what other Stude transmission would be most-comparable for a '57GoldenHawk?

[bsrosell]

per my post earlier, I need to find a transmission for my '57 Golden Hawk (discovered last night mine has a Ford "cousin" installed). I'm trying to find the correct A2-7A with the oil-cooler lines, but if that proves difficult, wondering what the next "best-match" is, perhaps lacking only the oil-cooler connections? In the Shop Manual, they show all the different speed-to-shift adjustments for the different transmissions, for different models. But are the components any different? Or just the settings? So if I find a Flight-o-matic from a '57 or '58 Silver Hawk or President, can it have the same settings as recommended for the Golden Hawk setup? It is only lacking the oil-cooler lines??
If that is the case, how critical are the oil-cooling lines, since only the Golden Hawk had them? If I'm not going to be racing her down the highways taking advantage of that supercharger very often, doesn't seem it should matter, but I know very little about automatic transmissions. Thanks guys!

[N8N]

per my post earlier, I need to find a transmission for my '57 Golden Hawk (discovered last night mine has a Ford "cousin" installed). I'm trying to find the correct A2-7A with the oil-cooler lines, but if that proves difficult, wondering what the next "best-match" is, perhaps lacking only the oil-cooler connections? In the Shop Manual, they show all the different speed-to-shift adjustments for the different transmissions, for different models. But are the components any different? Or just the settings? So if I find a Flight-o-matic from a '57 or '58 Silver Hawk or President, can it have the same settings as recommended for the Golden Hawk setup? It is only lacking the oil-cooler lines??
If that is the case, how critical are the oil-cooling lines, since only the Golden Hawk had them? If I'm not going to be racing her down the highways taking advantage of that supercharger very often, doesn't seem it should matter, but I know very little about automatic transmissions. Thanks guys!

Any short-tailshaft FOM from a Stude V-8 should work, but unfortunately the '57 GH trans is unique as it was the only "heavy duty" FOM made with a short tailshaft.

I do not know if you could get a HD FOM from a 58-64 car and combine them with a standard 56-57 FOM and get something functionally equivalent.

I am by no means a transmission expert...

nate

[PackardV8]

Yes, as N8N says, you can use any pre-58 FOM.

No, it won't be as sturdy. One absolute fact, Stude didn't put a nickle extra of content in their cars unless it was necessary to last out the warranty. If you drive your '57 GH like a Champion, it will be OK, but just asking, why spend the money to restore a supercharged car

If I'm not going to be racing her down the highways taking advantage of that supercharger very often,

? ;>)

Maybe, you might share what is wrong with the Ford version? They were both made by Borg-Warner. If not going for a perfect restoration, the Ford version could be made to work just as well and a regular Stude FOM.

jack vines

[mbstude]

If the guy still has it, I know where a correct '57 GH trans is. Email me at mbstude@gmail.com

[bsrosell]

Hi Jack,
thanks for the post. You are correct, I'm sure I could make the Ford tranny work just fine. And I am not going for 'show' points. But, my pleasure in restoring an old car is getting it back to as close to the way it left the factory as possible. So it would always really bug me to drive her, knowing it had a tranny transplant. I also want the cooling lines, again because 'that is the way the engineers designed her". (as a Mech.Engineer, probably a little bit of empathy for the Stude engineers on that one; we are used to being ignored by Marketing and everyone else, so 'honoring' my profession by at least putting her back together the way they planned it to be :-)

Yes, as N8N says, you can use any pre-58 FOM.

No, it won't be as sturdy. One absolute fact, Stude didn't put a nickle extra of content in their cars unless it was necessary to last out the warranty. If you drive your '57 GH like a Champion, it will be OK, but just asking, why spend the money to restore a supercharged car ? ;>)

Maybe, you might share what is wrong with the Ford version? They were both made by Borg-Warner. If not going for a perfect restoration, the Ford version could be made to work just as well and a regular Stude FOM.

jack vines

[(S)]

Don't forget, that the G Hawks and Avanti had a different Stall speed set up in the torque converter. If you can locate a trans, be SURE to get the converter.

[61Lark]

I should have what you're looking for, a PM has been sent.

Nick

[bsrosell]

thanks to all who replied! The one Matthew knew of had just been sold two weeks ago, but Nick has (probably) got the right one and will sell it to me, bless his heart. What a great forum!

[acolds]

The 57 Clippers have the HD trans with the cooler lines and oil system changes on bands .

[StudeRich]

A good Trans. man should be able to combine the short Tail Housing and output shaft etc. from a standard '56-'57 FOM with a '63-'64 H.D. Flight-O-Matic Column shift Trans. and build a short tail H.D. Flight-O-Matic as in a Supercharged '57 Golden Hawk or Packard Clipper, that is what Nate is saying, NOT to use a Standard FOM.

[bsrosell]

StudeRich; being new to post-war Studebakers, wondering what a "good Trans.man" looks like? :-) I've been thinking that since Ford-o-matics are very common, and Flight-o-matics are supposedly "the same thing", is there anything unique to the Studebaker setup that a run-of-the-mill transmission shop might overlook or goof-up? The gentleman I'm buying my tranny from mentioned 'indexing' that Studebaker did to the torque-converter at the factory... so wondering about things like that. Is there a list of Studebaker tranny specialists somewhere? I'm in the Mpls/St.Paul area, was planning on bringing the tranny to a small-town tranny shop in Somerset, WI that has done '50s era trannys (Chevy, at least) for my neighbor in past years...

A good Trans. man should be able to combine the short Tail Housing and output shaft etc. from a standard '56-'57 FOM with a '63-'64 H.D. Flight-O-Matic Column shift Trans. and build a short tail H.D. Flight-O-Matic as in a Supercharged '57 Golden Hawk or Packard Clipper, that is what Nate is saying, NOT to use a Standard FOM.

[StudeRich]

Your thinking is correct, however just how many Borg Warner cast iron case Ford-O-Matics, Cruise-O-Matics, Merc-O-Matics, Flash-O-Matics, AMC Shift Commands, Flight-O-Matics, and Power Shifts has this gentleman actually REBUILT in the LAST 5 years?

What you heard is most likely just the fact that Studebaker Dial indicated their Converter Housings to center on the Engine Block/Crankshaft at the factory and drilled the Pilot "Dowel Pins" to hold center, so if you know you have a factory matched "SET" because the engine is original, don't worry, if not sure just check it!

[bsrosell]

so I'll ask again, any recommendations for reputable FOM transmission rebuilders in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area? Lots of Studebaker guys in this neck of the woods, has to be some good transmission shops you've used?

[N8N]

another thing to keep in mind is that if the F*rd trans currently in the car is working well, and is of the type that uses an external fluid cooler, that might actually be preferable (shock! horror! dismay!) to the original HD FOM because AFAIK most F*rd transmixers start out in first gear, while most Studebaker FOMs start in second, and only start in first when you either manually select low at a dead stop or else floor the loud pedal.

I do understand the desire to be completely original, but it's just something to think about.

nate

[bsrosell]

I understand what you are saying and I agree with your thoughts. But, nope, this Ford unit has no cooling lines. And I don't know if it worked well or not, as it would have taken a lot of work to patch things (gas tank, brakes, fuel pump, radiator) up to a point where we could drive it. Bought it with plan to make a "driver' for a couple years before doing a complete resto, but after seeing all the 'little things' that needed to be done before safely driving it, we're just gutting it to restore now instead of later.