A week or so, ago, I'd asked if anyone had a definitive listing of the various iterations, or applications, or part numbers for the 3-speed transmissions that went into the FWDLK'ers. Sports Cars Illustrated (3/58) has a very complimentary review of the '58 Fury, and states : " The '58 Fury's manual transmission is smoother in its opeation than that of the '57. It's still on the heavy side, though, and requires prior engagement of a synchronized gear if clashing is to be avoided on engagement of low or reverse. But, its crossover (fore and aft motion in the neutral position) and up and down shifts between second and high are smoother. This transmission has undergone two re-designs dictated by increasingly powerful engines. In the course of making the gear teeth huskier, low's ratio has gone from 2.58 to 2.50 to 2.33, and second's from 1.83 to 1.68 to 1.55 . In the '58 Fury with 3.73 axle gears, it is possible to wind out to 54 mph in low and 85 mph in second. Rear axles have undergone a similar beefing-up, with the result that the choice of optional final drive ratios now has dropped to two. They are 3.73 for the stick and 3.36 for the Torqueflite torque converter transmission." Nothing was said about the 350 c.i. Golden Commando engined 58 Fury being so much slower than the 295 c.i. 1956 D-500-1 ( with its own 'beefed'-3-speed, which allowed it to exceed 100 mph, in the quarter mile, right?) , but the article concludes : " As for sheer go, it far outstrips the already hot '57 Fury." The '58 Fury only managed a paltry 15.5 second quarter mile, at 86 mph Interestingly, the Fury got to 80 mph in 13.2 seconds, so, it took about 2 seconds longer to get to 86 mph. The '56 D500-1 broke 14 seconds in the quarter mile, huh? Must be the power to weight ratio. The '58 Fury weighed 3830 lbs; the mythology on the D500-1 would have it weigh around 3400 lbs in order to reach 15 second quarter mile times, IIRC. ANY WEIGHT, does anyone know/have the model/part numbers for the various 3-speed transmissions, that were produced in the 50's, and what ratios they may have had, in them, and what their applications may have been? Neil Vedder ************************************************************* To unsubscribe or set your subscription options, please go to http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=l-forwardlook&A=1
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