Technical Is this a LaSalle 3 speed? (Bill Frick Studillac stuff)

Young guy here.. Was told that this is a '37 LaSalle trans. Can anyone confirm/deny by a lousy picture? Thanks.

 

Naa ... looks like '51 up Olds ...

 

most pictures of them show bottom loader transmissions....

 

Is it a top shifter or side shifter????? and 302GMC,it could have just the Olds tail housing...,
but it should have a cover on the bottom also

 

Where's Paul..... I bet he knows too

That there is a Buick Roadmaster top shift converted to open drive with 51-up Olds gears and tail housing...

Why I bet it is? It's leaking on the driver side is what made me look for modified *elongated" holes on the tail housing bolts... see the big flat washer at lower right...that is the very elongated hole location.

Donor trans case and top shift is 36-38 Buick larger series like Roadmaster.

Nice trans, shift really nice. That's an Olds bell also.

.

 

hmmm... @F&J this is what @Paul was eluding too.... Rad.

Check this out @tokyo

 

I have a 37 case on my bench: I'll get a pic of that and a Olds case to make sure...

But in the meanwhile...the Olds rear bell motor mounts are not being used on the posters vehicle...and has some sort of center mount in a very unusual spot, even for a hot rod. No idea what they did to get a mount hooked up between the trans and bell area..

I also wonder what kind of Olds motor...


I'm sure Paul will see this thread, and I wonder what he thinks of the U-joint... It looks like an Olds with small threaded hole to hold a steel wing to secure the cups...but that joint seems to have cup sticking out, so maybe held in with internal snaprings on the cups? Either that or the keeper fell of and it is spitting the cup out

.

 

Here is a pic showing a Buick topshift case on the right, with a modded/slotted lower right hole on the Olds tailhousing (highlighted w/ Chalk)

The case on the left is a stock Olds case 51-64 witn a stock tail not slotted at the hole.


Note the cast webs on the Left underside of the Buick case; that matches the Red trans in post one...so it is a Buick with Olds stuff.

The Olds case is not the same there on underside...these are side shift..sort of..

and a Hydramatic yoke just to show that threaded hole that held a U-joint keeper plate.

.

 

Frank Is the man !! This right up his alley.

 

Wow.. Thanks guys...!!

F&J.. Thanks for taking the time to post pics and such a thorough explanation..

It's behind a Caddie 331 in a '53 Stude that I just bought.

It's a top shift.

 

Ha, guess not...I totally missed seeing the unused bell housing holes to the engine..

If those holes are not used, then the motor is sure to be a 49 to 54 Cadillac..NOT an Olds.... Just like your 32 5w with the 331 Cad and Buick based trans.

What a cool old Studellac... I don't recall hearing of one running a Buick trans before. That's wild.

.

 

You can see the hole on the floor where it had another trans with a side shifter at some point.. I'm piecing together the car's history. I know it's a '53 Stude with a '53 331 and most evidence points to it being an original Bill Frick conversion. I'm 25 and have been wanting this car since I was 14. A dream come true, really..

3 old mechanics happened to be hanging around the shop today and got it running for the first time in years... I got out of the way and pulled out the camera.

Language warning...

 

Neat car.

 

****, that's a cool car with a sleeper drivetrain. What a find!

 

sounds great! Ill bet it hauls pretty well. neat piece of history

 

Man this car RULES...

 

Thanks fellas.. I may have to start a thread for it.

It needs a lot of love, but it'll get there..

 

Cool car.
And - cool detective work on the trans there FJ!

 

oh man. Now that I see the overall pic, that is doubly cool. What a sweet car...

 

Cool! Very cool.

 

man what a score, a real live Studillac...
I love it!

what does the top of the transmission look like?
or even a better shot of the driver's side..
is it a Buick?
or an Olds with a welded top shift conversion?
'looks like the transmission mount is bolted to a pad welded to an Olds bell..

 

That engine sounds excellent. Smooth like a Cadillac should with that slight Eldorado burble to it.
Very nice find.
I'm jealous.

 

You know, I wouldn't mess with this very much, its a real piece of hot rod history, especially if you really think theres a Frick connection. This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time...

 

Is there any evidence on the inside of the front fenders that it ever had the holes drilled for the Studillac emblems? Most of the Frick cars had them, but not all.

 

I agree- this is an awesome find! You need to post video of this on the road! Sounds fantastic- !!

 

Im so knocked out by this, I decided to google Bill Frick Studillac, and see if I could find some do***entation online, theres lots. Heres a small sample. Sounds like the guys that are helping you out with this know their ****, but heres some extra info. This car really deserves to be preserved.

 

found a pic that shows the emblems. Not all of them had them.

 

to be honest, the trans is a little suspect, in terms of this being a Bill Frick built Studillac. I would think they would have just used the Cad/Lasalle trans. Especially if you look at the ad I posted, it mentions "available with manual steering column, or manual floor shift" to me, that would tend to indicate that he was installing side shift cad boxes with "3 on the tree" in at least some of the cars.
Not saying its not a genny Studillac, but cobbling a buick case together with an olds cluster and tailshaft housing at a time when cad trans were readily available seems like a hell of a lot of extra work for a dealer who was building cars, and points to a home build. I have been hunting for a few minutes online trying to find info on what trans were in the original Frick cars, am coming up empty.
I bet if you really spend some time searching out info online, you could find out. Even if its not a genny Bill Frick Studillac, its still totally cool, and I am still envious as hell.

 

Very cool find for sure!

 

Ah, Studillacs. The most practical 'envelope' in the '50s. The Frick cars were legendary, and scarce here on the West coast...
Immediately following my apprenticeship, I went to work at Saint Claire Motor Co., the Cadillac/Oldsmobile dealer in San Jose. (CA) Started out on the 'line', engine overhaul, and ch***is repair. A month later, I was the carb-electric mechanic.
Mel Wignall was our resident Master mechanic, drove a showroom-new '54 Stude. One day he had it in the service drive, hood open...I walked by, and saw "Cadillac" on the valve cover...another look and there was the Eldo dual quad air cleaner, "Heeeeyyyyy..." (like I'd discovered something...LOL)
Closer inspection revealed lots of aluminum fabricated panels, hand formed fan shroud, just meticulous work. I was verbal regarding everything I saw, and he seemed surprised anyone would notice the small 'improvements'. Gawd! It was like a Motorama proto type! I 'noticed'.

Mel took me for a little ride, to 'warm it up'.
Like 'Uncle Tom' McCahill said in an article for Mechanix Illustrated: "Zowie!"
That was ONE long-legged Stude! It ****ed me into the seat in 1st and 2nd, that 'queasy' feeling when rate of acceleration seems to exceed 1 G... Yeah, 'Zowie'.
Typical torque monster, with the familiar Cad-LaSalle floor shift, stick sawed off short with an industrial black knob, all 'business'. Nothing 'showy'; this Stude was a real 'sleeper'.

Mel was a 'ringer' for Roy Scheider, and had the 'Stroker McGurk' persona behind the wheel...
If I caught him at a stoplight, I might not have raced. Well..... maybe not.
Impressive, perfectly built car, by an impressive 'wrench'.

Many thanks to F&S, for the dope on Buick/Olds departed info (beyond my Cad/LaSalle familiarity)
Falcon George, you continue to impress with your extended knowledge of all things 'suped-up'!
Great thread!