Technical 322 Nailhead to 37 Buick special trans?

Hi,
I've collected enough rust to almost assemble a 28 ford roadster and I've got a '54 buick 322 4 barrel eng. this engine came in a car that had the hydramatic but my uncle sold it he also had a '54 standard trns. but it came on the smaller v8. I read somewhere that the 322 crank is not milled for a pilot bearing is this true? does this mean there is absolutely no way to stick a manual trans. on the 322? I gotta tell ya if this is the case it really blows my whole deal which is A)that i just can't afford to buy anything B) i wanted all the parts on the car to be pre '55 C) i don't want a slushbox. There is also some question as to trans function something about a 6 bolt case or a 5 bolt case? Even if I have the crappy 5 bolt can it be converted to a top shift? What about open driveline? I have the '54 rearend I read later centre sections will bolt in. Anyone know what year? then what about the tranny can a later GM tailshaft fit this tranny? Even if you can suggest someone who might have some info it would be helpful thanks - cheers
p.s. the goal is to use what I have at hand suggestions to run out and buy an adaptor and a ford trans and rear won't be too helpful. <!-- / message -->

 

Hopefully you will get some of the Buick gurus to chime in. One of them also knows quite a bit about trans differences, as well as those "selector" style transmissions. Hamb name is : Hnstray


As far as making a top shift using the small 5 bolt, I have not seen any so far, but there are hamb pics of an ancient homemade shifter that will work with those. It won't be a true top shift, but if you are on a budget, it will work.


Do you have any of the Buick transmissions yet?


A 6 bolt can be converted to a top shift with 37/38 Roadmaster trans, but those are pretty hard to find, and then you'd still need a 6 bolt trans from a 51-64 Olds, to make it open drive. So, that's buying 2 trans to make one.

I just went to look at a "Buick top shift trans" that a friend had. It did not sound like a 37/8 on the phone description, and it was a Buick big series, but earlier. Maybe 32-36. I did take the top shift cover setup, as it may be workable with some luck.

 

http://nailheadbuick.com/transadaptors

T

 

322s came from the factory with manual trans.

 

I put the manual transmission (6 bolt top cover) from a '56 behind a '54 264 that originally came with a dyanflow. All I need to do was pull a bushing out the '56 322's crank and press (a hammer counts right?) it into the crank on the 264". So all you should need is a bushing to get the hole in the end of the crank down to the size of the pilot bearing.

Hope that helps,

Ryland

 

Pic from Tig Master's link, shows a factory stick bell for 53-56 and that trans pattern is the same as 6 bolt trans. I do not know if 5 bolt is the same face.


When/if you find a bell like that, or the correct trans..you need the slip-in "throw out bearing guide tube", which is also the front trans bearing retainer. These are not bolted, so they get lost, and may not be included with the trans or bell. You also need the TOB fork, and the special TOB bearing with it's cast iron hub and 2 clips.

 

The early 5 bolt trans (such as 1937) were also top shift units. They will bolt directly up to the 264-322 bellhousing.
They would be closed drive and should be a direct bolt up to the torque tube, but I am not 100% sure about that.
This would be best as you would not need to convert the rear to open drive.
But if you end up going open drive, check the old posts at V8BUick.com. Someone did an open drive conversion using the stock 55 rear and center section. Just replaced the seal and yoke I believe. Then spread the radius arms and some other somewhat simple work to locate the rear.

 

Thanks F&J and Dual,
I'm on a 3 teenagers @home type budget. So i'm stuck with what I have expensive swapmeet stuff is absolutely out of the question after scraping some gunk off the top cover it appears to be the dreaded 5 bolt but oh well. the 322 4 brl originally had the automatic and the 3 spd. trans. came from a 264 but both are '54

 

Do you have any pics of this guide tube so I know what i'm looking for? Any idea on whether I'll need a special throw out bearing to mate the 5 bolt to the 322? I'm pretty sure the bell is on the trans. but its so buried its hard to get measurements etc. does anyone know if the 264 and 322 had the same bell house to block pattern? I am hoping that what 3spd. did disproves another rumor that i had heard that the 322 w auto cranks weren't machined for a throw out bearing

 

oops I meant pilot bearing

 

I took a the manual trans (bell housing and all) off of a '56 322 Block and bolted it to a '54 264 block so I would say the bolt pattern is the same. You are just doing the opposite of what I did and it worked out fine for me.

As far as converting to an open drive line I am no help, sorry.

Ryland

 

The manual trans from the 322 is a bigger/stronger trans then the 264 trans. The 264 had a 5 bolt top cover & the 322 had a 6 bolt top cover. I have read that they do not interchange but I do not know that for a fact. All 54 Buicks had a Dynaflow not a Hydromatic transmission if equipped with an automatic from the factory. The manuals have the weird selectro shift pattern and require a very hard to find floor shifter.

 

Here is a pile of parts that is a complete 37 Buick trans setup for an Olds/Cad swap.

Look at the tube sitting on top of the bell housing. It is also called a "candlestick" because it looks like the antique candle holder that was called a candlestick

One thing worth mentioning on any of these transmissions, selectors, LaS, Cad, and Olds....they all require a full face gasket on the front of the transmission, between the trans and bell.

 

Back in the day I used up a few nailhads. As mentioned a pilot bearing adapter can be used to install stick trans and also mentioned, the trans is a selectro.

These only have one arm on the side. It slides in/out and back/forth to give three forward and reverse gearing. The Buick would be a torque tube. The same trans was used in Olds and Pontiac apps in the same era. They interchange and have open driveshaft.

Eelco made a shifter for these back in the day. I had one in a Buick/Studebaker. Very simple. Just knob on a shaft thru a heim type pivot with a link to bolt to the selector trans. If I remember correctly the shift pattern was backwards.
A hazzard of the design.

 

Well I have pretty much given up on the open driveline if i'm going to keep the Buick trans. but i'm still playing with the idea a bit IF I can find a reasonable deal on a ford to buick bellhousing I can get a 52 truck trans. but then I need another rearend which sounds like the Olds rear. What year did they go open driveline? The 5 bolt came with a flywheel and clutch,pressure plate etc. not sure about the tube though. I've found a couple other threads that show some shifter options. I guess it won't really be that hard to fabricate something. I'll have to get the torque tube shortened and make some wishbones and I guess either way I'd want to narrow the rear anyone have the widths of the '54 Buick and the '50 Olds?

 

Just Pony up and put a LaSalle behind it. Like this. That is a 322 with a straight shift.

 

There's a guy on e-bay who sells the right pilot bushing. The auto and standard cranks have different machining on the t-mission end. He make the hybrid to put a stick on an auto engine.

 

Hi Belair did a search on ebay turned up nothing any idea how to find the ad?

 

I wonder if it is Russ Martin in Ca? Try a google search for his name and add "nailhead" or "buick"

 

Yes, that's Russ Martin. His ebay username is buickrodder or see his website:

http://nailheadbuick.com/

 

Well I got this from his site: "With the 53-56 264/322 we are not so lucky, we have to find used flywheels and bell housings and to make it worse there are 3 different flywheels. The 53-55 322, the 54-55 264 and the 56. As with the 364 and 401 the 264-322 have different flywheel balance so you will need to contact me to ID yours." they seem to have pilot adaptors for later engines but I didn't find any info on my swap

 

Russ is a very knowledgeable and is willing to help others, so give him a call and tell him what you are trying to do and I'm sure he can help you out.

 

ask Zman. He is kind of an asshat at times, but he knows his nailheads.

 

^^ or Doc on the v8 buick.com site..

 

i have a old 322 that uses a offenhauser adapter that mates it to a ford flathead trans. it uses the buick flywheel a ford pressure plate and clutch disk. I seen one just like it on Ebay a few months ago. With this adapter you could use the ford truck granny four speed mini bell and mate to a later trans. OldWolf

 

That offy adapter is back on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Offenhauser...pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

 

lol, I'm not really much with the 264/322, I mostly stick to the 364/401/425's, but that said there should be no issue with putting a manual transmission behind an originally auto equipped 322. It's been done for years.

I also believe Brad54 has a real good handle on those transmissions.

 

The bellhousings are the same between 264 and 322... sort of.
They both bolt to either block.
The top mounting holes for the trans are the same, whether 5-bolt cover or 6-bolt.
The bottom mounting holes are in a slightly different location between the two transmissions.
If I remember correctly, the bellhousings carried different part numbers.
The front bearing cover, etc. are the same.

Eelco, Ansen and Dragfast all made shifters for the Selector-series transmissions. The Ansen was a traditional H-Pattern, while the Dragfast was a reversed H-pattern: Away and up was 1st, away and down was Reverse, Toward the driver and down was Second, toward the driver and up was Third.

-Brad
-Brad

 

The bellhousings are the same between 264 and 322... sort of.
They both bolt to either block.
The top mounting holes for the trans are the same, whether 5-bolt cover or 6-bolt.
The bottom mounting holes are in a slightly different location between the two transmissions.
If I remember correctly, the bellhousings carried different part numbers.
The front bearing cover, etc. are the same.

Eelco, Ansen and Dragfast all made shifters for the Selector-series transmissions. The Ansen was a traditional H-Pattern, while the Dragfast was a reversed H-pattern: Away and up was 1st, away and down was Reverse, Toward the driver and down was Second, toward the driver and up was Third.

-Brad
-Brad

 

on ebay his name is BUICK RODDER IN GRASS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.