11 replies to this topic

[styromaniac]

Hey Guys..any of you vintage car modelers out there know if a reasonable looking Columbia Two Speed axle was ever included in a kit?
Vintage kit ( 50's -60's edition ) or otherwise ?
I understand these were popular adaptations in 1:1 rods "back in the day".

Edited by styromaniac, 27 March 2012 - 02:01 PM.

[Art Anderson]

Columbia 2-speed rear axle? Last I knew, those were pretty much a thing of the past by the 50's--installed mostly on flathead-era V8 Fords. I believe both Revell (1948 Ford station wagon and convertible) and AMT/Ertl (1941 Ford station wagon) both included them in kits.

The Columbia unit was an "Overdrive" setup that was made for the old Ford V8 rear axle assembly, and was fitted in place of the right side rear axle and housing (remember, those old Fords had a three-piece rear axle unit--right side, left side, and center "banjo" which carried the differential. This was a much simpler conversion for those Fords than the more conventional overdrives that mounted on the rear of the transmission, given Ford's torque tube drive setup.

Most all other automakers were using the more common one-piece rear axle housing, but had open "hotchkiss" driveshafts, with universal joints at both transmission and differential, so using a transmission-mounted overdrive involved only shortening that type of driveshaft--in fact, some automakers offered them as factory-installed options built that way.

Art

Edited by Art Anderson, 27 March 2012 - 02:02 PM.

[styromaniac]

Wow..that was fast .
Thanks Art.
Is that the Revell Monogram ProModeler "Woody" you are referring to?

I once saw one on one of Larry Boothe's builds..a light blue '32 coupe..but I beleve he scratch built his.

[rel14]

TJ's custom castings have a resin 2 speed,

[tim boyd]

Columbia 2-speed rear axle? . I believe both Revell (1948 Ford station wagon and convertible) and AMT/Ertl (1941 Ford station wagon) both included them in kits.

Art

Slight correction here. None of the Revell '48 Ford kits have the Columbia two-speed from what I recall.

The AMT Ertl 1941 Woody (as noted above - but just the stock version, not the street rod version), and the Revell Pro-Modeler 1940 Ford Convertible and subsequent stock-only tool derivatives (e.g. the1940 Standard Coupe) all have very well detailed Columbia rear ends.

Hope that helps...TIM

Best regards...TIM

[styromaniac]

Thank You to All for the info.

[Greg Myers]

Revell '40 Ford Coupe

[RobRus]

You mean this one?

Attached Files

•  40RearAxle.jpg   92.6K   14 downloads

[george 53]

That's it! Hope you can show us some pics when you get that rascal done!

[Greg Myers]

Hot Rod Race by: George Wilson http://lyricsplaygro...otrodrace.shtml

We had twin pipes and a Columbia butt,
you people may think that I'm in a rut,
but to you folks who don't dig the jive,
that's two carburetors and an overdrive.

[styromaniac]

Guys-
Thanks for the info.
I dug through my stash and found a Revell Monogram ProModeler '40 Ford Convertible kit ..and it does look like a reasonable rendition of the Columbia 2-speed rear axle.
I also looked at my ProModeler '48 Woody & Convertible kits and it looks like Tim Boyd is correct on those being other types of rear units.
Now to get a look at that AMT stock '41 Woody axle..I picked up one online.

[Greg Myers]

show us some pic's ?