Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, April 16, 2006 at 10:31PM :
In Reply to: ot spicer 3853 trans posted by jim in n.y. on Sunday, April 16, 2006 at 8:46PM :
Ask APB, he's got all the specs. The best thing is they're cheap, $200 or so, and fairly plentiful. They're not too large, and are pretty sturdy. One quirk is that there's too big a gap, for my taste, between 3rd and 4th, or to put it another way 4th is too close to 5th. This is a result of the fact that it was originally designed as the 3052, with 5th gear direct, and the gears nicely spaced. When they started putting diesel engines in the deuces, with lower RPM, they modified the 3052 to add an overdrive and called it a 3053, but at that stage, without totally starting over they couldn't get the rest of the ratios exactly where they should be. If you don't need the overdrive, which you probably wouldn't with a gas engine, you might like the ratios on the 3052 better. You can get one off of an old "gasser" deuce.
If you want the clutch and bellhousing, you might try to get a 3053 that was on a LDT465-1D or LDS465 engine, rather than the more common LDT465-1C, or the older LD-427 engine, because the newer ones had a larger clutch. One nice thing about the deuce clutch is that it's oil-resistant. I got mine soaked with oil from overfilling the tranny (there's no front seal on the 305X tranny) to the point where it was slipping just cruising along on the level at highway speed. I pulled the access cover, sprayed a couple cans of brake cleaner up in it while the engine was running and somebody was pumping the clutch pedal, and it's been good ever since. I wish all clutches were that way.
As far as power goes, I think the most powerful mutifuel engine is only rated at 150 HP or so. Peak torque must be around 2200 rpm or so, with redline at about 2500. I have a book with the tables, but don't have it here. I don't know what that works out to in ft-lbs but it has to be a lot.