just scored a perfectly good hydra-matic for free, and landed a fresh out of the machine shop 454 for $300......now all i need is some info on the hydra-matic. info like, can i still get adapters, are there any floor shifter conversions like the old b&m style around, and how can i beef it up a bit, if thats still possible. i will post some pics tomorrow for those interested.
are you planning to adapt the trans to the engine? hmmmm....might be a bit much for the trans.... anyways, the hydramatic was available in chevy trucks behind the 265 and 283 in the mid- late 50s, so it should be pretty easy to adapt if you can find the bellhousing and flywheel and whatnot. The bellhousing bolt pattern on the small and big block V8s is the same, although the 454 uses an balance weight on the flywheel, while the old small blocks did not.
the hydramatic used a one-off flywheel and starter, the torus assembly, [torque converter] used behind a chevy v8 will interchange with certain years of rambler/nash hydramatic.