help a kid fix his first old car.

There is a kid that hangs out at the shop that burned up his auto trans in his 54 Pontiac 4 door.

He bought it out of a field and has worked really hard on the car to get it running and got to drive it a bout 3 blocks before it started to slip too bad to drive anymore.

He spent a whole day pulling the trans out , but he can't afford the $1500 for the tranny shop to build it .

He has been looking for one in driving distance that works to swap in , and hasn't had any luck, he got so discouraged , that he left the keys and pinkslip on my desk and told me to part it out and let the junk guy take the rest .

I think he just needs some time away from the car to get his head strait , so I havent stole the grille out of it yet and I am hoping that I can help him get it back on the road .

If I can't find a donor trans , or someone to build his for cheeper, I might have to have a bake sale or BBQ or something to get him some cash together , Any ideas?

 

Do what I did, and many others who were in the same boat:
Buy a manual, buy a rebuild kit, and LEARN.

Anybody can write a cheque...

Cosmo

 

Does it have the 4 speed hydro like the olds?,if you were closer I would donate a hydro from a early 56 olds that should fit plus a local junkyard has a few early 50s pontiacs and one should have a good trans. Jeff

 

True , but in his current state of frustration and level of experience ,I think that might be just a bit beyond his means , I had a hard time finding a tranny shop that could handle it , and they do that shit for a living , this isn't a turbo 350.

 

Cosmo has a good point.....but then again it can be VERY heartbreaking to have it fall apart on you. Like rent a gun heartbreaking. Course, you lose your deposit.

What will interchange?? Where's the Pontiac gurus???

If someone in So*Cal or Central has anything they want to pitch in, I'd GLADLY be down for helpin out a relay.

 

Not sure what will go in there , I guess someone on here might know, I have heard it has to be a Pontiac , this is a big heavy castiron som bich.

 

Would an automatic from a 49 pontiac be the same? I know where one is that the dude prolly wont be using after he ruins the car with a 350/350.... j/k

 

Aren't they just another version of a powerglide?? I THINK, Olds will bolt up but thats a THINKING thing on my part. What about early Chevy?

Ask Rocky.........here Rocky Rocky Rocky.

 

I know Yorgatron in San Jose knows a lot about the Cad and Olds Hydros , I will see if I can get him in on this. Also if someone has one I will trade some of my good old car crap to make this happen.

 

Easy to just say "learn", but 99% of the hot rod builders I know, and I know a lot of really amazing builders, DON'T build their own automatic transmissions. Shit, even for a gear swap in a rear end, even if a newbie with a manual could figure it out, he'd still be shit out of luck with out the proper tools to set the pinion depth. The kid needs help.

He'd probably be better off swapping over to a TH350, which can be had in perfect running condition for $100, an adapter kit may cost him, , but he'd still be able to do the swap cheaper than rebuilding the hydro, and likely be happier with the results.

 

According to the internet *Ohhh so reliable *....1949-1954 Poncho's share the same Hydramatic transmission.

So if that guy is gunna dump his, grab it.​

 

I thought of that too , how much is an adapter for a pontiac straight 8 gonna cost , also his trans is pretty short so there will be driveline mods as well , shift linkage ect.

 

How far is colfax ? and what shape is the trans in , hate to have him get all exited for nothing.

 

looks like 3 hrs , unless you will be at the Sacto Swap tomorrow and can get it there.

 

if it comes to a bake sale put me down for 10.00 and you keep the cookies!

I could purchase them thru paypal cause I am a fair bit away from your fair city

 

Chuck, lets hope it doesn't get to that point , and thanks for the offer.

If it makes any difference , this kid has had it pretty rough , lost his parents and is in recovery working the steps, so it's a good cause.

It sure would be nice to call him up and tell him to come in and talk about what he wants to do about the car , and have a tranny sitting there waiting for him when he showed up.

 

Kanter has the master rebuild kit listed for $600 bucks, pretty pricey. The adapter kit is $700, so it's no cheaper. Hmm. I have an Olds hydo but I don't think it works. I'd give it to you, but there's the whole distance/don't know if it works or not thing.

Also, $1500 for a trans rebuild seems pretty pricey if you're taking care of the trans removal and install. I'd look around a little and see if there is somebody who can hook you up.

 

Thanks , it is a bit steep , but you have to figure that labor rate here is around 100 bucks an hour , the other guy that specializes in these wanted 2k.

 

THAT WAS HELPFUL!

 

It may be sacrilige, but wouldn't the cheapest, and in the long term most relible solution be to drop in a 350/350. It would teach him about hot rodding, give him something usable, which he can fix up himself if it breaks.
Ed

 

we thought about that too , but a good small block and trans hasn't fallen into our laps yet . He did say that he really liked the old inline 8 and the motor runs strong now after all the work he has put into it .

 

I guess that I should add a few things,

He has sunk all his cash into buying and getting this car to work, he has rewired most of the car, gone through his brakes and the engine is running strong .

I know its a 4 door and worth a couple hundred bucks for the parts , but it's his first old car and the first thing he has ever worked for , he knows that he should have put the work into a 2 door , and if he fixes it , he might drive it around for a while figure out what the whole old car thing is about and sell it to be able to flip the cash into a different car , or he might fall in love with the damn thing and keep it forever , who knows .

Getting rid of it at this point = losing money ,( or cutting his losses ),whos gonna buy it like it is , and at this point he has to hitchike , ride the fucking bus, or mooch rides off of people to get around cuz he's spent all his cash on his dream of owning a cool old car instead of buying a honda to get around .

Think of the satisfaction of one more days work to slam in a new trans and driviing this pig around for a while as he figures it all out.

It just seems like the thing to do.

 

Good luck. I hope he can get it up and running again.

 

HEY! i come over every wed. for my card game,i'll come over early and check it out.
free.
i love hydros
slipping you say?
did you pull the pan to see if the bands are cooked?

 

john,.....i know im like 9 1/2 hours away, but being a young guy myself, i can relate to the kid, so i will gladly donate a sbc/at to the cause. if he cannot come up with anything else, let me know,...i own a wrecking yard so i can handle it no problem

maybe the kid could make a donation to the hamb or something,...or give me a place to stay next time im in santa cruz...who knows...like i said i want to help, no strings attached

 

George , that would be great , he said it just went slower and slower till the thing was reving up in gear and barley moving , I didn't even know about it till the trans was out and on the floor , no I have not looked inside , but he called the guy in the auto shopper in hollister that builds them, and he told him it need a rebuild , it sat in a field for 20 years ,but there was fluid in it , when he got it running. Its at the shop , and I still have your folder full of mags , to return to you. Wednesday would be great.

 

Thanks for the killer offer , but I wanna see if we can get a Hydro back in there , and as far as a place to stay is S.C. , you can stay at my place anytime .

 

is the car/trans at Quality?
and yes,it would be nice to get my magazines back
i have to be reminded about everything
plus i'm going deaf
i'm a complete wreck at the tender age of 44...

 

I vote for the adapter/th350 or th400. if the kid is just a kid, he WILL clobber another slushbox. A modern tranny is ALWAYS easy to repace or rebuild versus the old iron cases.

I like that idea so much I will donate a FREE th350 or th400 to the cause. it will need a rebuild, but I have a pile of 'em and could spare one. they are clean and dry. any of you "best coast" fellas coming to the round up? I know it is a few weeks away, but in that time, mabey someone could come up with an adapter,too to help offset the rebuild kit. Hell, I might even hava a good converter around here somewhere. I remember being that kid when I was 14 or so and was havin' problems with the muncie in my cutlass. 1000 bucks seems like so much money at that age. now days, that's a cheap afternoon at the parts store....He must have some endeering qualities, or this post would not be here.

 

Is it his only car? If not, this is the time to do a motor swap man... He'll be a lot happier later on I bet. Nursing along some junky old straight eight isn't exactly my definition of fun.