bought a 64 Catalina 2DHT..fresh 389 and three on the tree, previous owner is telling me it is special optioned with a trans,linkage and clutch set-up that if you are cruising along in third, you clutch it and it automatically shifts down to second without physically shifting it at the column, kind of like a standard p***ing gear? is he BSing me? anyone know of this Pontiac/GM standard option? if so, whats it called? it doesn't run yet and I have yet to crawl underneath to study it..maybe it is BS, I don't really care cuz it is a straight car for way cheap....
Sounds more like something is worn out or broken, to me, I've never heard of such a thing before, except when a trans is worn and wants to pop out of gear now and then.
never heard of such a thing. it would really suprise me if it was real. I can't imagine what the linkage would look like. maybe he meant you are driving along in 3rd and it pops out of gear without touching anything.
I'd lay odds on a broken motor mount or trans mount for this one. My '60 when the mounts broke, the motor would lift and jam the gas pedal linkage and try to run away on me. Thank god for no power steering or brakes, I could just key it off and on again to get the motor back down where it belonged. If the shifter can't move and the engine/trans moves some when you pop the clutch in and out, maybe it would move enough to change gears - Sounds strange, but I have an S10 someone left the distributor hold down loose on and then could never figure out why sometimes it wouldn't start... I realized finally that sometimes when you started it the motor would shake and the plug wires would catch.. knock it out of time just enough that it wouldn't start... keep cranking and letting off on it enough times and it would pop back enough to run.. the TBI computer would do the rest once it was close -
Hi i worked as a mechanic for Pontiac from 63 to 66 and that story he gave you is bull i even owned a 63 Cat. with 3 on the tree, no trick linkage. Jobob
what about an overdrive ******? seems like you could have it in 3rd over and push the clutch or something and it would shift. of course i have not driven an overdrive like that in 30 years.... so i may have forgotten something!
Yeah, flooring it made it kick out of O.D., and when up to speed letting off the throttle let it kick in. Lee
There was a one year only turbo 375 that pontiac came out with that had a servo motor that would engage an early type of lockup converter. The last I had heard there was no parts available for this transmission, but either turbo 350 or 400 internals would fit, but you had to eliminate the converter and servo mechanism. If i remember correctly the 64 Catalina was the only car you could get this in.
I seriously do not think that the factory would build it to pop out of gear like that or shift on the fly to a lower gear. Having said that, I think he is blowing smoke up your *** or he just doesn't know himself. Either way if you like the car I would look in to it and just enjoy the car. Good luck, Rags
Yeah, that's BS. I got a brother-in-law comes up w/**** like that all the time. Sounds like the old girl needs a ****** rebuild. No big deal. You didn't buy that car in Tulsa , by any chance, did you? Ole Pork
Thanks guys..I'd never heard of an option like that either..it does have a fresh rebuilt 389 and new motor mounts..I'm going to crawl around underneath it today and look for OD, funny linkage,something..I know the previous owner as a "car guy" and thought he knew what he was talking about, although he is prone to delusions.....
I had a sidevalve british ford with a worn gearbox - you might call it a semi automatic, the opposite to your scenario - although both were due to wear and tear. If you left mine in second going up a hill with your foot flat, when the gearbox started to labour it would pop out of second and go straight into third (3 speed floor shifter, third was directly down from second), you just had to be carefull that the shift lever didnt whack you! As another side note, I think austin had some kind of semi-automatic transmission in the 50's? It failed at the time.
Just be happy that you got a stick shift '64 Catalina for "way cheap". Even if you've got to replace the transmission, it's no big deal.
If you buy it to make that down shift work as he says you will need the special double clutchin boots. They are available at any truck stop but they are pricey. Thier not tony lamas as they p***ed a nationwide law that no one could raise lamas for boots anymore... Dave
I had a '64 Catalina and it had the 'Slim Jim' automatic ******, the same as an Oldsmobile as I recall. It had nothing resembling a lockup converter nor did I ever hear of such an option. I never say "never" though. But the one posted about above is a stick..... Jan
I think he is right about the converter I got a 64 olds and it has the 2speed I forget exactly what the fancy name for the converter is I think its called a switch pitch but might have started in 1965 BOP cars. Found this on WIKI (sometimes spelled Roto Hydra-Matic or Roto-Hydramatic) was an automatic transmission built by General Motors and used on some Oldsmobile and Pontiac models from 1961 to 1964. It was based on the earlier, four-speed Hydramatic, but was more compact, providing only three forward speeds plus a small torque converter in place of the Hydramatic's fluid coupling. Oldsmobile, one of the users of this transmission, called the torque converter's stator the "Accel-A-Rotor." The lightweight, aluminum-cased transmission was sometimes nicknamed the "Slim Jim." There were two models of the Roto Hydramatic: the lightweight Model 5, which weighed 145 lb (66 kg) and had ratios of 3.03, 1.58, and 1.00, and the larger Model 10, which weighed 154 lb (70 kg) and had ratios of 2.93, 1.56, and 1.00. The stator provided a maximum torque multiplication of 1.2:1. In 1961-62 the "Model 5" was used on the Opel Kapitan, Vauxhall Velox/Cresta and EK Holden. The Roto Hydramatic was cheaper and smoother than the previous Hydramatic, but its slower, softer shifts sacrificed performance for refinement. Owners discovered that it was also less durable than Hydramatic, and was prone to various mechanical problems. The Roto Hydramatic was phased out after the 1964 model year in favor of the two-speed Jetaway and three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic. As with previous Hydramatic transmissions, auto safety experts criticized GM for the Hydramatic design which had a shift quadrant sequence of Park-Neutral-Drive-Second-Low-Reverse (P-N-D-S-L-R) due to the placement of reverse adjacent to a forward gear as opposed to the more common P-R-N-D-S-L sequence found in most other automatic transmissions at the time that placed "reverse" between "park" and "neutral", which was also incorporated in the new Turbo Hydramatic design introduced on Buicks and Cadillacs in 1964, and then other GM divisions in 1965. The Roto Hydramatic was used in all full-sized Oldsmobile models including the Dynamic 88, Super 88, Ninety-Eight and Starfire from 1961 to 1964 as well as the compact Oldsmobile F-85 from 1961 to 1963. Pontiac used the Roto Hydramatic from 1961 to 1964 on its shorter-wheelbase full-sized cars including the Catalina, Ventura and Grand Prix, but continued with the older four-speed Super Hydramatic design in the longer-wheelbase Star Chief and Bonneville models. CHECK this link too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Turbine_300
I've got a reblt 63 389 w/400 heads im wanting to sell it what do u think its worth?Is there some kind of special trans that has to b used? As far as a man trans doing that ive never heard of that.
Another ******** story by another person who wants someone to think his car is somehow "unique". Kinda reminds me of the Honda 650/4 I put "175" badges on for a joke. Or the "Royal Enfield" badges on the 400/4. There could be a whole 14 pages writ on the ******** that even ONE of us has heard. Like when I was told that my Citroën CX was not allowed to be imported because it was too fast for the patrol cars of the day... And many more... Cosmo
wait its a manual trans? i guess my previouse post is useless. But the fourth gen f-bodies (1993-2002 Firebirds Camaros) the manual trans have what is called a skip shift that skips a gear for emissions reasons or something of course the trans are electronic but maybe there was something like that for the 64 pontiacs. (probably not electronic though)
Maybe if it had a bungee cord from the shifter to the sun visor. Cruise in 3rd, clutch it, and whammo, 2nd gear
Yous kids are killin me! I had an Edsel with push ****on shift in the steering wheel, if I ****ched my **** just rite, it would shift down. Maybe I just shifted down? Maybe my elbow hit the shifter, or my dik. Anyway it really happened, I think! Where is that shot of them Jap girls...WoW......OLDBEET
Thanks for the research, Von Moldy. I stand corrected on the Slim Jim. I do know that my Pontiac's ****** had been rebuilt before i traded for it.. Evidently AAmco was the only one one willing to tackle the Slim Jim in my car. iThe rebuild cost over $1K in 1986 dollars (I had the paperwork) which seemed WAY excessive then! Jan
My best friend bought a 62 Catalina. 2 door hard top..Cost about $3200. Added 8 lug wheels, 4 speed, posi traction and tri-power raised the price to $4100. Most I ever hear of that money for a car!......OLDBEET
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