1950D34 Posted October 22, 2014 Report Posted October 22, 2014 Hi all, My name is Keith I work at a mechanic shop in Black Diamond, Wa. I just helped a 16 year old boy find his first car. Its a 1950 Dodge Coronet. Clean, clean car, complete except engine and bellhousing, fluid coupler. It has what is left of a Gyromatic. We want to keep it stockish. Using stock parts, what transmission is the best to find and use? Is there a stock over drive 3 spd tranny? Are there any modifications in installing anything else but a gyromatic? I built a 53 pickup that had a 230 and fluidrive that worked well. I know we'll have to get a carb with the solenoid if we run the gyromatic. Just a few rambling Questions, trying to find a path to a rad little first cruiser, for a kid surrounded by four door Hondas. 1 Quote
Grdpa's 50 Dodge Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I have the EXACT same car. We should stay in touch and maybe share excess parts and info. Good luck on your project,,,sounds good to stay original in this era car. If it was good enough then,it good enough today. After all the muscle car era had yet to be born. Quote
greg g Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 You probably should stay with dodge as you source parts. The Plymouth never had fluid drive, so even though the standard three speed transmission are the same the input shaft on the Ply is shorter. The longer shaft on the dodge was to deal with the extra depth of the fluid drive bell housing. The rear cross member to which the bell is mounted is also reflective of the extra depth. Good luck with you project. Quote
Young Ed Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 You probably should stay with dodge as you source parts. The Plymouth never had fluid drive, so even though the standard three speed transmission are the same the input shaft on the Ply is shorter. The longer shaft on the dodge was to deal with the extra depth of the fluid drive bell housing. The rear cross member to which the bell is mounted is also reflective of the extra depth. Good luck with you project. I think you could also stay solely with Plymouth and move the crossmember ahead. I believe Fred's Chrysler was done like this with no issues. Quote
ledfootslim Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Hey, I just wanted to say thanks to you and all guys like you for helping us young whippersnappers get into old cars! Without some older mechanics in my area I never could have come this far on Lady Grey! Quote
1950D34 Posted October 24, 2014 Author Report Posted October 24, 2014 Thanks for all the info. So it looks like by keepin it dodge, I either keep the Gyromatic, or use the Fluidrive. What are the details on converting it to fluid drive? Or by going Plymouth I have to move the crossmember forward to make up for a shorter bellhousing. Did Plymouth or Dodge make an overdrive transmission for these rigs. Quote
Don Coatney Posted October 24, 2014 Report Posted October 24, 2014 1950D34, on 24 Oct 2014 - 11:54 AM, said: What are the details on converting it to fluid drive? What is to convert? Dodge already has fluid drive. Quote
Young Ed Posted October 24, 2014 Report Posted October 24, 2014 Thanks for all the info. So it looks like by keepin it dodge, I either keep the Gyromatic, or use the Fluidrive. What are the details on converting it to fluid drive? Or by going Plymouth I have to move the crossmember forward to make up for a shorter bellhousing. Did Plymouth or Dodge make an overdrive transmission for these rigs. Yes an overdrive could be added whether you keep the fluiddrive or switch to the plymouth setup. Quote
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