low speed but not so fine with the revs up .. big ratio jump between the two gears not helping . will replace both as soon as i can source the parts..i want to have a look any way .. curious me..

When I was taking care of the rear main seal on my 1940 216 in my 38 Master, I took the transmission to a professional shop that I have used before. I told them the only problem I had was with the synchros. They took it apart, cleaned everything and installed new bearings. They said the synchros looked good and it was probably because it was all gummed up. I think they couldn't source them so they just did the rest. Anyway, they still don't work and it will have to come out again. Apparently they are fiber in mine, not brass. So I am wondering if I am able to buy brass ones, will they fit?

In experimenting I would say that I can shift from first to second at an extremely low speed without grinding. Shifting into third without grinding is almost not possible and same with the downshift. I also found that if I pulled out the throttle to give a really high idle, I can upshift into both gears OK but not downshift. However, with double clutching I can do all the shifts at normal speeds with no grinding at all.

Too bad. I just sold a new 1937-39 syncro. drum a few months ago.....watch Ebay for a drum.

My experience with my vacuum 3 speed 1941 is that it requires double clutching or it will grind gears. I was told long ago that the vacuum shift models all had to be double clutched or they grind gears. It was a common complaint when they were new from what I understand. I am sure Gene could probably shed more light on that. Good luck with it!

When the syncro. is working properly the gears wil not"grind" on vacuum ssift cars.
What did happen is the vacuum bosster forced the gear changes faster (in the transmission) and this wore out the syunc. rings..
The same basic syncronizer drm and rings were used up through 1965 on the 3 speeds.
Chevrolet never did service the brass rings, only the steel.

There is at least 3 different sizes of brass rings in the 3 speed trans thru the years.:(

Chevgene,
that is too bad for sure.

Fred

New synchro rings work really well, shifts perfectly,(no crunching) and trans is really quiet with a couple of new bearings :) new clutch disc is nice too.

I bought this on ebay:
NOS 1937 1938 1939 Chevrolet 3 speed transmission clutch synchronizer assembly‏
The seller had 2 of these, but I only needed one. He is Bob Ronningen. His email: ronningenb@charter.net
This was two years ago, in May 2013. I just told him about your post, and he said to give you his email. He wanted a picture of what he sold me, but I don't know where mine is. Good luck.

Did you try Jim Carter's truck parts?
Last I heard he bought out Obsolete Chevrolet Parts in Georgia.
They had many NOS trans parts but since their old site is gone there is no way to look up the part numbers to see what is in stock.

thanks .. have sent a query

There are a ton of Saginaw 3 speed rebuild kits out there that have similar looking parts...did someone say that the 37-39 synchro rings are compatible with later model years?

Oh I wish it were that easy .. Im still searching ..
I have found a source for the hub assembly but . expensive ..
Ollie

Vintage Auto Parts Inc. lists the drum and the individual syncronizer O rings for sale on their online web site.

Just the rings are listed for $30.00 each http://www.vapinc.com/chevy/Transmission%20parts/main.html

Chevy Transmission parts