BW-T35 -> AW4 Swap

Those BW's were used by International thru '71, by Jaguar, and by several other manufacturers worldwide. They were not considered a "performance" transmission, but with maintenance you could get a couple hundred thousand miles out of them in sedate passenger car usage.

Clean fluid and filter in a transmission with obvious problems means to me that someone previously tried to see if a fluid and filter change would solve whatever problem they were experiencing. When it didn't, you inherited the problem with half the damage clues--pan residue--missing. And aviation Permatex will do to a pan gasket what you see here.

Edited by Buzzman72 - Jan/27/2017 at 10:10am

I've been scrambling to find a data plate or even a stamp somewhere on this transmission case to no avail. I'm probably going to once again summon a rental the morning and go picking to take care of a future issue that I won't be able to handle unless I do something now. This car is going to be sitting for a long time along with all the other junk in my yard. This is completely unacceptable.

The data plate should be on the driver's side of the trans near the shift lever, to the rear of the lever. Older models of the M-3x and 4x aluminum main body trannys have a hexagonal plate, all the iron cases M-8/10/11/12 have an oval plate. There is a number starting with "ASx-xx". The two numbers after the dash (after the AS or ASx) are the model number. 1971 models went to a different numbering scheme and only have a number, no AS. You have to use a chart to ID the trans. The plate may be covered in road grime and be hard to read, as the AS number was screen printed on. I wouldn't use a wire brush to clean.

Here is a sample of a 71 M-12:



AMC didn't use the FMX. Many parts interchange and many generic (Chilton's, Motors) repair manuals lump the Ford and BW trannys together, since adjustments and general service is the same. Repair kits cover both Ford and BW models -- there are multiple gaskets to cover the differences, you get 2-3 pan and valve body gaskets in one kit.

The reason is the Ford FX, MX, and FMX trannys (all the "o-matic" models) are essentially BW trannys. When Studebaker dropped out of an auto trans development deal with BW in the early 50s (around 1955) Ford took Studes place. They had a five year or 10 deal (I forget which now...) with BW to buy 50% of their trannys from BW and license manufacture the rest. There were some changes made for the Ford models, specifically in the case and valve body. Those don't interchange with BW branded models, mpost other parts do. These are basically M-8 derivatives. The FMX was manufactured solely by Ford after the deal ran out. It incorporates the best features of the FX and MX, hence the name "FMX".

Anyone who can work on an FMX will find the BW familiar.

BWs are still made, or at least were into the late 80s/early 90s, overseas. The smaller manufacturers didn't have the resources to individually develop auto trannys and bought from outside sources. ZF also makes an auto used overseas (since 1965). The BW started out as Detroit Gear (DG) autos in Studebakers in 1950.
 



Edited by farna - Jan/29/2017 at 10:37am