I have a '55 Pontiac 287 V8 with a slant pan 4 speed Hydramatic behind it in my 1960 La Dawri. Drive is right before reverse and very close to it, it's hard to select exactly right. If I'm not mistaken Drive should be after neutral, right? Is it possible for the positions to be wrong? Maybe it wasn't put back together right? Any Help would be greatly appreciated.
Thats the way they are, dad used to race them and had to be careful when shifting as to not hit reverse.
It has been a long long time but I had a Hydramatic behind a 348 in my ‘58 Chevy that was out of a pickup truck - I’m sure the shift pattern was different than Oldsmobile but have no clue as to how it compared to Pontiac. It did have 3 ‘drive’ positions D-2-1. In ‘D’ it would shift 1-2-3-4 like normal; in ‘2’ you got 1-2-3; in ‘1’ you actually got 2nd gear ‘not 1st’ and it would stay in 2nd as long as you wanted it to. It’s been 60 years - I hope I remembered that right.
note that the stock slant pan 1955 shift pattern park is in the same spot as reverse. (clear to the right.) Park only worked when the engine was off.
Hello, After driving in my 58 Impala with a modified C&O Stick Hydro, it was usually in “D” for all encounters. The low, first gear was too quick and manually had to be shifted to the next gear or it would stay locked gear. Plus, with the “D,” there was nothing to worry about at the starting line except to go. No worries about shifting any gears. It was the same power, only two hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the starter’s elbow or yellow light. It did what it was supposed to do, only it made the car that much faster. But, when my friend’s dad got a new family 1961 Pontiac 4 door hardtop sedan. It was a big car, as the family was one of those “tall” families. But, the automatic transmission was like any other, although we found out an unusual shift pattern. Since driving around in my 58 Impala with a C&O Stick Hydro, we knew we could start in 1 and go manually through the rest of the gears. Or just start in “D” and stomp on the gas pedal when the chips were down. Manually, it was like a 4 speed transmission, but had “D” to use most of the time for any driving, cruising or racing. Later, even my mom drove the Impala with the C&O in "D." Now, that was something... So, one night, my friend’s dad’s Pontiac was our main form of transportation, since it was a hot summer weekend. It was a big cruiser, but it had A/C, as it was a hit with the girls and others that wanted some cooling while cruising. He got the urge to see what that big Pontiac sedan could do at the Cherry Avenue drags location. So, we went out there and he did his standing start several different ways. One was “D” and floor it all the way. The other was to start out in low and shift to “D.” Then one time, he put it in Low and with the excitement of actually racing another big old sedan, stomped on it all the way to the end of the quarter mile. Then I asked, “What gear did you start?” He said, “Drive.” Well, the car shifted by itself all the way through the quarter mile marker and we did start in Low. I saw him pull the lever down there. So, we tried it again in Low to start and the result was interesting. When the motor wound out to the peak, it shifted itself into Drive gears and continued on, although the lever said Low. If we did that in my Impala, the trans or motor would have blown up. Jnaki So, with that in mind, we just added that fact to our GM knowledge banks and enjoyed the A/C cruising and racing. YRMV
I don't see a column shift in your pictures and none of the finished interior shots are wide enough to show the shifter as it is now. Is there a linkage to bring the lever up through the floor? The slant pan sits the levers down at an awkward angle. It might just have the wrong ratio.
What Phil said ^^^^. The detents in the transmission should be pretty distinct when you move the lever on the trans. I not, the detent cam may be worn. Also, most of the aftermarket early hydro shifters had notches of their own to define each lever position, like B&Ms big stick with the step pattern. If someone adapted a non-hydro shifter, it could have the wrong ratio and notches. They did have a strange shift pattern but it was one of the first automatic transmissions and they were learning.
I was just tinkering with a hydro and the gear selector lever at the transmission is splined to the shaft and secured with a pinch bolt. If that pinch bolt is loose the lever gets sloppy but still changes gears. That would make the action at the shifter very sloppy too. Make sure both the shifter lever and the throttle pressure lever are tight.
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