I remember my buddy blowing his trans and/or engine in his '58 Impala convert. We'd push it back to his place, then into the barn, drop a chain-fall from the loft, take out the old & put in a new, and have everything re-hooked up a few hours. Then back out on the streets!
I also had the trans problem with my '54 Merc with 3 on the tree. The clutch link was the weakest ever made, and I blew 4 trannys in about 1.5 years.