i bought this car about three years ago and so far all i have accomplished is a major tune up. when i first got the car it had been in a flood but to my suprise the only real rust problem that i had was the fuel tank being rusted completely. the car has 28,000 miles and the 455 runs great but my trany is stuck in first gear. i have changed the governor,the modulator, the vacuum lines and the passing gear switch but still no shift. but the trans is the least of my problems because i have another 400 in the garage, though i would like to know what is stopping it from shifting. the real problem that i am having is finding a fuel tank in houston,tx. nas gave me a good feed but the guy is in california. if i cannot find one closer then that is the direction that i would have to go. if anyone has any info that would help speed this project please feel free to interject

 

I know very little about auto trans. but I'm wondering if water got in it during the flood? A little bit of rust could be a big problem. Have you tried the old trick of starting out in low gear, then manually up shifting. It won't fix the problem but it might get it to shift.

Try these guys for a used gas tank: www.allamericanclassics.com I'm sure they have one but I'm not sure they'll ship it.

Nice car, hope you get it going.

Don

 

Have you taken the old tank to a shop? Perhaps it can still be restored.

 

You can also check out the after market tanks in both plastic, steel, and alumimum. Thats what I am going to do for my 1948 Olds

 

Hello all. Thanks for all the insight I have been out of town and I couldn't get to the computer. The trany did get water in it but the car was never driven with water in it. I trailered it and began the full tune up when I got it home. The funny thing about it is that the first time I drove it, it shifted fine then I parked it and it never shifted again. Though the trany won't shift it will blow the tire up in first gear. I have invested allot of time in the trany so I finaly gave up on it and I will be instaling the new trany shortly. I'll photograph the process and let you'all know how it went.The problem with the gas tank is that I cannot find one in houston and out of towners say that they cannot ship a used tank.

 

I did take the old tank to the shop and it was rusted beyond repair.

 

Don't feel bad, I have "several" projects that have been "stalled" for years. It has a 425 engine if it original. Take the trans pan down and "clean" the filter and put new fluid in it. Filters are unavalible for this trans so take care when cleaning it. I would clean it out soon and if it works beter redo again after a thousand miles or so. Great transmission though. I think any gas tank from 1965 to 1970 including 98, Starfire,Delmont,Dynamic will fit. You should be tripping over them in Texas seeing how the cars don't rust away like up here in Ohio. Good luck, Ken

 

My guess is the valve body got water / dirt in it. you could take it out and clean it while tranny is in the car. kinda a PITA tho to get the check ***** back in since your fighting gravity. If you do take the VB out there is a small screw that hangs off the bottom of the (early) valve body that is factory set. either dont remove it or measure how far it sticks out and reinstall at exactly the same height.

I thing i recall seeing aftermarket early style filters on epay awhile ago. or the tranny can be converted to accept the latter style.

The early trannys have some nice parts inside. Dont just ditch it.

/not a tranny expert. just know a few things. Doing my first tranny build in spring

Jason

 

hey dapapadon;
thanks for the info, I contacted all american classic and they had exactly what i needed. the tank will be to me in about a week or so and they also had the decorative rings that go around lights.YOU FU--ING ROCK!!!!!!!!!

 

jaysun;
are you shure you are not a trany expert because the valve boby was exactly the problem. One of the check ***** was stuck and it had rust in it i guess because of how long it sat without fluid in it after it was drained after the flood. i got in touch with one of m old friends that has a trans shop and he cleaned it out for me and now my trans shifts with the best of them. i honestly dont know what i would have done if i would not have found this site, i have literally gotten more accomplished in the last month than i have in the last couple of years. THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!

 

Glad to see you get it going. Thanks for the kind words, but I'm still not an expert...yet . lol