Re: More on Suppliers

[John McEwen <moparrr@xxxxxxx>]

Hello again:

Thanks for that useful additional information Frank.  I had forgotten 
about Volvos (who hasn't?).  My first new car only Volvo was a 1963 
544 Sport.  That was a great car.  Then they built the box the car 
came in during the '70s and became obsessed with safety and moving 
upmarket.

Just a small correction, though.  The TH-400 was used behind the V-12 
5.3 engine.  I have one in my Jaguar XJ-S.  I believe the XJ-6 
continued with the BW but that the XJ-12 also used the TH-400. 
You're right, this occurred in the late '70s when it was realized 
that the BW couldn't cut it behind the 12.  Something about the  300 
hp V-12 didn't sit right with the original design of the BW.

Incidentally also, Rolls used Hydramatics as well starting in about 
'53.  They "re-designed" them for the Roller but really only made 
them prettier and a bit smoother.  The old Hydramatic certainly let 
you know when it made its 2-3 shift.  I owned one of those ancient 
designs in my '47 Olds coupe.

I have one of the very first BWs as used in Britain in my '53 Jag. 
Mark VII.  I also have a '66 Austin Cambridge A60 with the BW12 and 
did own a '58 Wolseleyl 6/90 with the DG250. All dreadful 
transmissions in terms of flexibility and smoothness!!  It's no 
surprise that the British still prefer standard transmissions after 
having to live with a diet of BW.

As an aside, Britain bought the obsolete tooling for the DG250 BW 
from Detroit Gear when it was finally discontinued by Hudson - the 
last US cars to use that design.  All of the tooling was moved to 
Letchworth in England where a new factory was built to build the 
now-obsolete BW for Britain.

Of course Hudson became 'Hash' and Nash had been using Hydramatic so 
the BW had to go.  It was overdue for retirement, but the price was 
right for Britain.  I owned a '53 Ambassador Custom with Hydamatic. 
That was a very nice car.  If memory serves,  Nash Ramblers were also 
available with Hydramatic by around '55.  I had a '50 Nash Rambler 
convertible but it was too early for an automatic (and probably 
didn't have the power to run one).

A final aside.  If you find a '53 Nash, Hudson, Lincoln, Kaiser, 
Pontiac, Olds or Cadillac with a Dynaflow in it, don't be surprised 
and don't take it out if you want authenticity.  Because of the major 
fire at the Hydramatic plant in '53, many GM and other makes were 
provided with Dynaflows to keep production moving at the respective 
assembly plants.  I have no evidence that all of the cars using 
Hydramatic did use Dynaflow, or that there were enough Dynaflows to 
look after GM, never mind the independents but a considerable number 
of cars did.  One of my friends has a '53 Olds '98 Holiday which came 
with Dynaflow - or as we used to call it, "DynaSlow" or "Will it ever 
shift?"

John



> Good call John! The BW 55 and 65 were used in Volvos as well up 
> through around 1980. Like the FMX, the internals (mainly rotating 
> assemblies) are pretty much the same all the way through the model 
> 65, with minor differences like the number of clutch disks. Cases 
> and valve bodies could be totally different though. Most of the 
> rebuild kit makers have one kit for all BW based autos, model 35-65 
> (including the FMX). The earlier BW trannys (M8 and M10, 
> Ford-O-Matic, Cruise, Merc, and Flash) I think use a different kit 
> until the M11 and M12 hit the scene. they may all use the same kit 
> though. I think the Jag V-12 was a M65. They later went to the 
> TH-400, wich was quite a monster behind a 4.2L six!

>