cadillac with manual olds top loader.

in the august 1956 issue of hotrod magazine. there was an artical called "big gears for any engine". i have the magazine but its also in the "best of hotrod magazine 1949 to 1959". Lue Sales from LA was the man explaining everything.

the artical talked about putting manual trans behind a few engines. one of the things it breifly mentioned and showed a picture of, was a kit to put a TOP LOADER OLDS trans in place of the hydromatic CADILLAC trans. it said they were all stock olds parts.

i can see all the parts in the photo(about 13), but i have no idea what year they are.

anyone know what they are? or have done this yourself? id love to get rid of my hydromatic and run the top loader olds. thanks

 

Wow...I'd dig knowing this too....

 

*bump* i REALLY hope this ones not lost in the sands of time and the old timers graves......

 

guess this ones in the grave with Lue Sales...... thats sad. i guess ill have to figure it out myself and let you know.



the best i could do with a webcam...

 

been threads regarding olds/cad manual transes over and over here

anyhow this only applies to caddy 1949-1954 engines 331cui, not 1955+

you could just use an 1950-1954 caddy manual (might be a 1949 one too but i belive it came for the v8 in 1950)transmission with everything, the oldsmobile bellhousing is the same, BUT only 1950 olds bellhousing is the same as caddy 1950-1954, flywheels and clutch is the same...

basicly the only difference is that the 1950 olds tranny has a much shorter tailshaft...

1949=no manual tranny on v8
1950=olds tranny is the one to have
1951+=on olds not the same tranny not same bellhousing not worth having, unless you wanna run an early buick toploader, they are pretty ok aswell...

i've got an 1950 olds tranny and also an 1953 caddy tranny with alloy flywheel,

did i clear anything?

 

a little bit. i have a 1955 331ci, i just wanted to know what year olds bellhousing and manual trans that i could bolt up. and if those parts were all different years, or all the same. ALSO, i know they had 3 on tree on caddy ambulances ect. i am looking for the TOP LOADER olds. but at this point, anything is worth grabbing.... ive been looking for a stick caddy trans for a long time now, i found one but the guy wouldnt let it go for any price. i do have a home made column conversion shifter.

i know i can find an old bellhousing to bolt a chevy or ford up.

im trying to find the most cost effective way to do this. for now ill stick with the hydro, those were used for drag racing anyway... and i got 4 gears..

 

if you wanna have a toploader you need an early lasalle transmission on there instead, but you could just aswell just have a hurst shifter on the tranny, thats what i have,
and if your having an 1955 caddy i belive you cant use the bellhousings etc because didnt 1955 mean another bellhousing on caddys?

if you wanna run an lasalle tranny (the 1950 olds + 1950-1954 caddy manuals ARE lasalle trannys)
on an 1955 caddy you cant use the early bellhousing, (if im correct about the bellhousing change year being 1955),

of course its cooler with an real toploader, but back in the day they did use hurst like shifters.... and no problem finding an hurst shifter for a 3 speed manual, you can pick it up anywhere...

 

maybe if you could find an like 1955+ caddy bellhousing for ford 39 gearboxes and use a adapter or something..

i'm pretty sure the last year for the common bellhousing pattern on olds and caddy was 1954 caddy, but i could be misstaken and the transision year is 1955, but by 1956 im pretty sure its not the same...
i'm like 99% sure that your engine is not the same pattern as the earlier caddys though

 

1955 was the last year of the 331, its the same as the 49. it didnt change till the next year in 1956 when they used the 365.

anyway, i HAVE a floor shifter for a column shift conversion. but wont the shift pattern be wierd?? left and forword is drive left and back is reverse, right and forword 2nd and right and back 3rd??????

i wouldnt wanna acidently throw it in reverse from 1st! thats why i wanted to get the top loader. its going in a 31 ford, it would look a hell of a lot cooler too.

 

I have a 331 out of a 54 Caddy. It has the top of the bellhousing cast with the engine block (like earlier flathead Fords). In 55 or 56 (I think it was 55), the block was changed, so that the bellhousing was completely separate from the engine block (like a small block Chevy). If your block has the top of the bellhousing cast with the block it's like the earlier blocks, if not it's a later style.

 

really?... wow.. i guess im wrong then. haha thanks

 

nope, because you turn the shift levelers upside down on your tranny so it will be right

check the pics, black one is my caddy tranny and red the olds one..

 

thanks man! now if i could only FIND ONE..... this shit is harder to find then a damn rockabilly girl.....

 

punk chicks are cooler to party with anyhow

and heck i was able to find 2 of them via the internet here in sweden so i bet you could drag one out of a swapmeet..

 

Daemon is correct in all his info. 49-54 were all 331 with extended bellhousings part of the block. 55-62 are all the "modern style."The last year for a manual trans in a Cadillac was 1953 I believe, although they may have been an option for coachbuilders, because I have seen a 54 ambulance with a manual, and heard of hurses having 3 pedals.

The only Olds bellhousing that fits the Cad Lasalle box is the 1950, Olds tranny pattern changed in 1951. Daemon has posted pictures of this in the past.

If you have a short bellhousing block you have to use an aftermarket adapter of some sort. I have an old adapter that fits a 55-62 block and takes it back to the 49-54 style and provides a starter mount. I have posted pictures of it in the past. That allows you to run early hydros or bellhousings on the later blocks.

Hope this helps.
Brock

 

1949=no manual tranny on v8
1950=olds tranny is the one to have
1951+=on olds not the same tranny not same bellhousing not worth having, unless you wanna run an early buick toploader, they are pretty ok aswell...

-------

I thought there was an original Olds 1949 manual trans. ? , but it was weak and to be avoided, the 50 was the desireable one ? Maybe I've been wrong all this time LOL.

Thanks for the info though

 

oldsmobile did not have an manual on the v8 in 1949 ONLY the straight 6/8 hade a manual and thats not the same tranny at all as on the v8 later on...

1950 the lasalle entered and was the only year on oldsmobile v8 to have that tranny, in 1951 they used an tranny that was not as good

caddy had it in 1950-1954 on ambulances etc
(what i am unsure of if it might have arrived in 1949 on caddy?, or was it an 1950 entry for caddy aswell?)

 

1950 the lasalle entered and was the only year on oldsmobile v8 to have that tranny, in 1951 they used an tranny that was not as good

==========

I guess maybe that's what I was remembering, Thanks

I think I'm gettin Alzheimers at 40, or CRS (can't remember shit)

It's cool that you guys have (or get) parts over there.

I was reading a thread a few minutes ago about some cars being banned over there ?

Thanks again

 

I have a 50 olds lasalle short shaft thats replaceing the long cad lasalle in my roadster because it has a slip yolk in back- and its cool as hell, and rare!
heres the pic

 

=======

dang, that's cool. Wish I had that and you had a feather up your ass, we'd both be tickled....(just kidding)

Don't know where another one is ?

 

so back on subject... i know i can use a column shift caddy or olds.

but what year is the top loader olds in the "hotrod" mag???? from looking at it, it has a slip yolk(prob. converted), the shifter come out of the right side of the top, the bellhousing is full(later style)

REMEMBER THIS IS OLDSMOBILE not cadillac. so it could be earlier then 55. its from a 56 mag. so its gotta be early 50s or late 40s???

 

http://www.rodnkustom.com/rocketeers/hydramatic/index.html
have you even TRIED setting up your hydro for performance?
you should let me have that trans when you pull it out,or at least the bellhousing.

 

if i can find a god damn manual trans ANY TYPE. ill sell you my hydro for 50 bucks.(its already out of the car) they are great transmissions, and ive heard good things about drag racing them.

 

you should GIVE it to me,since you're some kinda moneybags
ask psychodaemon how much he's spent on manual trans parts over the years
i AM gonna hold you to that $50 offer,even after shipping to cali it will cost less than a '55 cad hydro core out here-george

 

Draggin ass: there are a couple of pieces of misinformation in this thread, and I'd like to save you from seeking a non-existant holy grail:

- You're using the term "toploader" to mean floor shift. I realize that people have broadened the use of toploader ('60s Ford 4-speed) to also include pre-1940 Ford floor shift transes, but the "-loader" part refers to the side through which the gears are installed, not where the lever comes out. The trans you are seeking is a floor shift, but it's a bottom-loader.

- The desirable bottom-loader trans family that Lou Sales was recommending started with the 1937 Cad & LaSalle floor shift box. In '38, Cad & LaSalle changed to sideshift (or column shift), although the internals were basically the same, and this trans was used through 1953. The very rare '50 Olds stick trans is the same as a sideshift Cadillac, but with a much shorter tailshaft. All four of the manual transmissions surrounding Lou in the title picture of the article are from this family.

- There is no desirable Olds floorshift gearbox. Never was. The one in the kit picture is a '37 Cad with a '50 Olds tailshaft. The caption of the picture is ambiguous, saying "all parts are stock Olds", but this DOES NOT INCLUDE THE TRANSMISSION. If you want the floor shift, you need a '37 Cad/LaSalle; there is no substitute. If you're willing to use linkage on a sideshift box, then any Cad/LaSalle '38 through '53 will work, as will a '50 Olds. For the short tailshaft, only the '50 Olds has it.

- I'm not knowledgeable about Cadillac bellhousings and their interchangeability, so I must defer to others on that subject. I had thought that any manual Olds bellhousing would accept the Cad family of transmissions (that is, bellhousings 1950 through '58 or so), but I may be mistaken.

I know this stuff because I had a new '57 Olds with a factory (and fragile) Buick-type 3-speed. After trashing two of the stock gearboxes, I went to Lou Sales at Transmission Specialists and he put a '37 Cad floor shift in my Olds. I blew several of those, too (my own fault as a mechanic), and became experienced at scrounging those parts and assembling them.

Feel free to e-mail me if any of this needs further explanation. Good luck.

 

By the way, after grinding up waay too many transmissions, I changed to a B&M Hydro-Stick in 1959. The car was MUCH faster with the hydro than it had ever been with a 3-speed.

The car weighed 4160 lbs and had a 3.64 rear end. This combination was a slug with the manual transmission, but it flew with the Hydro.

 

yeah exactly, you get a much cheaper and a still a kick ass ride with a hot hydro. if i wasnt so stupid like willing to spend like 900 dollars on e&j headlights etc i would sure recommend just using the hydro...
seriously, eventhough the lasalle is a real bulletproof tranny, hydros are much cheaper and much easier to get parts to,

if your really hardcore and just want stuff for the sake of it, sure get a lasalle, i mean its a really cool oldschool hotrod tranny, but just getting the bellhousing and flywheel and clutch could cost you more then just getting an good hydro, and then you still have to get the lasalle tranny...
its possible but could take quite a while to get hold on everything you need..

i had luck and got of pretty decently moneywise, but shipping was like 100% ontop of what i paid for the trannys....

not sure exactly now but i bet im up around 2000 dollars on all my lasalletrannys + flywheel and so on...(2 of them trannys)

but then again im not really able to find any of that shit here, you can not find shit like this in swapmeets here, wish i had more money to spend so i could go to swapmeets over there and pickup more olds rocket speedparts..

if your hardcore , go for it, but i would recommend an hydro though
but then again you need to changine your engine or get the correct bellhousing anyhow and mating an lasalle to an 55 caddy, i don't know a perfect route to go that way from a 55 caddy... seems harder ...

 

there you have enough reason to _stick_ with your hydramatic....

 

you must have had the bellhousing changed then because the only bellhousing for olds that accepts the lasalle tranny is the 1950 one, (and the 1950-1954 caddy bellhousing..

 

and then you have the not maybe huge issues but still, you need to find a flywheel with correct gearring to match the starter, or need a new starter etc..
there are some issues to think about and problems that come along the way
its not as easy as back in the day to find everything you need...