[carguy66cars]

Looking for a manual for dual range hydromatic. Getting ready to put '57 trans. in my '59 as I bought a complete '57 dual range truck and going to pull the 4-speed out of my '59. Would like to get some info on these transmissions and know if there is anything I should know before doing the swap?

Lyn.

[d2_willys]

If the 57 dual range hydro is from a GMC truck you should be good to go. Your 59 has a 4 speed manual, correct? If so, then your crankshaft is already equipped with a pilot bushing, and with all probability has the same internal diameter as the one for the hydramatic. That issue out of the way, you will need the hydramatic to have both the front and rear bell housings, along with the starter, flywheel, and torus members.

Sealing up the torus and flywheel can be an issue. Most manuals tell you to use Pliobond 30 for a sealer between flywheel and crank flange, along with bolt threads. Well I have found that you have better luck with a gasket between the flywheel and crank flange, with the sealer on the gasket and bolt threads. EBAY has the torus to flywheel gasket (32 bolt holes) listed, but the good news is that you get the flywheel to crank flange gasket with it. Get one of those items and you will be good to go.

The flywheel will locate to the crank flange at only one rotated position.

Last piece of advice, put a new front seal in the hydramatic before installing.

Aside from driveshaft adaptation, make sure the TV rod adjustment is correct.

That should do it, good luck.

[Pontirag]

just a heads up theres the Old GMC truck website were you will find enormous amounts of info on these blue chip trucks and the hydro is one of our favorites over there.

as for your truck.. you will need the hydro crossmember which is not the same as a chevy hydro crossmember and on the inside of each frame member is the flanges, rivited to the inside of the frame that the hydro crossmember bolts up to. youl need them.

and the steering column

and the nuetral safety switches on the firewall above the steering colums .

good idea to run the 307 spicer 45 rear becuse the 392 rear will make the tranny shift very quickly from first to second and into 3rd.

[carguy66cars]

Thanks for all the info thats what I was looking for. I knew about all the bolts, but wasn't sure about the sealing it up and the gaskets. I bought a complete truck {GMC 1/2 ton, stepside long wheelbase} 347 w/hydro so I should have everything I need. It runs, but is not in all that great of shape. Does have the factory tach setup, radio and all the hydro stuff I need. Now I just need to get it all switched over. Will have to get the new fuel pump put on so I can see if it shifts as it should. I am a member over on oldgmc site just haven't done any posting over there.

Thanks Again Lyn.

[carguy66cars]

d2 willys, Can you give me a Item# or tell me what you looked under to find the gaskets?

Thanks Lyn.

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by carguy66cars

Looking for a manual for dual range hydromatic.
Lyn.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1957-...item2565ff0cad

I have one of these manuals. Good stuff.

Assuming your '59 engine is a '59 GMC V8 (not '59 Pontiac V8) you shouldn't have any problem bolting up to the '57 truck Hydra-Matic hardware. If your '59 is a Pontiac, you should read the "Interchangeability" section of this page
http://www.pontiacsafari.com/L1Garag...eID/index.html
before trying to hook everything together.

58 and 59 crankshaft part numbers are different between Pontiac and GMC V8s while 55-57 use the same part numbers. I'm guesing that the GMC crankshafts are different because the bore (and therefore the piston weight that must be compensated for with counterweights on the crank) is smaller in the GMC engine.

Another thing to look out for is that GMC really didn't distinguish between the 58 and 59 engine by year in their documentation. Both were referred to as 336 cubic inch. The early engines (below engine serial # 33635001 - serial number is on the passenger's side just above the oil pan rail and just forward of the coolant drain cock) had a 3.875" bore and a 3.562" stroke. Later engines (serial number 33635001 and up) had a 3.781" bore and a 3.75" stroke.

[Pontirag]

Bestgasket.com

Torous cover set

Part number is #14047E

Hydramatic 14"

less tham 15 bucks including shipping

[carguy66cars]

Bill, It is a GMC 336. Truck only has 26,000 miles as it was parked in 1974 until I bought it this March. Bleed the brakes and changed the oil and filter, gas tank had been drained and cleaned by original owners grandson and his dad. Was running a bit rough above a idle so I pulled the original cap thinking it might have corrosion. Rotor was turned at a 45 degree angle, put on a new rotor and runs like new. Just to much gear to drive down the road all the time so I wanted to go to the hydro and rear out of the '57. I will look for the serial number and then know if early or late.
Mike, Thanks again for the info and I will let you know if I part the truck. As of rite now I was planning on putting the four speed back in the '57.

Lyn.

[Jack Gifford]

Pay special attention (as noted in the pontiacsafari info) that the Dual-Range flywheel fits flat to the crank flange. On the off chance that your '59 GMC crankshaft had been replaced by a '59 (or later) Pontiac crank, the flange/flywheel problem would occur.

[Pontirag]

it must have the optional 3.92 rear end. If its a spicer 45 rear end it will look like a dana rear and not like a chevy rear (which Looks Like a ford 9 inch), if its a dana spicer 45 grab those drums and the park brake cables as both are hard to come by.

also kind rare in the later 50's ws a posi rear in those spicer 45's. be sure you arn't giving that up

[carguy66cars]

Mike, Heres a few pictures of the tach and sending unit. 3rd picture is '57 rear and last one is '59, look the same to me and I haven't checked the gear ratio yet.

Lyn.

[Bill Hanlon]

Both those rear ends look like Spicer 45s to me. Both trucks should have come that way. The 58/59 "power lock" differential was still based on the Spicer 45 and was available both in 3.07 and 3.92:1 ratios. From the outside I don't think you can tell the difference between the "power lock" and the standard Spicer 45

My Master Parts Book lists a bunch of "power lock" specific parts, but has no drawings of them.

Nice find of the tach on the '57. The real tach from GMC used the same mechanism, but with lettering that matched the rest of the instruments. There are people around who will redo the guts in the tach to make it work without needed the sending unit which were notoriously flakey and needed a 1.35volt mercury battery.

By the way, I have a .PDF file of the '54 Hydra-Matic shop manual if you'd like it instead of buying the '57 manual I pointed out on eBay the other day. It is probably 99% the same. Only real differences are the larger torus unit on the V8 engine and different shift points because of governor and throttle body tweaks. If you want it send me an eMail address and I'll forward it to you. Total size around 21 MBytes.

[carguy66cars]

Bill, I already bought the manual on ebay, but thanks for the offer. I have a N.O.S. tach for the '59 that has the correct numbering and a green tint to the lettering. The tach in the '57 has white lettering, but so does the speedo unless its just faded. I thought this tach with the football on it was correct, but did notice the lettering looked alittle different. Which manual shows the correct placement of the sending unit for the tach on a '59 any idea?

Lyn.

[Pontirag]

yea the style of the lettering establishes if its a real GMC tach or not. No biggie though cause iy can be corrected upon rebuild. The contraversey is wether the red football is correct for 57. Some say yes some say no. I have not seen one yet that has both the styalized numbers and the red football and a solid lower front panel.

several have a small black plug in the center of the stainless panel below the guage face.

who knows? I got one of each, niether has the red football so I got a clock to plug the hole

Shop around for a chevy rear to put in your 57, then pull that spicer 45 for a rainy day. I got four and one more on the way

[Jack Gifford]

Originally Posted by carguy66cars

... white lettering, but so does the speedo unless its just faded...

I'm guessing faded. My '59 speedometer face was so faded that it showed no green tint.

[carguy66cars]

Mike, I will look for a chevy rear for the truck and yes the tach I have for '59 has the plug in the cover, but does have the correct style numbers on the face. Jack I didn't look that close before buying the truck, I was just happy to find one with the complete hydro setup I was after and in running condition!

Lyn.

[Bill Hanlon]

Lyn: Another Hydra-Matic book that is very useful if you are a do-it-yourself guy is this one:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...hmt/index.html
I have the tools needed to do the band and throttle position adjustments and would be willing to loan them out for a BIG deposit, cheerfully refunded upon return of the tools.

[Pontirag]

excellent advice Bill.

Bill, I'm sure will confirm, that there are about 12-13 hydro manuals of one sort or another out there on the Hydramatic tranny's from that era. its an obsession all its own

but the specialised tools needed to perform the services and maintenance on the old hydros are the real pot of gold. they come up on ebay occasionally but competition for them is very strong.

[carguy66cars]

Thanks for all the advice Bill, Mike. I'm sure I will have plenty more questions as I get into swapping the trans. Only thing that was missing for the swap are the Hydromatic emblems as the fenders were swapped out and went through all the boxes and no emblems. Got N.O.S. door handles and buttons and shields also window sweeps, but didn't find the emblems so I will be looking for a nice set. I'm sure these will be a hard part to find!!!

Lyn.

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by carguy66cars

Thanks for all the advice Bill, Mike. I'm sure I will have plenty more questions as I get into swapping the trans. Only thing that was missing for the swap are the Hydromatic emblems as the fenders were swapped out and went through all the boxes and no emblems. Got N.O.S. door handles and buttons and shields also window sweeps, but didn't find the emblems so I will be looking for a nice set. I'm sure these will be a hard part to find!!!

Lyn.

The Hydra-Matic emblems do pop up on eBay fairly often, like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/55-56...item19c76b191b