Thread: 39 ford tranny vs lincoln Zepher

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I found a pile of old flathead trannys, which is better the 39 ford or zepher?
I am going back Saturday to pick one out, but I want to get one in good shape also one that I don't have to spend a fortune rebuilding. Are parts more readily available for one or the other?
Thanks

Oh wow, you are really digging back into our brain archives now. I remember they used to put Zephyr gears into early Ford boxes for a better gear ratio mix, but don't remember about using the Zephyr transmissions alone.

Figured I would give this one a bump to let some of the others get a chance to see it. Good luck.


Don

I've been doing some digging on the internet for you on this, and everything discussed using the gears only to create a more close ratio box out of a '39 Ford tranny. There was one Zephyr box on ebay that sold for $ 400, and it had 3 blown gears, so it looks like they bring fair money. Buy them both just to be safe.

Don

Sounds like a good idea if he doesn't want too much for them. I didn't get a price yet, but I'm hoping to get a 37 rear axle/the tranny/and assorted small parts all for one lump sum. He said make me an offer, so we'll see. Also I see that Speedway sells new Zepher gear sets for around $600.

Price has gone up. In '65 I bought a 39 box with Zephyr gears from Ford Parts Obsolete in Bell, Ca. for $40 and put it behind the sbc I was running in my 36 coupe.

Hasn't everything! In 75 I bought a 1966 Chevelle convertable for $275. Now they are fetching upwards of a hundred grand at the Barret-Jackson auctions.

Update, I picked up a 39 Zephyr tranny cheap, bad news is it had water in it and the gears are stuck, Main input gear is also missing a couple of teeth.
I'm soaking it to see if it will be salvageable. If not I guess I can use it when I mock up my frame. I also picked up a rear axle, was told it was a 37, but now I'm not sure. The leaf spring is curved when you look at the whole axle assy from the top like this (>- I'm guessing for clearance away from the center diff. It has mechanical brakes and a standard 5 bolt ford pattern(although axles may have been changed.
Any ideas?

Originally Posted by Ralph Moore

The leaf spring is curved when you look at the whole axle assy from the top like this (>- I'm guessing for clearance away from the center diff. It has mechanical brakes and a standard 5 bolt ford pattern(although axles may have been changed.
Any ideas?

'32 Ford......

Well thats good, I think. But that rules out my idea to use a 40 crossmember. Now if I could find a 32 rear crossmember I'd be willing to go that way.
Thanks,

I remember, I think, that Ford gears had horizontal teeth while the Zephyr had gears on a slant. That made them smoother to shift. Or was that Cadillac LaSalle gears?

The '32-'34 trans had straight cut spur gears, the later ones had helical cut. The later,'48-style gears will fit the older case if you use a '37-'39 shifter top.