I have a running/driving 54 Chevy 3100 with a factory Hydra-Matic. I also have a 53 Olds 303 that I'd like to swap into the truck. Does anyone know if I am wrong to assume the 303 will bolt right up to the Hydra-Matic? I know there are variations of the Hydra-Matic, but I assume the bell housing patterns are all the same? I'm thinking, other than motor mounts, it should be a pretty straight forward swap. Any input/suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks
hydras are cheap, if yours doesnt bolt up you csn probably sell it snd find the right one, i have one for sale right now. too bad we arent closer
I am no expert on these units, but have a casual familiarity with them. That said, I think you are close to having a 'bolt in', at least as regards the engine/trans connection. However, I think it will require the Olds have it's own torus (bolts to the crankshaft) and the Olds intermediate bell housing that connects the back of the Olds block with the Hydra-matic case. All the main cases of Hydra-matics of that era I have seen have all been the same bolt pattern. The intermediate bell housing plate varies with application. I don't know if the Chevy version of the Hydro is 'tuned' correctly (shift points, etc) and Olds linkage from the carb to trans will probably be needed. A likely significant problem will be clearance of the left side between the engine and the steering column. The Olds starter is on the left, though it is not likely a problem in your truck. And, the pitman arm is on the outside of the steering box....that's a plus. Moving the engine and trans to the right up to a couple of inches could help, but that may play havoc with the engine/trans support cross member. You'll just have to drop this power plant/trans in place and see what conflicts....and proceed from there. edit: 're the steering box. I seem to recall seeing the use of a later GM pickup box, the type mounted on the frame forward of the front axle center line, with a drag link back to the steering arm. That eliminates a lot of bulk adjacent to the engine and may be worth investigating if steering box interference is severe.
The bellhousing for the 235 isn't going to come close to fitting and I don't know If that particular trans will bolt up to the Olds Hydro bellhousing. You may be a lot better off getting a trans that matches the engine from the get go and swapping to an open drive rear axle.
It will not. Well it will and it won't. The Chevy uses a different bell than the olds so you have to have the olds bell. I may be interested in swapping bells. LOL
The steering's in the way, and you might as well go all Olds open driveshaft now. The axles & u-joint in the tube wouldn't take the torque. A '50s Pontiac hydro ratio axle is a good replacement, and Pontiac front drums fit the spindles giving you 5 on 5'' on all 4 ...
With the correct parks" this is possible", but why??? Find yourself a GMC 302 or Chevrolet 261, and go from there. Bolt-in, stock-appearing, and plenty of power. Why risk having to replace the ENTIRE drive-train to do this, or do major re-work, when don't have to? Some things, just need to be left alone; this is one of them! I am Butch/56sedandelivery. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY/HOW THIS TRANSFERRED OVER FROM ChevyTalk.Org
Help me out here and this is just a question OK? I have not seen a hydromatic with a torque tube that I am aware of. Actually the AD truck should be a 6 cylinder truck too and I have not seen one behind a 6 either. I am no doubt missing something here, right?
Some of the late AD trucks had a hydro magic option from the factory. They used a special trans mount that bolts in. Rare and sought after. Is yours an open rear end? No tube? I think it was the early 55 AD trucks that you could order a hydro in and an open rear end. It was like an option for six months of the manufacturing year. r Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
GMC was offering Hydramatic in light duty (1/2 ton) trucks in '53 - '54; Chevrolet in '54. Both were torque tube drive.
The 3100 is a half ton as I recall. The 3/4 ton was open drive. I am not really sure about the '54/early '55 trucks. I know they are hard to chase down and I am not trying to rob this thread but with a Chevy Bell I could run a slant pan behind my 396. I don't have a home for the big block yet (or heads LOL) but in a pickup the 396/hydro would be tits. Now just to get this thread back on track. A GM V8, Poncho, Olds, Chevy Caddy are all good prospects for an AD truck. Yes looking stock is cool and the big Jimmy 6 is a rad swap into one but end of the day we are hot rodders and we overcome problems in order to make our cars and trucks hot rods. The olds under the hood would be tits, and its no hill for s stepper. @droplord49 two things for ya, go back and read post #7 again. And swap that bitch my man. @302GMC thanks for the info. That is good to know, someday someone is going to want to hook a hydromatic to an early Ford and that will make it more feasible.
'54 Chevy and GMC 1/2 tons pickups were closed driveline. The First Design '55 (basically carryover '54) included a few upgrades, one of which being that some, at least, and maybe all, had open drivelines. I have one (a First Design '55 GMC) and a friend had one a few years ago...both OE with open driveline. My guess is, that '53/'54 Chevy and GMC with Hydra-matic were closed driveline...'55 and later all open driveline. Years ago, when I got out of the Navy, my first job was as a lubeman in a GM dealership. I recall seeing some AD style 3/4 ton pickups with original equipment having a short section of closed drive (maybe 12 to 18 inches or so) and a cross member hanger with an open drive U-joint and driveshaft to the rear axle.
I have a 54 Chevy 3100 behind my shop right now that is open drive line from the factory. Sitting right next to it is another 54 that is torque tube. The line is very blurry as to when Chevy actually made the switch.
Yup the 3/4 ton was built that way. Now I was not a full on hotrodder until '68, prior to that I played with the big guys on their cars. There were vehicles that we normally passed over '49-'54 Chevies and AD trucks were on that list. That said all of them that we did play with were converted to open drive.
A lot of vehicles from the '40s and '50s are equally blurry as to what year model they actually are. It was not at all uncommon to title a vehicle as the year model it was sold in. If it is a genuine '54, it may be a late production '54 and the open drive was a running change in preparation for the '55 model designation.
Steering box right in the way is going to be an issue with almost any V8 swap into a GM AD truck. There are a couple of steering box swaps that while not cheap solve the issue but may take away from the total "trad engine swap" vibe for some who don't think that any non traditional pieces should be used even though those pieces can be 50 years old now. There are kits that mount a later model truck (60's/70's steering box in front of the axle on the outside of the frame. They are intended for a power steering box but should work equally well with a manual steering box to move the box out of the way. A guy could even use an Olds column and wheel that matched the engine that way and sell the Chevy hydro pieces to a restorer. I learned to drive in a 54 5100 with a Hydromatic and closed driveshaft. Stepfather had to have the trans rebuilt and I remember him saying that the mechanic really cussed that closed drive when he worked on it. At least I wasn't the one who caused it to need repair though.
In the later '70s we used to put small blocks in them with the original box. We used rams horn manifolds (we called 'em antler manifolds), you cut the manifold between the center and the rear and took a piece of pipe bent to clear the steering column and welded into the manifold. Another option was to offset the motor an inch or two (don't remember the exact number). When we put the small block in the Ravens '54 we used a 15 dollar set of swap meet headers for a Camaro and altered the driver side header to fit. Took us about an hour with a chop saw and a wire welder. Here is the deal, we live in a world of headers and custom exhaust. It is not like 50 or 60 years ago when headers were magic. You stick whatever engine in whatever chassis you want and build the headers to miss whatever is in the way. Of course it helps to be dumb like me and have no idea that it cannot be done.
Steering gear issue can be solved with a starter adapter that moves starter to passenger side. Offenhauser and Hildebrandt sp. both use to sell these these. They are still around today for $200-$450.00 Eddie
All trim, and manufacturer tags identify it as 54. It is the only open drive 54 I have ever seen, and I have owned several 54 and 55 1st trucks. I assume it was a very late 54 and the closed stuff ran out or something equally as random. The good news is I've never seen a closed 55 1st, so at least they got that part consistent!
In the 80's we would just scoot the OG box over with a piece of channel (or frame chunk) welded to the frame side and heat/bend the steering back over to line up. It was pretty low tech, but I drove one like that for all of my high school years and it never killed me once!
The starter location is not an issue on the this era Chevy pickup as the steering box sits higher on the frame and the pitman arm faces down outside the frame rail. The interference is with the steering box and column with the left cylinder head and/or exhaust manifold.
Little story of a '54 Chevy PU with Olds and hydro. My pal and I knew a guy who owned a used car lot in L.A. Guy was a family friend and laid back. He happened to have this truck on his lot. My pal decides it would be fun to hot wire it one Saturday and go for a spin. We're cranking down the Harbor freeway at a high rate of speed when suddenly traffic STOPS. Pal jams on the brakes and we end up sideways across 2 lanes of freeway. No harm, no foul. Took the truck back and went home. Now looking back 60 years, I can see where this escapade could have been potentially life changing for me.
LOL I think all of us have a similarly scary story to tell. At least all of us who have spent our lives living. My grandpa used to say that god protects drunks and dummies.
As far as the steering box issue with a V8, to be ‘traditional ‘ I used a task force 55-59 steering box. It mounts inside the C channel of the frame giving more room for the eight. I cut the steering column and shaft, then used double D Borgensen joint to my installed column. r Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
If you sell the hydro, I would buy it. Mainly just need the flywheel and the bell housing adapter to the straight six.
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