Hi guys- I don't post much here on the HAMB, but true gearhead. I'm looking at buying a '55 Olds 88 two-door post car. She's a manual 3 on the tree now rowing the 324 & the 3-speed. Wondering what, if any stamped sheet metal 4-speed humps could come close to convert the car into a floor shift. Or, am I up a creek and having to fab a hump myself? I might be diving off the deep end- but I have this little engine called a Hemi (392) & it's just beggin to get in there in front of a A833 mopar trans. Could this be a first?? Hmm...
The bell housing on that 324 will not support a newer 4 speed so it will have to come off and be changed for one that accepts modern ******s. Change the disc to match the ****** input shaft and possibly fab up a ****** mount. Not sure if the 55 had ****** mounts on the side of the bell housing or at the rear of the ******. Either way one will have to be fabbed. ****** hump will have to be fabbed. Shouldn't be too big of an issue. I would not be one to side with the Hemi swap being an Olds nut that I am, but it is your car so you can do what you wish. If you take the 324 and that ****** out it will have some value to other Olds followers.
Don't get all caught up in the Hemi, new or old style, mystique that advertising is pushing. There is a place for the Hemi, and it's not between the fenders of a Olds.
vtwhead- the 324 would come out & the 392 in it's place with a 4-speed; not the 324 with the 4-speed. My buddy saw a '57 Olds 88 with a 392 this summer at the Minnesota Back to the 50's, so I won't be the first 'nut' to crack it. Maybe I'll locate another '55 plymouth instead (like my old avitar) and keep the peace
To answer the OPs question - The factory hump/boot for BENCH seat '68-72 Chevelle / El Camino is large, square and readily available. Check out Ausley's Chevelle Parts. Bought one for my O/T parts chaser El , looks like a lot of material on the hump for t*******.
Yes, Mopar to Mopar would make a lot of sense! I was at a yard just a 1/2 mile down the road two years ago after I got a call that they had just received a bunch of old cars to be crushed. One was a 56 two door Plymouth with the gear shift in the dash and was in really great shape. All the chrome was great including the hub caps. When I got there in a pouring rain storm he had already speared it with the loader and was lifting it up to be crushed! Next to it was a '37?? Plymouth coupe with the square headlights and he would only wait until I got the dash out of it. I wanted the headlights but he couldn't wait for me to get to them and stuck it with the loader! Those guys are just notorious for ruining a guys day! That hemi would have looked great in that 56.
Probably won't be a first, anything that you could possibly think of has already been done by someone. As for the "hump" you shouldn't need to fab a new hump for a 4 gear and the shifter hangs off the side of the ******, you just poke a hole in the floor to fit the shifter through and then put a boot on it. You may have to take a hammer and m***age the original hump a little but even that is doubtful, ever seen a 4 speed hydro? they are huge and they didn't build a different floor board for the standard shift and automagic cars, cost prohibitive.
324 manual, '55 Olds 2 post ? What else is there you need ? You're a lucky man, at just that. Running, with a hole in the floor.....almost done. Wish I had found it
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