transmission question

[283nova]

i was wondering is there anyway to make the 4 speed hydromatic mate up to a sbc?

i was thinking in a year or 2 if i v8 the truck i was thinking of sticking a 283 in there i have that ran just fine, in there but was iffy on the transmission part. i know the v6 stuff is all different but the transmission to bellhousing pattern is standard gm correct? just bellhousing to block is off?

[fleetsidelarry]

should be, since they were an available option behind chevy truck v-8s. I don't know what parts it would take and they would be pretty rare. you might want to consider that it takes a lot of power to run one of those hydramatics. might work great behind a 454

[markeb01]

Back in the 60’s there were a lot of stock Hydramatics and B&M Hydro Sticks running behind Chevy engines, so it can be done. To the best of my knowledge the early Hydramatics used a separate bellhousing like a stick shift, but have no idea what flange pattern they used on the front of the transmission. I don’t know if they used a standard Chevy bellhousing, or required a custom adapter bellhousing or separate adapter plate. There might also be issues with the torque converter coupling. I remember my dad complaining the Oldsmobile had 32 bolts holding it to the flywheel (flexplate), so I’m not sure what parts would be needed to hook all that up.

If these ever came behind a Chevy V8, you might be able to get the parts needed from one of those rare setups, but I’m pretty sure the Chevy trucks received Powerglide transmissions, and the Hydramatic only came in the GMC’s. And I don’t think a GMC V6 bellhousing will bolt up to a Chevy engine.

Here’s a thread that shows original B&M instruction sheets. Perhaps you can blow them up enough to make them legible and learn more about how it was done:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=147409

[Rich 5150 69]

I believe the four speed hydros that most of the strip gassers used were the olds and caddies 53 / 54, after that they were all dual range hydramatics, ( not so good ) they had bell housings that were removable and interchanged.

[283nova]

i was just talking about using it with the stock converter and everything, just behind a v8.

[markeb01]

Understood. I'm just thinking it may not be that easy to accomplish because the parts needed to bolt it to the back of a V8 may be very difficult to find, if you can figure out what is required.

[283nova]

yeah, i already got a 4 speed stick for it, so i am good now, but thanks for the cool b&m info guys, those things were and are something else.