A buddy of mine is working on an A roadster with an early Caddy. He's looking to put a late model GM auto trans in it. I checked Wilcap's site, they are sold out right now. Do any of you guys know who else sells an adapter kit? Thanks, Gene.
Some of the early Cad hydros were good but I don't remember which years. You might consider using one. Charlie Stephens
https://www.transdepot.net/Cadillac...r-1955-64-Cadillac-331-365-390-429_p_731.html https://transmissioncenter.net/shop...-motor-to-chevy-automatic-transmission-ca401/ OOPS you said none available on this one https://www.wilcap.com/cad.html https://transmissionadapters.com/products/1949-1953-cadillac-331-to-chevy-automatic https://www.caddydaddy.com/shop-par...adapter-kit-with-starter-see-details-new.html Most if not all adapting the Cad engine to a Chevy pattern transmission. Those old hydros are cute and worked great but my guess is that these days you are going to spend more to have one properly rebuilt than the adapter and a good late model GM aka Chevy transmission will cost. A rebuilt Cad hydro being 2300 in an Ebay add.
Particularly if they have more wrong with them than just needing new friction rings. I dropped 1900 into mine because it needed new drums, pump etc. But, they are hardy. The later turbo Hydra-Matic transmissions are likely a better bet if it's going to see serious miles.
I'm thinking on the line that you pretty well have to ship or haul the older hydro to someone who actually knows how to work on them these days. Specialist in a now rare item =$$$ The rebuild kit runs between 450 and 700 from what I saw in a quick search.
I rebuilt mine, to save on labor costs. It did kick a few surprises back at me, and gave me a steep learning curve. As much as I love mine, the later TH350 is a significantly better design, in almost all aspects.