I recently purchased a 1953 pickup. It appears the 6cyl engine is from a 1960 vintage and the transmission looks like a 55, 56, or 57 3speed. It has a number stamp of "M715". What weight oil goes into this transmission? This is all new to me so have patience with my questions.

Hi dmilew-

Congratulations on your new toy! The most important purchase you can make now is to invest in a shop manual for your truck. You can find them everywhere, but sometimes more reasonably priced on ebay. To answer your immediate question...If it's a manual transmission, use 80W-90 weight gear oil.

SPEEDLINE

Unless your driveline has been changed to and open two U joint set up I doubt that you have a 55 or later transmission, as the 53 still had the torque tube driveline and the two would not be compatabile

I agree with Glyn on the trans. Alot of mixing & matching of parts could have happened over the years. Without decoding the stamped #'s in the trans. we are guessing. To decode the cast date on your motor- please give us the #'s cast in the block just above the starter [ it should begin with CON.....]

Good Morning to all and thank you for the responses. The driveline is a closed tube type. The strangest thing I have ever seen! No visible ujoints!

The casting number on the engine is "CON3 A130" and the stamped number on the block is "F0114A". I looked at a resource book for numbers and that is why I think the motor is a 1960 product. Do you agree?

Now the transmission is a 3 speed manual with a stamped number of "M715". The stamped number is located on the left side to the rear of the access plate! What vintage transmission is it?

The local Chevy truck store was out of shop manuals but they should be restocked this week. It is on the top of my list of things to buy.

I just sold a '56 Chev 210 and still have a '57 Chev Bel Air. They had new drive trains. I am intrigued with this older drivetrain!

"CON3 A130" = block was cast on January 13 1960.

The Torque Tube drive shaft has a Ujoint and bell type housing behind the tail shaft of the tranny and transmission, gear grease lubes the solid bushed driveshaft inside the outer tube. The last year that a Torque tube driveline was used by Chevrolet was for the 1954 model year, the 1955 early series is almost idential to the 1954 with one very noticeable exception, the 54 has a Torque Tube driveline and the 1955 1st series has an open driveline with front and rear u-joints. I would say your tranny is either a 54 or earlyer.

I am digesting what you all have told me. Since I obviously have a Torque tube drivshaft, my transmission must be a vintage of 1954 or earlier as later made transmissions are not compatible with the driveline. I guess I should not get hung up with the stamped number on the side of the tranny as it is not compatible with that era of transmission? "M715" is the stamped number!

Well, I am off to install the repaired speedometer. If it works, I will let the man rebuild the gas and temperature gauges. The gas gauge does not work as the previous owner had the 6 volt gauge wired into the 12 volt system!

Thanks again for your input!

If you drain the transmission completely to work on it it requires about 1/2 pint of 90 weight gear oil be put in the transmission through the speedometer cable housing and then refill the remainder using the side opening. Total capacity is about 1.5 pints but your manual will provide this infomration.