Crown wheel & pinion

bob ward

Looking for a crown wheel and pinion for the early stepdown rear end, something stiffer, ie a lower number, than a 4.11. What have you got!?
coldesig@gil.com.au

Unknown

Someone will undoubtedly give you a more precise answer, but until that comes along: I'm told that rearends from the automatic transmission Hudsons of the early fifties, have much lower ratios than 4.11. Hudsons changed to Spicer rearends in mid-1952 (I believe) and one can still purchase high-speed rearend crown (ring) & pinion gears for these nowadays, which can then be fitted to the Hudson Spicer rearends. So in a pinch you could yank the original Hudson rearend from your car and install a 1952-or-newer Spicer rear axle with the more favorable gearing.

EssexAdv

Bob, I used a 3.51 ratio aout of a 51 - early 52 Hydro eguipped Hornte or Commadore in my 49 Super. Works real well.

Lewis Mendenhall

Park_W

I agree with Lew ... the 3 7/12 (3.58) gear set in the Hydramatic '51s/early '52s is perfect for a standard tranny car, especially if you're not going to run it at 70 mph all day. They're a bit hard to find, but they're out there. That crown gear will not fit on the same differential case as the 4.1, however, so that part has to be swapped too.

Unknown

I don't have a spec book handy, but it seems to me that the Dual Range HydraMatics had a 3:07 axle ratio. This would probably be useable on a stick shift car, though I would expect acceleration to be rather liesurely.

Unknown

The 3.07 IS a bit 'long' for a stick shift car. I have one in my '51 Commodore 8. You have to feather the clutch a bit starting out, but it feels better than the original 4.10 as you go through the gears, and of course the highway cruise is great. The big advantage of the 3.58 is you can swap out just the diffy section, vs. changing out the entire axle assembly. The bad news is that you're still running with the harder to find and expensive rear wheel bearings, whereas those in the Spicer 3.07 axle are readily available and cheap.