Does this 3 speed have syncro 1st gear?

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Marksman

Marksman

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Hey, I've got a 3 speed out of a 67 dart. It was behind a 273 that I bought a while back, and I haven't needed it until now.

I need to know if this trans is has a syncro first gear. It will be going in my 67 truck, which at 350k has a bearing going out, and doesn't have syncro first which is annoying.

I believe that the trans I have is an A-745. Some things I have read say that an A-745 is the same as an A-903, while others say the 745 has syncro first and the 903 does not. Here are the numbers (As well as pictures) stamped on it, if they might help.

On the pass side of the trans on a pad: PP7452427 0012

Above the pad on the pass side: C95323, and underneath that looks like 5AD

On the tailshaft, 9-25-67, which I believe to be the build date.

Also there are some numbers which look to be c-96709 M 3

From my research, it seems that the trans may have originally been out of a truck and not a car..

If anyone has any info, i'd appreciate your input!

Thanks!







 
Nope. You have to be stopped to go in first. To clarify, this is a synchronized trans, but only 2-3 and not 1st. A non-synchronization no gears are.
 
The 903 and 745 are different trannys. They are both top-loaders with no side-covers and no synchros on first. IIRC (it was 35 years ago), the 903 is a lighter duty than the 745. The 745 was a tank. I think it weighed about 700 pounds.I also seem to recollect that these two were all cast iron with tin top covers.

The A230 has a side-cover and of the many hundreds of those that I rebuilt, I don't recall ever seeing one that wasn't fully synchronized. I seem to remember this tranny had a cast iron main box and aluminum rear housings.
 
AJ/FormS said:
The 903 and 745 are different trannys. They are both top-loaders with no side-covers and no synchros on first. IIRC (it was 35 years ago), the 903 is a lighter duty than the 745. The 745 was a tank. I think it weighed about 700 pounds.I also seem to recollect that these two were all cast iron with tin top covers.
Click to expand...

I can personally vouch for this.I just replaced one in a 66 A100 van and it's about 3x as heavy as it looks.

Just to clarify,the 745 has the shift levers mounted on the side of the cast iron case with a tin cover on the top for access.

I've seen them described in factory literature as a synchromesh trans but like a previous poster said,only 2-3 are synchronized so stopping to engage first is necessary unless you're good at double clutching.
 
Yeah, the 745 is pretty heavy. It does have a tin top cover, and a hump in it since its a 745.

I might have an a-230 or two, ill have to look through the pile. Those should all be syncro, from what I have gathered.
 
I found that I have a good A230 I can use. I'll need to dig out a bell housing like in the truck to make sure it will bolt up, unless anyone knows off hand.

I assume the linkage is the same and will hook up to the 230? I'll measure, but both transmissions look the same length, so the driveshaft ought to work as long as the splines are the same.
 
Pulled the transmission earlier, which is extremely easy on a truck, as it doesn't have a crossmember. Got it out and found that the input shaft on the 230 is about 1.5 inches shorter than that of the 745. The 745 uses a different clutch spline, and a much larger throw out bearing.

Stuck the 745 back, and I guess I'll have to use it for a while. Oh well.

Varnished 5 year old fuel apparently likes to gum up valves and cause them to stick and bend push rods. Had to deal with that today..
 
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