flightomatic parts/advice

[steve kuiper]

hi,
i have a 1958 golden hawk with a flightomatic. trans is rebuilt except i need a speedometer drive gear. it is plastic has 8 teeth. part #1544662 or 1546046 i've been told. any ideas on where to get one? i have tried the larger vendors already.
also, one vendor sold me a new valve body that is supposed to give 1-2-3 shifting when in drive. transmission man says will not work it is for a duel servo setup which the f-o-m is not.any input is welcome.

[Roscomacaw]

If your Golden Hawk has a Flight-o-matic in it, then you need to find a more informed transmission guy.

Miscreant at large.

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President 2-dr
1955 President State
1951 Champion Biz cpe
1963 Daytona project FS

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by Mr.Biggs

If your Golden Hawk has a Flight-o-matic in it, then you need to find a more informed transmission guy.

Bob/MrBiggs - I must be missing something here. Please enlighten me. Your comment made me second guess my memory and go upstairs to pull out my 1958 Studebaker-Packard Salesman's Data Book. The optional automatic transmission for a 1958 Golden Hawk is FLIGHTOMATIC DRIVE. Aha - Maybe I see the communication problem! I took your written comment to mean that the transmission guy was wrong about it being a Flightomatic, but now I see that you could possibly mean that the transmission guy does not know about Flightomatics. Please clarify your statement, for me if not for others.
Of course, the important thing is that in two days, no one has come forth with answers to the original questions.

Gary L.
1954 Commander Starliner (restomod)
1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[Roscomacaw]

Yes, my comment was meant to infer that the tranny guy didn't know what he was talking about.
Sure, I made a bit of an assumption that Steve's gotten ahold of one of the 1st-gear start valve bodies that have been offered of late. But if, in fact, that's the case - that valve body should bolt right in in a Flight-o-matic. 56 thru 64.

Also - from what I've heard of late, those speedo ring gears are scare - at least certain ones of them are. It may come to Steve having to scrounge one from a used tranny - assuming he can find a parts tranny with THE right gear for the taking.[:I]

Miscreant at large.

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President 2-dr
1955 President State
1951 Champion Biz cpe
1963 Daytona project FS

[steve kuiper]

my trany guy has been at it for 30 years or so. he rebuilt my avanti trans. and it's worked fine for years. it is possible he doesn't know everthing concering studebaker f-o-m. he didn't say the valve body won't bolt in. he did say it would not work in the way is is supposed to.that is a 1-2-3 shift. i am unceratin as to the fit of the part.

[Roscomacaw]

Provided it's the right valve body, it should fit and afford you the 1-2-3 shift you seek. I HAVE heard from some that they had to get a different governor to make this 1-2-3 sequence work WELL. But work it did before they changed governors. Their complaint was that it would shift out of 1st almost immeadiatly and that adjusting throttle pressure was not a viable cure.
Conversly, I've heard that some were happy with just the valve body swap. I have no first-hand experience to draw from although that's about to change in the not-to-distant future. We'll see.[]

Do I know WHAT F-o-M governor others used? No. But is WAS a Stude F-o-M part. There were LOTS of variants of F-o-Ms used in Studes! Lots more than many folks would think. A quick check of the late chassis part book shows 8 different V8 flight-o-matics used from 59 thru 64. These would all be cast iron case units and would appear to be the same, save for some would have ports for cooling lines and some would still have the dipstick on the body of the trans as opposed to having a dipstick tube come up from the pan.
We won't even get into the F-o-Ms that the 6s used. There were lots of them that looked identical to the V8 F-o-Ms at a glance. Even tho alot of these 6cyl F-o-Ms started out in 1st gear, the valve bodies won't interchange into a V8 trans. But their governors will interchange and make a difference given whichever one you'd swap to.

Your results may vary!

Miscreant at large.

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President 2-dr
1955 President State
1951 Champion Biz cpe
1963 Daytona project FS

[steve kuiper]

thanks, everyone. i'll give the new valve body a try. and i'll keep in mind the governor issue. if anyone has any input feel free to chime in. i still need the speedo gears.