Some of you know I have a Brand new never installed B&M Hydrostick. what I have never mentioned is it's bolted to a 56 Chevy truck bellhousing for a Hydramatic to 265 chev V-8 My question did GM ever put a hydramatic behind a 235 six
related but not an aswer to your question does that mean that for instance the transmission is the same as for instance an hydramatic for olds/caddillac, and just the bellhousing is for chevy, i mean the transmissin must be workable straight to an olds engine in that case?
I am looking for the required parts, bellhousing convert type unit and other misc to put a Hydro, that I have, on a 348 (std chevy pattern). There was a complete setup on e-bay with the Hydro that needed rebuilding but they wanted $250 and I was the only bidder at $85.
Miles the reason for this post. I have the chev bell housing and it has cast on it. "this bell housing must remain with this motor" so the block must have been drilled to match the trans or visaversa. it seems that I remember a six cylinnder gmc or chev with a hydro behind a six and that is where I would like to go
I know that I could make this bell housing work on my 292 six, I have three hydro's a 55 cad and 54 lincoln which are identical and the B&M which has a short tailshaft. At this time and place I plan to put the B&M behind the the lincoln motor and drop it in very light open car. I would like to put the lincoln trans behind one of my 235 Chev's
[ QUOTE ] related but not an aswer to your question does that mean that for instance the transmission is the same as for instance an hydramatic for olds/caddillac, and just the bellhousing is for chevy, i mean the transmissin must be workable straight to an olds engine in that case? [/ QUOTE ] To answer your question, Yes! The same Hydramatic (GM built) was used in Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet and GMC trucks, Caddilac, Hudson, Lincoln, Frazer, Nash, Kaiser, Then it was sold to Rolls Royce. I'm sure it was used elsewhere but thats off the top of my head
The hydros behind the 6 cylinder engine were not built as stoutly as those made for the V8s. I have a 1950s Hot Rod magazine article about modified hydros and the shops that built them (I think Ansen and B&M were mentioned in the article) did not use the 6 cyl hydros to modify for their performance hydros.
It seems like there was some loophole in the rules and they considered the tri five sedan deliverys trucks and they were running the hydros in the stock classes and cleaning up. Probably early 70s. Anybody else remember that?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7914485779&category=33727
Yes the hydramatic came out in 53 in GMC and 54 in chevy and all those were 6 cyls. From 55 2nd series through 59 hydros were available in both lines for 6 cyl chevy/GMC and for chevy and GMC(pontiac) v8s. Good Luck in your search. Mike
A few Buicks had hydros right after the factory fire. Wouldn't it be great to put a built hydro on a nail head for a rod? I don't know if they converted these cars to open drive line or used the torque tube.
I remember seeing articles about these though the were never a factory built car The hydros were used in I think C and D stock automatic with a 283 and hydro. I have a 57 delivery, a couple of hydros and corvette 2 X 4s on a 283 and want to build a tribute 270 hp hyrdo set up.
There's lots of information AND misinformation about the hydro bouncing around, and there are few people who really know them well, and can rebuild them these days. They came in everything from Nash Ramblers to WW II tanks (with two Cadillac flathead V-8's connected to the hydros). You'll probably find it harder to find the hydro bellhousing, and flywheel for a 235 six than for the Chevrolet V-8's. The notation on the Chevrolet V-8 bellhousings was more an alignment issue than anything; using adjustable alignment dowels would be the thing to do in order to be sure everything is concentric. As far as the hydro goes, they were never used behind the W motors or BBC's from the factory; but can be IF the flywheel is machined for clearance of the crankshaft balancing pad; the 265/283 V-8's have a completely round crankshaft flange without a balance weight. The flywheel is part of the torus cover assembly, and the shape of it interferes with a balance pad unless machined for clearance. The tri-five Deliveries were built, titled, and licensed as trucks, and in fact did't even appear in car brochures, only in the truck brochures; the hydro was an option in trucks, and that is the only reason NHRA allowed them in Deliveries. But, they wised up in 1971, and banded them in the Deliveries. The Chevrolet hydros used a smaller torus assembly, and torus cover assembly, the torus covers bolt together with 18 bolts; all other applications (Pont, Olds, Caddy, etc) used a larger torus assembly and cover held together with 32 bolts. The are minor differences in the various applications; first gear ratio (there are two different ratios), number of clutches in the clutch packs, material used in the clutches (tanks used brass clutches), and many other things. Basically, the transmission itself can be used in just about anything as long as the correct flywheel and bellhousing is used. As far as the Chevrolet V-8 units go, the starter motor and slip yokes are the hardest to find pieces. Throttle and kick down linkage is just as critical as it is in the 200R4 and 700R4 transmissions of today, otherwise you will burn them up. Hydros also use a pilot bearing/bushing, just like a manual trans uses. There is a sticky on the HAMB about hydros, a hydro group , and several members who have a strong dedication to the hydro; some of those members have dropped out of site however. I won't go into my story with hydros, other than to say giving all my hydro stuff away was a big mistake that I'll probably always regret. There's a certain "romance" with the hydro, similar to that of the 301 CID Chevrolet engine; they both had their time and place. There are still guys that want to relive that past, especially if they did't experience it back in the day. This will be a learn as you go experience, there are specific tools that make working on them or rebuilding them easier, if you're truly serious about using your hydros, then find a copy of the Hi-Rank Hydro Book, and write done anything and everything anyone tells you, it'll all come in handy. Butch/56sedandelivery.
I think you have this reversed.......when the Hydramatic plant burned, it seems Buick Dynaflows were hastily adapted to other GM lines to maintain production. Ray
reading up on the hydros, I have a brand new alum b/m bell and flywheel for chevy V8, and it might be for sale. 507 236 6409.
Years ago I had an old stock Tri-5 cast-iron "ring" that mated with the cast-iron P/G bell housing, (I think??), then the P/G part to the block. Sucker looked like Chevy took a cast-iron P/G bell housing and made it into two bolt together pieces.... I think it came off a 265??? Question, could it be used mount a Hydro to our SBC's? Or was it a Hydro to SBC stock adapter??? pdq67
If you are talking about that 2" thick adapter that was put between the block and PG, then it would be difficult. The Chevy hydro used a full bell housing with the "house" bell pattern. Others used a front a rear bell housing combination, but the rear bells were smallish as far as the bolt pattern, so I doubt you could graph that to the adapter plate without some sort of plate that would adapt to the PG adapter.
I believe the reason for the PG adapter was because the 235 inline 6 engines needed an adapter to mate with PG. When the small block V8 was introduced, the PG would need an adapter, therefore the V8 PG adapter. In 1957 when the Turboglide was introduced, the aluminum bell housing went to using NO adapter and strictly bolted to the block. The aluminum Powerglide was the same as far as bell housings. Using a hydramatic from a 52-54 Cadillac, or 52-56 Oldsmobile, or 55-56 Pontiac would provide the rear bell housing. Then you would need an adapter plate to go between the rear bell and the PG adapter. This might be 1-2" in thickness. The other thing is the flywheel. I would use a PG flexplate with PG starter, then have an adapter made up that took up the difference between the PG flexplate and the Cad/Olds/Pontiac flywheel. This is probably close in thickness of the adapter plate that will be needed for the bell housings. The torus assembly for the big cars might be too big in diameter to clear the PG adapter! In that case your only options are Hudson Jet, Nash Rambler, Willys Aero, and Chevy/GMC truck torus assemblies. Of course you would also need the hydro flywheel from one of these too. I am sure there are other ways of doing the adaptation, but they are all going to be expensive.
And the provision for the starter motor within the C.I 'glide casing is in a different location depending on if it is a 6 or V8 'glide.
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