My buddy is interested in a 55 Buick. It's low mileage so it should be just fine but he is worried that it will be a PITA to drive. Neither of us have ever had or driven one. I've had a 57 Olds and a 64 Pontiac and did not like their auto trans. I understand that the Dynaflow is not the same but I am wondering if it too will be a PITA? Just wondering about the idiosyncrasies of driving this automatic?
My 56 Drives great. The biggest complaint about dynaflows is there's no get up and go to them. Although not quite sure how much hotrodding you'd do in big *** Buick. The pain about them though, is that to do any maintenance to the drive line you need to drop the rear end. The transmission "shifts" are unnoticable. Real smooth ride.
my father gave me his '55 Roadmaster not too long ago aside from being the biggest boat I've ever driven on land it behaves very nicely, for a whale.
I've got a Dynaflow in my rod. It actually is well suited to a big motor with a fragile early Ford banjo because it is very smooth. Why? Because there are no gears/no shifting! It is all done by varying the pitch of the blades in the torque converter. Smooth! In a light car like a rod, the acceleration is still fine. Dynaflows do have a low gear. By putting it in low, you engage a planetary ge****t that gives you a lower overall ratio, but still 'shifting' as described above by varying the converter. There is no automatic shift out of low. You wind it out and then shift manually. Low gear in a Dynaflow behaves more like a backwards overdrive mounted behind a conventional ******. Dynaflows produce a lot of heat because of the slippage in the converter. So you need to runa good cooler. They are also bad mpg wise, again because of the slippage. And they have a reputation for leaking, although that has never been an issue in my rod (original 1953 Buick 322 nailhead and Dynaflow). So, overall, not a bad choice as long as you understand and can live with the characteristics.
i love the dynaflow it's a very good transmission. you can go 100 miles an hour and never strain the engine.
In actuality there is a shift (twin turbine Dynaflows and up). If you examine the first turbine of the converter is connected to a planetary ge****t inside of the converter. This is controlled by the car speed and load. So when starting out, the transmission does in fact have an equivalent sort of low gear. But the planetary ratio drop off rapidly and so smoothly, you really don't notice the gear reduction and then the change to a direct drive from the second turbine.
How about down shifts...you are rolling up to the light when it suddenly changes to green. Is it just as smooth going down as it is coming up?
You do not want to do a lot of shifting from Drive to Low and vice versa. And if you do, take you foot off the gas as you do it. They are not made to shift like a regular trans. Put it in Drive and use Low only when you really need it. If you need to more often than that, find a clutch and three-speed set-up. I have driven a '54 Special for years, trust me. Doug Cook
Just remember not to shift it into reverse if the car is moving forward at all - it tears the ear off the reverse band.
my 56 is an eazy car to drive but i wouldn't take over 70mph just because she doesn't stop on dime or doller or fifty bucks but other then that i drive the old ***** anytime i get
Put it in gear and go, don't expect to get up to speed in a big hurry. Not like the '57 Olds Dual Coupling Hydro - those you put your foot down and haul *** through all 4 speeds. Dynaflow will hold up better than a Slim-Jim, then again a rubber band drive might also hold up better. The odd thing about the '55 Buick is the starter ****on is in the carb linkage. ***uming no one's ****ed with it, to start the car, you turn the key on, and depress the accelerator to the floor.
I like to put both hands up, and look towards the heavens as if to pray while I start my car....it freaks people out
My sport coupe has the original starter ****on on the floor where Henry put it. A young kid was leaning in through the window one night asking questions while I had both forearms resting on the steering wheel. I think he messed his pants when I started it up. It starts instantaneously with the electronic ignition conversion. It scared the **** out of him. How'd you do that he screamed! I think he banged his head getting it out of the window. Thanks for the replies. It looks like he is not going to get this car but you can see why he was seriously interested. I love this car!
Dynaflows are cruiser transmissions, no more. They do start is a LO ratio as offered up by the planetary in the converter on twin turbine and up transmissions. But that LO ratio goes away so fast that one might consider this thing a one speed. Heavy as hell and bolted to a torque tube (except for 61-63s). What a combination of smooth, nothing else, no performance in DR. LO somewhat better, but not much. Soon there may be an easy fix for all Dynaflow cars. Poor SOB's that got one in 53 Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles. I would've had GM replace with hydramatic for the price I would've paid for the car.
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