Will all Hydro bellhousings interchange I.E. are they all the same depth ? can you bolt a Pontiac Hydro onto a Olds bellhousing ? are the input shafts on an earlyier (1950) Olds longer than a 1955 Olds ? I have a flat pan Olds bellhousing and it'seems deeper than the slant pan Olds , what's withn that ?
yep i checked , YORGATRON , i checked the spelling again between him and d2willys I got answers I needed!!!
From what I have seen, I believe the input shafts are all the same, but I could be wrong. As far as bell housings go, Olds and Pontiac used slant pans and were tilted 30 degrees or so to the left (looking from rear). This means that Olds and Pontiac transmissions should be interchangable. Pontiac used a front bell housing between engine and rear bell housing. The rear bell housings look to be the same for Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, and extended bell Cads. To be sure, I will have to check my books on this subject.
Coldwar: I had a 54 R trans (or R54) hydro out of an Olds 98 and it had a slant pan. My 55 Pontiac hydros are slant pans too. IIRC 54-56 Olds R types are all slants, as is the 55-56 Pontiacs. All others I believe are flat pans. The picture for the Pontiac hydro adapters look like the front bell housing of 55 Pontiac V8's with hydro. It could be from a 61-63 Pontiac with DC hydro though. Pontiac is confusing in that 55-60 bell patterns are NOT BOP, other than the two top bolt holes. 61-63 could be BOP? 64 up I believe are BOP. Why you would need a flywheel spacer?
Know tell me about the single range Hydros.............can you tell by looking? and are these the ones that have the course spline count and longer input shafts?
On a similar note how is the length of the input as compared to a chev 4 spd can i adapt one onto a chev 4 spd adapter on the back of my Hemi??
The front "face" and slined input shafts are the same. And, to add to the confusion, according to my 59' MOTORS MANUAL, Olds 54-56 and Pont 55-56 have NO provision for adjusting the FRONT band EXTERNALLY. I believe those are also "slant pans". Now you can swap flat and slant pans onto any bellhousing, just be aware the pickup has to be taken into concideration. I had an old SLANT pan hydro bolted to a B & M aluminum adapter, that was actually meant for a FLAT pan, the trans hung off the bellhousing at an angle, and the slant PAN was therefore also at an angle. This trans had actually been in a former drag car and was functioning that way, on an angle. I also had a hydro from a 1 ton truck, that had the parking brake mechanism bolted to the extention housing, much like the older MOPARS with a clamp and drum parking brake; I'd thought about adapting that brake mechanism to function as a trans-brake/line lock. But, I wound up giving ALL my hydro stuff away. Butch/56sedandelivery.
I agree with the slant pan years and being Olds and Pontiac only. The front band thing is right too and I believe it applies to all hydros from 54 up. Internal adjustment only, should just do both from inside and forget the rear band ext. adj.
For some reason, all the Hydro's I've messed with over the years have been single range units. Guess they were just what popped up when needed or came already in the car. Had one behind a '61 Olds 394 in a 50 Ford panel years ago, it worked great and outlasted the engine. So I wouldn't automatically dismiss them for use in a hot rod. That being said, I've got a DR Olds unit lurking about the shop waiting for a rebuild and installation in the roadster. To replace a SR trans...
I`ve got an early 50`s olds hydro i would like to put behind a chevy V8 Questions.. -what bellhousing will work with this set up? -will my 57 truck bellhousing work..? -are parts and rebuild parts available? -which flywheel or flexplate is correct for this..? Any help appreciated... thanks.
It can be done, but first, you should consider using a 54-56 dual range unit instead, especially if you have any serious hp. (Also if your hydro is anything like the one I have in my 50 Olds 98, it will start in second gear, both in DR and LO ranges. This to me is not desireable. (They omitted parts in the valve body to allow the trans to start in 2nd) In order to do the conversion, you will need most of the hydramatic parts out of a 55-57 Chevy PU equipped with the hydramatic. The main parts needed are: bellhousing, starter, flywheel, fluid coupling members, transmission mounts. So other than the main box, you have a big task finding those parts. They used to sell a "truck kit" from Chevy that would sell the parts needed for the conversion. I doubt you will find one of those, better off finding the whole trans.
D2_willys, Thank you very much for your informative reply. I have not been able to gather all this info earlier, to get the total overview, but now i did, thanks to your help. I painfully realize that this would require alot of parts hunting. Guess i`ll have to go for one of the more easily adaptable transmissions. Dang! Thank you very much.
OHV DeLuxe: There are some good modern day transmissions for SBC's, so it doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing. The single and dual range hydros have their "own" personality and are unique in the way they perform. Their biggest disadvantage is weight, weighing in around 280lbs. Their advantages are numerous, I like the fact that the fluid coupling is forgiving to driveline components when using big hp engines. It absorbs alot of the torque, and with the 1st gear being so low, you get a great hole shot if you can get the car to hook well. Yes the hydros were (IMO) one of the best, if not the best, transmission ever designed. And they are STRONG!
D2_willys, Now you made me want to make this work even more... To bad i live in Norway, finding those parts here is close to impossible. The engine is a very torquey truck like 454 a freind of mine in Fredrikstad is building, the car is a 57 chevy truck. Waaay to new for me knowing anything about what i should do with this strange "new age valve in head like a chevy" chevy engine.. The caracteristics you mention is something i`m sure i would love for this car.. Double dang.. ****gy; you must be pretty strong.. mine requires two guys to lift safely.. Glad the atlantic ocean is between us in case you got angry or something..
****gy must be some sort of human engine hoist! The damn things weigh 280 lbs according to most of my books, ALL cast iron, maybe you are thinking of a turbo 400 or something. OHV DeLuxe: Just PM me if you want more details on what is needed and how to find those GEMS.
Like I said i'm 23 a little over 200lbs and dumb, this was comming home from the swap meet with 3 of em out of GM P/U's had to get them in the back of my P/U so i guess it was belt high i lifted a v-8 60 about a month ago to put it on top of a couple tires, i know dumb OHV, I have a couple extra factory chevy bellhousings, but shipping will probably be bad from the West coast, no extras of the other parts though
****gy, I've had SEVEN spinal surgeries' and I'm sure there will be more as I continue to age. Don't do that kind of lifting, even if you're a big and strong guy. At some point, all the minor, little injuries, add up, you suc***b, and you realize your body's like the odometer on a car, whatever goes on can't be taken away. NOTHING is worth your spinal health, get some help with the big stuff. I used to think I too was invincable, not any more. Butch/56sedandelivery.
****gy: I was moving one of these transmissions hooled to a Kaiser Continental 6 and tore a biceps muscle. It took over 6 months to heal and my arm has never been the same. I now move transmissions with either hoists or jacks. Do us hambers a favor and DON'T lift any heavy items before it is too late.
The Jalopy Journal
