VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 '46 Pickup Transmission

I recently came into possession of a '46 pickup truck and I am having to advance my knowledge and skills which mostly span the 4-cyl era up to 1928.

The 216 engine has been rebuilt and runs well. My first order of business was to fix the gas gauge by replacing the cork floats in the gas tank sending unit as they were eaten up by ethanol in the gas. That project was pretty straight forward and went well. However, the transmission shifts like a 4-cyl rock crusher and leaks front to back. Double clutching is required to prevent grinding the gears. Not that it's a problem but I thought by '46 they would have improved the "user experience" a bit with synchros. Along with the truck, I inherited a new 3.55 gear set plus all the parts to make it happen. I am thinking when I pull the diff to replace the gears, I should also pull the transmission and sort out the leaks and syncros. Any advice on dealing with the transmission? I understand the truck transmissions were top-shifting or "top-loaders" which are a little more rare and parts can be hard to find.

Thanks in advance.

The 4 speed truck transmission was basically unchanged from 1929-1947 and requires double clutching. 1948 is a more modern syncronized 4 speed.

Thanks Gene,

My truck has the 3-speed.

Update: Thanks to the service manual, I was able to pull the transmission and rebuild it with new front and rear bearings, new synchronizer rings, and a small parts kit including needles and thrust washers. I also installed a new shift bushing and pin. While I was at it, I pulled the differential and changed the gears from 4.11 to 3.55. I also changed the carrier and pinion bearings, front bushing and seal, and finally the rear axle bearings and seals. Although it was a lot of work, I have to say much of it was easier to deal with than the old 4-cyl Chevys I'm used to wrenching on. The mechanics and designers must have had a meeting at some point between the 20s and the 40s. :)