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Olds people! Help!!! 394 in a '56 Olds.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by DirtyThirty, Nov 19, 2008.

  1. DirtyThirty
    Joined: Mar 8, 2007
    Posts: 2,396

    DirtyThirty
    Member
    from nowhere...

    Let me begin by stating that I did a search, and while I did find some info out there on this, I am still not getting exactly how this process is conducted...I understand the main issue I'm facing in adapting the '63 394 to my '56 Jetaway trans. ( ? ) is the addition of the proper balance value for the 394 behind the motor, since the 324 was internally balanced.
    Where does this weight go, and how is it determined? Is there a spec, that is the same for all 394's, or does the entire rotating assembly need to be brought to a machine shop and re-balanced?
    Also, do you apply this weight to the "flexplate" or the ring gear side, on the torus wheel ( Torus wheel? :confused:...) This is all new mysteriuosity to me...
    And to think, some of you people say Ford is confusing!
    A local Old's fan seems to think I can use a 371 flexplate, which he claims to have around somewhere, because it is supposed to mate to the 324, but includes the balance value?
    I don't know...
    I'm going to put a Ford in it soon, if I don't get any answers...I'll only need to worry about 28 oz. or 50oz. balancers, and flexplates...lol...


    Thanks for any clarity anyone can provide...
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2008
  2. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,564

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    Do you still have the 394 flexplate/flywheel? If so, I'd take both the old and new 'wheels to a competent machine shop and ask them to balance the "new" to the same values as the "old".
     
  3. DirtyThirty
    Joined: Mar 8, 2007
    Posts: 2,396

    DirtyThirty
    Member
    from nowhere...


    Yes, I have the 394 flexplate, but it has no weight on it either, it has a large, cast "flywheel" ( ? ) though, which has the weight removed from one side of it ( at least as far as it looks...) that mates to the "Slim Jim" Hydro, that it had in front of it in '63, but it must be removed, and not used, because the Jetaway has the ring gear on the Torus, and it has a Chrysler-like 4 bladed flex-plate, with no weight on it, for the internally balanced 324.

    How many different parts do these things need btwn the damn trans and motor?!?! :eek:

    I'm cornfused...Ford boy is in the outer-reaches now!
     
  4. DirtyThirty
    Joined: Mar 8, 2007
    Posts: 2,396

    DirtyThirty
    Member
    from nowhere...

    Bump...

    Night crew???
    Anyone?
     

  5. yeah all you have to do is take your 2 flywheels to a machine shop and get the old one balanced exactly how the 394 one is balanced. shouldnt have to do anything else to the 394. use the early lower bellhousing & starter on the 394 as well. it all bolts up
     
  6. chopo
    Joined: Feb 20, 2006
    Posts: 1,265

    chopo
    Member

    should have kept the coupe;)

    I should have bought it:(:(
     
  7. briggs&strattonChev
    Joined: Feb 20, 2003
    Posts: 2,234

    briggs&strattonChev
    Member

    I dont understand this. It had a flywheel and a flexplate? And you make reference to a "ring gear"

    are you referring to the same thing? I usually refer to a flexplate as a flywheel too, but since you mentioned both, does that mean you have a stick flywheel in the mix too?

    either way, I think rickyracer has the best idea...
     
  8. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,564

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    Hydramatics didn't really have a flexplate, per se; since it also served as the front half of the fluid coupling, it was a solid disc, more like a standard shift flywheel than the later autmatic flexplates that most cars used.
     
  9. d2_willys
    Joined: Sep 8, 2007
    Posts: 4,285

    d2_willys
    Member
    from Kansas

    I would think (if you have DC hydramatic PNDSLR) you could use a 59-60 flexplate from either a 371 or 394 engine. IIRC those engines were externally balanced, with the balancing taking place on the flexplate.

    Now if you happen to have the early dual range hydramatic NDSLR, then you should get the 56 flywheel (not a flexplate) balanced to the 394 crankshaft, which means removing the crankshaft from the engine. (You will also have to install a pilot bushing/bearing in the crank end for the transmission input shaft)

    I had a 60 high deck 371 mated to a 54 dual range hydramatic and had the 54 flywheel balanced before putting the engine back together. (Had the pilot bearing installed before balancing). No vibrations after doing the balancing
     
  10. Old people !!?? Just for that, I ain't tellin'..............;):D
     
  11. DirtyThirty
    Joined: Mar 8, 2007
    Posts: 2,396

    DirtyThirty
    Member
    from nowhere...

    Thanks guys!
    O.K., so we have dual RANGE, and dual COUPLING?
    Mine looks exactly like the metal-flake green one in the other thread right now, that is being reffered to as dual coupling, and does have a park position.
    So, I guess my Old's guy may be right about the 371/394 flexplate.

    I'm really not wanting to take the motor apart, and take the rotating ass. to the machine shop...at that point I'll just drop a 455/Th400 in it and forget about problems, and drive cheaply!
    And, at least it will still be an Olds...;)

    As for the 324, it is about to get mocked up in my Model A frame!:D
     
  12. owen thomas
    Joined: Jun 15, 2008
    Posts: 186

    owen thomas
    Member

    Olds had both the new 'Jetaway' Hydra-Matic and the old Hydra-Matic in 1956. The 88 2-barrel got the old, and the Super 88 and the 98 had the new Jetaways. That '56 old style H-M was the best of all.
     
  13. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    Does the 56 jetaway have all the bolts around the torus cover like the hydra-matic and if not the 55 to 60 flywheel should work,i had a 53 88 with a 59 371 and a 59 jetaway and if I can remember correctly it did not have all the bolts like the hydra-matic. Jeff
     
  14. ERICOLDS
    Joined: Jan 29, 2007
    Posts: 21

    ERICOLDS
    Member
    from ohio

    Just a comment from an Olds guy, The engine you want to use: 63 394 bolted to the Slim Jim transmission, not the older Hyramatic. I think that is why people use the earlier 59-60 394 that still were bolted to the similiar hydramatic.
     
  15. d2_willys
    Joined: Sep 8, 2007
    Posts: 4,285

    d2_willys
    Member
    from Kansas

    Unless Olds went bonkers, the 394's from 59-64 were the same as far as bolting up to early hydro, dc hydro, and the infamous slim jims! No turbos allowed!:eek:
     
  16. iafraser39
    Joined: Aug 2, 2009
    Posts: 186

    iafraser39
    Member
    from Warmland

    I had a 394 olds bolted up to a early hydro ( 55 I think ) The trans was Modified
    with B & M parts. Nver had a bit of trouble . I don't remember the year of the
    engine. It did have a flex plate, but I can't remember what the hydro coupling was.
    If some one could advise the engine year, it would help. I'm sure it was an early 394
     
  17. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member


    It sounds just like the auto trans setup on a 60s GMC v6 . Those have a heavy iron flywheel with starter teeth and THEN a 4 spoke star shaped flex plate bolts between the iron flywheel and the convertor. Really weird.
     
  18. DirtyThirty
    Joined: Mar 8, 2007
    Posts: 2,396

    DirtyThirty
    Member
    from nowhere...

    Yup...that's how it is...
    But hell, I've gone back to Ford's!
    Less complex.:D
     
  19. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    I think you could of used a 57 to 60 flex plate to mount the 394 to the 56 jetaway since that trans was basicly the same from 56 to 60.
     

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