Hot Rods B&M Hydro transmission help to identify

Picket up this B&M Hydro and plan to adapt it to a 392 Hemi.
So far I think it was a 57 Chevy truck core and the UC to the right is unblown comp.

I have a Wilcap adaptor plate for Hemi to Chevy but need to find or make the crank shaft spacer.
Does anyone make these anymore? Can I re-drill the Torus plate for 8 hole pattern with a machined spacer and gasket?

Saw the earlier pictures of the B&M Hemi bell and Torus and wondering if I can get there home grown with a very skilled friend and his Bridgeport.

Reading all the posts I can find on these transmissions but still feel like the guy who slept in the Holliday in Express last night.
Any info and opinions are much appreciated.

 

i have an adapter

 

I have seen adapters for Hydro to Hemi. They probably use the "back" bell housing from either Olds or Pontiac, then provide the "front" adapter bell housing. A crank adapter will also be needed.
I don't think you can go wrong with either hydro motive or B&M. The only issue is that the B&M looks pretty rusty, meaning that the insides are probably stuck too.
I am in the process of grafting a hydro to an extended bell 331 hemi. It is much easier as far as an adapter, being it is a plate that accepts the "back" bell housing, then gets bolted to the extended bell housing of the hemi. It will use the hydro flywheel, which will couple to hemi flywheel using an adapter. Starter is hemi, so no adapter needed.
Having an extended bell housing engine block makes adapters for the hydro much easier to produce. I am also grafting the hydro to Buick nail head, and Packard 374. Both have extended bell housings. Again, these will have hydro and engine flywheels. Starters are from engine manufacturer.
Both B&M, and Hydro Motive used the slant pan type hydros, since they were the strongest. Another company that did the adaptations was C&O, that I believe was in the Los Angeles area. If I were to do something similar to what you want to do, I would use an R54, R55, or R56 hydro. The valve body was equipped to start in First gear in any of the ranges. The Pontiac hydros started in 1st only when in DR4 or DR3. Lo range started in 2nd.
Other information: Olds transmissions had a very wide 2nd to 3rd ratio, thereby dropping RPMS during that shift. Pontiac transmissions had a tighter 2nd to 3rd ratio, and also had a very lo 1st gear compared to Olds.

 

hydromotive is going in my willys

 

This one is getting rebuilt now.

 

Who rebuilds those today? Cool stuff!

 

Great old resource if you can locate one, an unobtainium paperback these days! Mine is packed away and not readily accessible. I had a breakdown of B&M hydros but can't seem to locate it.

 

I have a B&M built C-4 in my 32 Sport Coupe that was equipped by the previous owner, when it came time to service fluid & gather gaskets etc. I called B&M proper with tag info.to verify fluid type, probably caught the rep at a busy time didn't expound beyond telling me to use type 'F' this is typical for Ford units by build date.

 

I am going to have my B&M hub for my 392 replicated/machined so I can have a few extra, does anyone know where to find this brass pilot bearing?

 

I'm just using my local trans guy, not a lot of choices these days.

 

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Manufacturer's Part Number:
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Part Type:
Pilot Bearings and Bushings
Product Line:
National Bearing Pilot Bearings
Summit Racing Part Number:
NTL-PB656HD
UPC:
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Pilot Bushing Type:
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Pilot Bushing Material:
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National Bearing Pilot Bearings

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cool, thank you. I spoke to my machinist and I'll drop this sample off on friday, he's very quick.

 

M5, M5A1 Stuart... Tank Hydro

On Ebay now, I thought someone might like to have it!

 

Wow, hard to believe that big old lump has survived all these years in its original box. Looks good.

 

MAN thats cool!

 

I emailed Mark Williams today and they can make the yolk, I ordered one today and I will have it in about 3 weeks. Here's the part number if anyone needs.

 

Torus looks like it's in good shape.

 

I don’t see any brazing material around the tabs, are you going to open it up and check the vanes?
Good info on the yoke, thanks. Mark Williams is great. They keep amazing records on everything they do, even one-offs. When I needed bearings and seals for my Austin I called and gave them the number off of the axles. He looked them up and could tell me everything about them. I think they were made in like 1970, iirc. Shipped me the right stuff, right away. They did the axles for the narrowed Olds rear end in my roadster too.

 

I'd like to check the vanes, is it early easy to open it up?

 

Just unbend the tab on the main shaft nut and take it off. The outer torus wheel will slide out easily. There’s a big spring in there pushing it out. IIRC, there is a snap ring holding the inner wheel in. Keep any thrust washers in order and surfaces in order. The front seal rides on the snout of the torus cover (the big bowl). You may want to replace the front seal while you’re in there and inspect the sealing surface of the snout.
The competition units usually have furnace brazed vanes but there are exceptions. Brass has been flowed between the vanes and the body and usually shows around the tabs on the back.
I’ll be getting into mine very shortly but it’s been years since I messed with one, don’t remember the torque value. Good old Motor Manual should have it or one of our resident experts, maybe willys36 or Speedy Canuck?

 

Will pull my manual this evening and circle back

 

My machinist asked me to help him last night. We worked on these adapters until about 1:00am. I only needed one but decided to make a few extra in case someone else needs one. Pretty much impossible to find this obscure coupler that connects the Hemi to a Hydro transmission.

 

ARE ALL HYDRAMATICS THE SAME FLYWHEEL?
Mine has a worn out spot in the teeth.

 

I believe all of the Oldsmobile hydro flywheels are the same. The Chevy version is a smaller diameter with fewer torus cover bolts. The Pontiac, Cadillac, Lincoln, etc will have different crank bolt patterns.

 

Don’t toss the damaged one, I’ve successfully welded and filed the teeth in a pinch.

 

So have I!
I thought about doing that but it seemed half assed, maybe I should re consider welding it.

 

The days of going to the parts store or the dealer and ordering a new one are long gone, same with just hitting the local boneyard for one. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Since we don’t drive these old things everyday like we used to, a repair like that lasts a bit longer. I got one off of eBay some time ago for $30-35 and it was perfect but they will continue to get harder to find each year.

 

That's not a UC after the P55, on the right side of the B&M tag is where the transmission is ID as SS, = strip/street version. I have a unblown competition Hydro Stick, and the UC is stamped on the right side.