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Hi,
My name is Jeff Guyer. I am writing to you looking for help to positively identify this transmission. My Dad, Bud Guyer was the historian for National Antique Oldsmobile Club. His specialty was 1939-1949 Oldsmobiles. This transmission has been in his attic for many years. He always told my brother and I it needed to be in a museum. I believe it is an NOS 1939-40 Hydra Matic transmission. My goal is to positively identify the trans and get general info about it. Thank you for your time and expertise.
Sincerely,
Jeff Guyer
Thanks for your reply. I emailed RG Olds museum weeks ago, no response. Weber State automotive and automuseum@ypsilanti.org, no response from there as well.
Ill give the ACAA forum a try.
Thanks again!
Your trans looks similar to an early Hydramatic, but not the same. The Hydramatics that I've seen only have one lever on the side of the trans. Could this be the 1937-39 Oldsmobile Automatic Safety Transmission, the precursor to the fully-automatic Hydramatic?
Looks like from the manual it is definitively a Automatic Safety Transmission. Any way to distinguish year?
BTW...Thank you!!!
The casting number on the main case 1299501 was used on all 37 thru 39 "automatic" transmissions. So it's no help.
The casting number on the pump cover 1305134 , however, gives a closer clue.
That casting was used on 1937 & 1938 eight cylinder and 1938 six cylinder cars up to transmission serial number 14039.
So that would date this trans as either a '37 or early '38.
On another note, I saw an article one time about this trans.
Oldsmobile developed this trans, but couldn't build it because they didn't have a transmission production facility.
At the time, Buick was building all the transmissions for Buick, Olds, and Pontiac.
GM brass could see this trans cost a lot of money to design and build.
Sales were slow , and GM was looking to recoup it's development costs.
They badgered Buick into offering in their 1938 cars.
According to the story, this trans turned out to be a real "pickle".
Warranty claims were high.
So much so that quality conscious Buick recalled all 1938 "self-shifting" transmissions and replaced them with conventional 3 speed stick transmissions.
When Olds introduced their "Hydra-Matic" trans on the 1940 models, Buick didn't want anything to do with it.
Buick soldiered on with stick transmissions until 1948 when they introduced their own "Dynaflow".
At least one '38 Buick missed the recall and survives in Calif. today.
Your dad was right, It does belong in a museum.
I'm sure the R.E. Olds museum would be glad to have it.
Last edited by Charlie Jones; October 9th, 2023 at 09:57 PM.
On another note, I saw an article one time about this trans.
Oldsmobile developed this trans, but couldn't build it because they didn't have a transmission production facility.
At the time, Buick was building all the transmissions for Buick, Olds, and Pontiac.
GM brass could see this trans cost a lot of money to design and build.
Sales were slow , and GM was looking to recoup it's development costs.
They badgered Buick into offering in their 1938 cars.
According to the story, this trans turned out to be a real "pickle".
Warranty claims were high.
So much so that quality conscious Buick recalled all 1938 "self-shifting" transmissions and replaced them with conventional 3 speed stick transmissions.
When Olds introduced their "Hydra-Matic" trans on the 1940 models, Buick didn't want anything to do with it.
Buick soldiered on with stick transmissions until 1948 when they introduced their own "Dynaflow".
At least one '38 Buick missed the recall and survives in Calif. today..
The article you quote is completely inaccurate in facts, dates and what followed. I hoped the passage of time would bury it but not the case.
The AST was stolen from its inventor by GM (GM and Oscar Banker), much like the delay wiper system (Ford and Kearns), the three-point tractor hitch design (Ford and Harry Ferguson), and other developments.
The AST theory and design was furthered by GM and became the basis for GM V-Drive primarily in busses, which was in successful production and use for decades following.
One point that particularly sticks in my craw is no paperwork has surfaced to my knowledge detailing any change out program by Buick for AST equipped cars, same as any previous claims concerning 'warranty problems'.
AST cars never were common out in the wild and are not today, but there are more surviving then one might think at first consideration. One board user was looking for tools not long ago, there were several I am aware of at the 100th in Lansing, I wish I had noted who and what car then but did not. Thinking about it now, there is one here in NE Ohio.
I am enthusiastic about preserving the history on Oldsmobile production particularly and history based on and drawn form traceable sources. The fact checking on internet pieces about automotive history have to be near the top of the inaccuracy scale, so caution is advised. Not much AST paperwork is to be found after many years of watching and searching owed I'm sure in no small part to GM not prevailing after having been successfully sued by Banker. He lived to enjoy the victory unlike Harry Ferguson, who died a damaged broken man.
Dug out one of my Dad's 1939 service manuals and found a reference to the automatic transmission. Part of my initial confusion was that the crate that it was in had a handwritten note on the outside "Hydro Matic Trans".
Thanks for the time and expertise. Any additional info greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jeff G
Wow. That's way out of my wheelhouse. coldwar, d2willys or Charlie Jones might be able to ID it, or someone at the RE Olds museum might know.
You can try the AACA Forums or AACA Library too.
speaking on the hydramatic, on a 55 hydramatic automatic does anyone know what to look for on the inside that has to do with the throttle valve and maybe something loose that’s causing it to not shift up?
Ok I’m still learning how to do this, last time I did that someone told me not to start a new thread when there’s already one related to my question so I’m not sure.
October 9th, 2023, 10:14 AM
