I have a 1956 Mercury Custom and I am in need of a new Torque Converter. I do not want to swap out a C4 or an AOD ****** I want to Keep the orginal Merc-o-matic. Does anyone know of a company who sales remanufactured Torque Converter for the Y-block family of cars? thanks for any help.
The problem is that if your transmission is original, then you possibly have an air-cooled transmission & bolt-together converter. Early '56 would be air-cooled, and late '56 would be a conventional "water-cooled" setup with lines going to an external cooler. So far as I know, and I could be wrong, no one offers a specific replacement converter for the air-cooled setup. That being said, it's my understanding that the air-cooled converters can be cleaned/overhauled by a regular transmission shop, as long as the basic hard parts are OK. As noted, the converters bolt together and can easily be dis***embled. Air-cooled setups have a screened vent at the rear top of the bellhousing, and the converters are finned, with an aluminum shell...and again, there are no external lines. The later setups have external lines going to a cooler which is often near the back of the engine, and also has what looks like heater hoses going to it. Some '56 setups have the cooler in the bottom radiator tank, just as you see on most vehicles since. Note that even "water-cooled" trans converters are bolt-together in '56, though they are made of steel, and not finned. '58 & later converters are available, and use a different flexplate which is one-piece. it is possible to swap these onto earlier "water-cooled" Ford-O-Matic & Merc-O-Matic transmissions under certain conditions. You might try http://www.broaderperformance.com/en/ or Jim Paquet for the air-cooled rebuild if it gets to that point.
If you have an air-cooled converter, it can be rebuilt but be prepared to get your wallet out. My old man got an air cooled converter rebuilt and was going to use it in his 55 merc but went with a standard instead. He had it totally rebuilt by a transmission shop and cost around $400 to do. When trying to sell it, he couldnt get rid of the thing, ended up selling it for $150. I think most people upgrade to a water-cooled trans because the air-cooleds tend to overheat.
I found a place that said the can rebuild it for about $130. It is an aircooled converter. thanks for the info guys
How do you know the torque converter is bad? Does it slip in all ranges, even R? If so you could be right, but then again it could be a bad front pump, not generating any line pressure. If you could check you mainline pressure with an oil pressure gauge, then it would narrow the problem down a little. Torque converters when going bad will generally have very bad low speed performance, but the car will drive, bad front pump, no or very little movement of the car. Check the mainline pressure! You can do this in park, doesn't have to be in DR.
the hub that has the ears that drive the pump is broken and there is a spacer inside that is cracked.
If he can rebuild it for $130 with the hub then thats a great deal! my old mans had a broken hub too and that parts alone was over $100!
The place I found already has a couple of 55 T-bird converters rebuilt. I can buy one of them for $190. They have done several of the air cooled converters like mine and said it would be about a 1 week turn around. It really is a good deal for 130 plus shipping.
Below is the contact info for the company that I am going to have rebuild my torque converter. They seem like good people to deal with. Alliance Torque Converters (937) 222-3394 or (877) 236-5755 there add: Alliance Torque Converters is now offering to the general public our high quality converters for all makes of domestic and import vehicles. Our staff has a combined experience of 80 years serving the transmission industry and we stand by our product with a 2 year limited warranty. All converters will be shipped within one business day of order via UPS Ground or Next Day Air if needed. For any questions please feel free to contact us at (937) 222-3394 or (877) 236-5755.
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