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Why Oldsmobile of course .
The Hydra-Matic was introduced as a $57 option in 1940 .
The introduction may have been a last minute thing , as I can find no mention of it in any Oldsmobile sales literature from 1940 .
They did , however , issue this booklet . Which I scored off E-Bay and I will share with all you oldsmofreaks .
Last edited by Charlie Jones; January 19th, 2019 at 06:00 PM.
Reason: Re-arrange attachments
Oldsmobile's first automatic transmission was the Automatic Safety Transmission of 1938. Although the image shows professional men gathered around a model of this unit, it was essentially developed and first operational models made by a man name Oscar Banker in a garage machine shop in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. He tried to sell the idea to GM, and well...., you can guess the rest. Much like Ford and Ferguson, GM ran with it on their own and lost in court later, Became V-Drive later in GMC DIesel busses. Oscar Banker as SAE member successfully pushed relentlessly for the standardized safety shift pattern we now know well, not having reverse on the bottom. His book is a great read, but out of print.
Isn't the purpose of a PDF to include all of the pages of a book in one document?
No it is not. A .pdf file is nothing more than a file format. Adobe PDF file format was initially/primarily created so as to provide users the ability to share & transfer files across multiple computer operating system platforms without being dependent on operating system software, computer hardware, or application software. You can employ/create a one page .pdf file or a multiple page .pdf file. Originally it was primarily text based, but has evolved over the years to incorporate images & additional embedded information.
Isn't the purpose of a PDF to include all of the pages of a book in one document?
Please excuse my lack of knowledge of PDF's , and my computer literacy in general .
After all , I am an " Old Fart " .
My new scanner does PDF's instead of JPG's .
Nevertheless I figured out how to post it in two attachments , So I edited my first post and deleted the others .
Oldsmobile's first automatic transmission was the Automatic Safety Transmission of 1938. Although the image shows professional men gathered around a model of this unit, it was essentially developed and first operational models made by a man name Oscar Banker in a garage machine shop in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. He tried to sell the idea to GM, and well...., you can guess the rest. Much like Ford and Ferguson, GM ran with it on their own and lost in court later, Became V-Drive later in GMC DIesel busses. Oscar Banker as SAE member successfully pushed relentlessly for the standardized safety shift pattern we now know well, not having reverse on the bottom. His book is a great read, but out of print.
Images from Troxel's Auto Lit pages.
Well...… Olds did call it an automatic . BUT , it still had a conventional clutch. It had to be engaged when starting off and disengaged when coming to a complete stop .
Semi - automatic ,yes , fully automatic , no .
This transmission was actually introduced as an option in 1937 Oldsmobiles . The trans was designed by Oldsmobile engineers , but was built by Buick . Who also built their conventional transmissions .
In 1938 Olds convinced Buick to also offer this trans in their cars , which they did .
Well , it turns out this transmission was a real " pickle " . Warranty claims were high , and customers were angered about repeated failures .
It was worse than the "slim Jim " of the early sixties . It was so bad that Buick recalled all cars with the "safety shift ' transmission and replaced them with conventional 3 speed transmissions .
A few of these cars missed the recall and one survives today in California.
When GM did develop the Hydra - Matic , Buick wanted nothing to do with it .
Instead opting to build " stick shift " cars until 1948 when they developed their own " Dynaflow " transmission .
Cadillac jumped on the Hydra - Matic bandwagon in 1941 .
From 1942 thru 1945 GM built tanks and artillery carriers powered by pairs of Cadliiac V-8 's , backed up by Hydra - Matics.
Thousands of soldiers were trained in GM schools on how to repair these Hydra - Matic transmissions. After their discharge they became "automatic transmission specialists " at dealerships and repair garages across the country .
In the fifties GM sold the Hydra - Matic to independents such as Nash , ****** , and Hudson . As well as to Lincoln and even Rolls Royce .
I've attached a few scans from the 1941 Olds parts book . To show the internal workings of this " Automatic " trans.
Two things with Buick and HydraMatic. First, it was not designed and built in Flint, and second, Buick didn't let go of torque-tubes until 1960. A hard-shifting HydraMatic would have torn a torque-tube all to pieces in short order. Yup- good enough for a Cadillac and a Rolls, and even a Lincoln, but not good enough for Buick.
And Buick kept at it until they made a DynaFlow that could shift and called it "Turbo HydraMatic"- actually "Super Turbine 400/300" till some 64 Cadillacs adopted it. Cadillac, having made its reputation with HydraMatics, wished to continue that.
Please excuse my lack of knowledge of PDF's , and my computer literacy in general .
After all , I am an " Old Fart " .
My new scanner does PDF's instead of JPG's .
Nevertheless I figured out how to post it in two attachments , So I edited my first post and deleted the others .
Charlie- Many (most) new scanners will save the scan to the default setting of a .pdf file. However, most scanners also provide the ability to save the scan in a number of different file formats including .jpeg, .jpg, .tiff, .bmp, etc. Depending on the scanner you have, take a look at the default settings of how your scan is being saved and the options to save it as a different file format.
Charlie- Many (most) new scanners will save the scan to the default setting of a .pdf file. However, most scanners also provide the ability to save the scan in a number of different file formats including .jpeg, .jpg, .tiff, .bmp, etc. Depending on the scanner you have, take a look at the default settings of how your scan is being saved and the options to save it as a different file format.
Thanks for the tip , I'll try that .
I'm learning something new everyday . And the maddening thing is , that every time I buy a new piece of equipment , It's different . So I have to learn everything all over again .
Knowing how difficult the 60s Slim Jim automatic can be, I can't imagine rebuilding one of those pre-war first generation automatics. That would be darn near impossible.
Knowing how difficult the 60s Slim Jim automatic can be, I can't imagine rebuilding one of those pre-war first generation automatics. That would be darn near impossible.
I am looking for tools or help in the rebuilding of one if these transmissions. Specifically I am looking for the servo gauge tool or how, some info on how to calibrate the servo without the tool. (shop manual only has limited info) Thank you
Well that could easily be our outsiders opinion, but it is classed a automatic transmission as it did shift up and down automatically when under way unlike one other common example, Chrysler fluid drive, which did not, and also included a clutch pedal. I have tried to find a AST for my collection for 35 years, no luck.
I would have to dig but I think the AST was declared a IEEE milestone.
I have a photo of Kent-Moore J-1127 checking servo band adjustments gauge , it is a flat metal piece, I am not good with computers, but I could send it to phone number or e-mail address.
I am still looking for Kent More/Hinkley Meyers J-1127 servo band checking gauge to buy/rent/borrow here is a picture of the tool
AND the second picture of other tools for same transmission if anyone has the also.
Bob
Last edited by BobsFiftyEight; June 8th, 2022 at 11:19 AM.
I watched a 5 part series on youtube uploaded by a professor from Weber State University (WSU) - Department of Automotive Technology - Transmission Lab. He goes through the history of the automatic transmission and has an example of one of the first ones. He has it torn down and goes over all the parts and how it functions and reassembles it and shows how to adjust it using original tools. Thought I'd share the link if anyone was interested.
The World's First Mass Produced Automatic Transmission - Part 1 - Introduction and History.
Thank You @Supernice88 that is great information, but as the professor mentions the Hydra-matic was the first MASS produced automatic , but the automatic safety transmission for Oldsmobile and Buick was developed by REO in the early 1930's it did not take off with REO ,so Buick started to use the self-shifting transmission in 1938 only and was a flop because of the torque tube (enclosed driveshaft) people did not like the harsh shifting, and then Oldsmobile with a open driveshaft smooth shifting (no torque tube) started using it in late 1938 and 1939 and then was dropped, for the Hydra-matic came on the scene.
Thank You @Supernice88 that is great information, but as the professor mentions the Hydra-matic was the first MASS produced automatic , but the automatic safety transmission for Oldsmobile and Buick was developed by REO in the early 1930's it did not take off with REO ,so Buick started to use the self-shifting transmission in 1938 only and was a flop because of the torque tube (enclosed driveshaft) people did not like the harsh shifting, and then Oldsmobile with a open driveshaft smooth shifting (no torque tube) started using it in late 1938 and 1939 and then was dropped, for the Hydra-matic came on the scene.
Bob
I realized the thread was about the first transmission. I just thought since the discussion was about the beginnings of Old's transmissions people might be interested in seeing an early one being gone through. Perhaps I shouldn't have added it to this discussion.
Art @Supernice88 I am glad you added the YouTube for all of us, and yes people can see this video and see the all the engineering and wealth of knowledge that the Olds transmission has, and to see the professor dong all this in a wheel chair, wow, and the transmission fixture was in the school for years and he did not know what it was for until this Hydra-Matic came in. Looking back I should not have capitalized "mass", I gave off the wrong impression to you, which I did not mean. Discussions of any kind are a good thing by me.
The Automatic Safety Transmission (AST) has a great magazine article "A SPECIAL SIA STAFF REPORT" in "Special-Interest Autos" #20 Jan-Feb 1974 pages 24 thru 27, and I quote "We're testing this transmission in the wrong car. It ought to be in an OLDS rather than a Buick. The semi-automatic was much more Oldsmobile's baby than Buick's And while it's true that Buick manufactured for Olds from June 1937 through September 1939 Oldsmobile actually stood behind its development and got it ready for production". The article 1933 Reo Self-Shifter also states from Special Interest-Autos #13 Oct-Nov 1972, pages 30-35 Reo Self-Shifter and other mid-1930s shifting aids promised a lot more than they delivered . So the public was a little gun-shy by that time. Reo used initials as its name : Ranson E. Olds. (REO) because when Ransom E. Olds sold Oldsmobile the sales agreement stipulated that he never use his name again in connection with another automobile, and Ranson decided to move forward into production of the self shifter to get started without the fluid coupler or torque converter because that was still in the designing stage. Just a little more history for the "AST"
Bob
Last edited by BobsFiftyEight; June 11th, 2022 at 06:03 AM.
Thanks for the tip , I'll try that .
I'm learning something new everyday . And the maddening thing is , that every time I buy a new piece of equipment , It's different . So I have to learn everything all over again .
or you forget all that and just take a pic with your phone and upload it directly on here.
@CANADIANOLDS I do have a iphone, and if you look above at post # 27 & 35 were sent from my phone and don't know why they post sideways, on my phone they look straight? I am not good with electronics, phones, or computers, any suggestions to me how to post photo and have it be straight?
January 18th, 2019 | 09:01 PM
