Dagenham 4 speed question

[Soft Taco 84]

Do people usually swap out dagenham 4 speeds out for something more easy to find? I've been trying to find a seal kit for mine and am having a hard time finding any parts or info on it. It shifts fine but it leaks real bad.

[Luva65wagon]

Check out my previous post on "find a transmission shop" for Dagenham leakage suggestions.

The main issue changing out the early 6 to something like a T5, which is the most common transmission swap, it lack of bell housing adaptation. Late-model 6's (1966 and newer) have more options than pre-66 sixes for the bell housing you can use. The early bells are so small they only allowed that puny 8.5" clutch, which I think is the cause of most clutch chatter issues.

My wagon, which has the Dagenham 4-speed and 8.5" clutch has has 3 different transmissions, at least 5 different clutch pairings, all new mounts, different rear-end ratios. It has chattered since the day I bought it over 20 years ago. I just think it needs more clutch surface. It's very drivable, but has annoyed me all along. Maybe the new owner will update the drive-train.

The Dagenham is a very weak transmission and has, from the number of them I have taken apart, known failure points. Parts are very hard to find and if they show up, they are very expensive. People try to sell a complete transmission, saying "ran good when last driven" for near to $600 and sometimes more, but I will not pay more than $100 for one knowing what I know now about them.

Over the years I have purchased quite a few of them and the one in the wagon now is the best one built from all of the parts I had, but I have another one still together that was the first on of this type I bought and built for the wagon. I re-engineered the input shaft to main shaft bearing from needle to roller bearings to get it in. Was still driving fine when I pulled it, but had the other (pulled from the Ranchero when it went V8), so it went in its place and I was planning to take the first one apart someday to see how well my McGyvering held up over the 10 years it was in there.

Here's a little part of the thread I did back then. Follow a couple post down from there for more on this transmission:

http://www.rainierfalcons.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9115&postcount=271

[Soft Taco 84]

Wow ok. Thank you so much for the info. It's much appreciated

[Luva65wagon]

As I was looking at my old Ranchero thread I came across this post, which shows the Classic Inlines engine Gary "MacDee" put into the 63 hardtop he had, and now I have. You can see in this image the two unused upper bolt holes on the block above the bell housing. This is for the larger bell housings you can put onto this block (as I understand it) to allow newer-style T5 bell housings.

http://www.rainierfalcons.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9135&postcount=276

I've not done a lot of investigation into all of these options, but now that I have the car this engine is in, I no doubt will.