[Chrysler300] B & M hydramatics

["Roger Schaaf" <obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don:

Even the stock Hydramatic 4 speeds were rather rough but very solid shifting even at normal throttle.  At full throttle they shifted hard and very positive(2nd to 3rd just a little slushy), but even if left in low range would still upshift thru the gears before the engine was at peak rpm.

B&M fixed all this.  They shifted very hard at full throttle, you could keep them "locked" in any gear and they were sturdy.  As I noted, the stock low gear was a very low(almost like a granny low) that would cause your car to leap out of the hole, and when it would bang 2nd gear it was like a full throttle power shift in a stick 4 speed. They were a real kick if you had a high torque/light weight car.  You could really bring that front end up on every shift.  Here are a couple of links to descriptions of them and their usage in the mid 50's.

http://www.nolimitmotorsport.com/bm/

http://www.nhra.com/reunion/2002/honorees.html

They were often used behind Chrysler Hemi's in various race and street combinations(that Chrysler hemi certainly qualified as high torque).  This of course was an almost unbeatable combination in those days.

Interesting factoid on them was that the original one's(they actually came out somewhere around 1939 in the Olds) used reverse for parking gear.  Later ones in 1956(called the Jetaway) actually had a park position.  As opposed to powerflites and earlier torqueflights that never had a park position(still frightens me when I park my B on a hill).

Roger Schaaf
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Donald A Verity 
  To: 'Roger Schaaf' 
  Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 6:46 AM
  Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Chrysler WINS Daytona !!!


  Hi Roger,

    I never drove one of those B&M hydro's, but one was given to me years ago. I gave it away to make space in my garage. I wish I had kept it, just to take it apart and see how it worked!

  300ly,

    Don Verity

   


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Schaaf
  Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 2:35 AM
  To: pacesetter300@xxxxxxxxx; 'Wayne Graefen'; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Rich Barber
  Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Chrysler WINS Daytona !!!

   

  I thought the 54 still had fluid drive, but what do I know, I was driving 4 speed hydramatic Oldsmobiles back then. I always felt that this was the best automatic to come out of Detroit and probably would even be very competitive today. Low gear was a real stump puller and you could still run a 3:08 rear-end and hole shot just about anyone at the local dragstrip, lock(BM treatment) it in any gear until you wanted to shift and they were almost unbreakable. Especially if you had B&M give it one their workovers. Used a fluid coupling technique instead of a torque converter. We was running a 55 Cheby with a 394 CI Olds motor and a B&M back then, and it could run with all the big dogs on the street and most of them at our local dragstrips(Lincoln, Grand Island and Omaha). My Cheby friends hated me for doing that as of course you never replaced a Cheby engine with something other back then and it was always embarrassing to be taken down by an Olds powered anything. GM really screwed Hydramatic in the 1956 edition with their much slushier(read smoother) version, and went totally to hell with the 1961 3 speed edition. By then you were better of with a Torqueflight.

  I suspect that many of you, as I do, remember those days as among the best of your lives. I also suspect that is the reason that many of you all, as me to, are 300 letter fans as they were produced only in this great era of American iron from the mid 50's to the early 60's.

  What was the question again?

  Roger Schaaf
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Rich Barber 
  To: pacesetter300@xxxxxxxxx ; 'Wayne Graefen' ; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 3:38 PM
  Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] Chrysler WINS Daytona !!!

  The '54 would have had the two-speed powerflite, right?

  I was surprised and shocked to hear the brakes broke! I popped a front
  brake hose on my '50 Windsor one time in the midst of an emergency stop.
  Banh--right to the floor. I yanked the emergency brake and locked up the
  rears and got shut down, but only after doing some fancy maneuvering. This
  brings up the value of dual/split braking systems that retain braking to two
  wheels if a hose or some other failure occurs. Like accepting seat belts,
  I'd like to see the judging of our 300's not deduct for safety modifications
  such as improved braking.

  C-300'ly,
  Rich Barber
  1955 Chrysler C-300 (99 44/100% pure)

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
  Behalf Of Russ Vaughan
  Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 8:36 AM
  To: Wayne Graefen; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: Re: [Chrysler300] Chrysler WINS Daytona !!!

  You would think someone in professional journalism could spell brakes
  correctly, not breaks as in the article. Nice info though, I thought '55 was
  the first year for Chrysler.

  Russ Vaughan

  Wayne Graefen <wgraefen@xxxxxxx> wrote:

  http://www.saveourhistory.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7255

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