Technical TRANSMISSION, B&M Hydro stick installation instructions

Well i got my hands on some, what i think is some rare paper and hard ware. So i thought i would share since i see very little Hydro info posted here. Since i am just learning this stuff so please be forgiving as i am just as courious as you on this dinosaur hand grenade proof tire boiling cast iron / legendary transmission ummmm....stuff. Im gonna try and post all the pic's i can of my "education" on these bad boys. I know many of you guys could care less about these "boatanchors" but i find them just totally badd ass. ...So here is the installation instructions from 1963 that you got when you bought a B&M Hydrostick .......Dig it man......

 

Oh and here is some hardware if anybody cares. This is what i believe to be B&M's first two products. A hydro shifter (Verd early and kinda crude) and the first gear lockout tube which i believe is what their first patent was awarded for...... Anybody got any more info on B&M's hydro gooodies???

 

so what all has to be done to the tranny?anything or?
Randy

 

no b&m stuff......i do have a catalog from the midwest's hydro king.....hydro-motive....good enough for george.....they must have been good...lot of info in there......brandon

 

Randy im not sure what you mean? Are you talking about beefing one up for abuse of just installing one????.................Oh and brandon that hydro-motive cat. is pretty cool. I wish i could be looking through it right now. if ya wanna sell it or trade let me know. Yea Hydro-motive was pretty famous back in the day . I think they were the top name out on the east side. B&M Hydro-stick was the one to have in the west. cool stuff

 

a buddy of mine in high school , his dad has a hydro stick ....back in 88 we went to their old house in covington , and loaded up a bunch of old speed equipt. a complete hydro-stick with big convertor and gate shifter...a 6-71 with bug catcher, chrome straight axle that was supposed to have went in his 57 vette...and a bunch of other cool parts.....i called the guy up when i was building my anglia a couple years ago in 03.....yep ...still got the stuff.....nope ....ain't for sale....totally sucked ....because i really wanted one for my gasser anglia.....oh well .......might be time to give him another call......haha brandon

 

those are junk, send it to me i will melt it and make a shift knob.. hahaha...

damn man, NICE!

 

I just heard that a guy I know down here just picked up a Hydro stick out of an olds powered 37 or so Chev coupe fresh import, guy is keeping the engine but for some lame reason got rid of the trans..... and not to me !!!

 

Cool stuff....I would love to see pics of other shifters since for the most part these are the only aftermarket pieces for these other than adapters. Anybody?.......... I will post pics of the mods that make these things tick When i get into the two im gonna build with this old guy that built "many many many" of these for old gassers. Mine are both 55 cadillac flat pans that we are starting with. But others work well too really any Dual range is good 1953-55 but select ones will take BIG power better than others. STAY TUNED....

 

James;tell your dad i am ready to assist in any way possible when you guys get started on hydros.
i have the books and the tools,someone needs to bring a camera.

 

This is what they will be for. My clone of my dads old gasser that we are building togeather. This pic is the REAL one that was destroyed in the 60's

 

Yorgatron ,Pop and i have been getting all the stuff organized boy am i glad he never throws anything away we have 8 milk crates of just internals . we counted 20 dual range valve bodies alone......I will keep ya posted...I need some cad slip yokes? got any....james

 

all i have is Olds and Pontiac yokes.

 

Am going to watch this thread with interest, as I still have some of the Slant Pans left over. Have had a 54 Olds Slant pan in my S.Co.T. blown 331 53 Cad ElDrado eng in my 40 Ford coupe since 75. Still have trouble with the throttle pressure linkage adjustment for the correct 2-3 shift. Cant get the old GM type A for it so use Ford type F. Still have a NOS B&M dual range flat pan for Chev, with linkage. Have a factory GM Pont hydro book and misc stuff. Good luck on your venture!! Later, Dave

 

Where the hell did you find those pieces!?! That early B&M shit is cast out of "unubtanium". Nice find!
I got a bunch of cad yokes, what spline count do you need?

-Torr

 

torr - I need one or two slip yokes for cad 16 spline the tail housings i am running are 55 cad. If ya got one that would be killer and while we are at it i also need a 54 cadillac bellhousing for hydro it must be 54 . Got any ???? Thanks and yea ive never seen the B&M pieces i have anywhere before. the shifter is i suspect kinda scarce.

 

Hey daveydeuce the fluid level page of the b&m instructions talk about your 2-3 shift try printing the picture i took. kinda tough to read i know but its the back page . Its pretty greasy but we are all used to reading things this way arent we ? HAHAHaaaa

 

Will do, Thanx, the more info we get, the better we are!!!

Dave

 

crude, yet so beautiful,

 

love them hydros! real gasser shit!

 

Here are some diagnosis pages from "How to build your Hydro for street or strip" By Hi-rank corp. 1963............I hope you find these usefull

 

here's their shifters......brandon

 

Thats rad i like that corvette straight stick. Ill take two please!!! Old catalogs are such a teaser

 

guys thank you for posting all the great info WITH PICS!!! A BIG PLUS!!

 

i'd like to know more about that rear band quick-release gizmo...

 

I'm in need of some Cad yokes too if you have enough to go 'round. thanks

 

How the hell did i miss that. Thats very interesting i guess its for the shut down after the lights so you can coast?? The pic doesnt have enough resoulution for me to read it but i cought some of the words. Yorgatron i bet we can make a version of it.? thats one to think about?? nice catch!!!! Damn i wish i had a copy of that book

 

Me, too. I've amassed quite a collection of literature, parts, tools, etc. for these trannies for my own project, and have heard of such a thing, but have never actually seen pics or info on one.

 

So is my asumption correct......The Quick release being for shuting down your engine after the lights and coasting???

 

Years ago I bought a B&M Hydro that had been in a 421 Pontiac Powered Henry J Gasser. It had a home made T handle in the same location as the quick release device. The guy selling the hydro (a relative of the owner of the gasser) said he thought it was there so the owner could make his car non moveable, in case his crazed kids somehow figured out how to start it when he wasn't there, as they would not be able to get it in gear. Now that I have seen this thing, I think it may have really been made for aiding in towing the car back down the drag strip return road.