drove by the fairgrounds and about a bajillion good old boys were filing in and out, carrying chrome cablights and rollin big ass nobby tires so what the hell I said to myself, a swap meet is a swap meet right? I pull in, wander though the crouds, looking at everything hoping for the missplaced jewel. found a single early Cal Custom knock off Japan valve cover, then as I got to the last stall way in the back corner, sharing a trailer with a flat fender Jeep is this. this is what the four-by crowd had been walking past all day. a fresh 394, and good Hydromatic 4 speed, he was asking $400.00, I said ok. he also had at home a '53 with rebuilt transmission, also $400.00. again I said ok. Paul
Wow!...Several years ago, when I was racing with 351 Fords, I went to a Corvette swap meet quite by mistake...thought it was an all-make affair...among all the "plastic" was a fresh four-bolt main Ford 351-C block PLUS a ton of other stuff from a Pantera project.... I bought the stuff cheap! Nice to see a neat score..Congrats!
yeah, and the '53 303?, he couldn't remember either, has about 70k original miles on it, but the fresh transmission behind it is a Dynomatic? do I have that right? didn't the Hydromatic plant burn down and they put the Buick transmissions in the Olds for one year? Paul
I believe you are right but I am not sure which models had them. Some of them had Hydro's. Basically they used a Dynaflow if I am correct. Eric
gotta love them deals where you don't even bother to talk em down, it's such a swingin deal to begin with!
ah, yes Dynaflow, here's the spare valve cover, and the only other thing I bought, a run of the mill, garden variety 350 block, boiled, mag'd, bored .030 over but not final honed for a hundred even.
Thats great! What year model is the vintage U-haul truck you ride around in? But seriously thats a pretty huge haul. Having seen a few pics of your various projects I can't wait to see what you use them in. Randy
I know that in the 1953 model year Pontiacs, the early ones had the 2 speed Hydramatic's and (since the hydramatic plant did burn down) the late year production ones had the more desirable 3 speed Powerglide's. Just my .02 B.T.W. A fresh 394 and a Hydromatic 4sp for $400. That is unbelieveable. I've spent close to that much for a damn grille for my 53. Let alone a complete drivetrain. SWEET SCORE. I would have carried that thing home if I had to.
The Jalopy Journal
