hey guys,
im having trouble with my hydro going into park. the combo is a 59 chevy impala with a 69 427 and a 54 olds hydramatic.had tranny rebuilt a couple months ago and got it back from the driveline shop a couple days ago. had a 1 piece drive shaft installed.dont know if parking pawl needs to be adjusted or if it can be.i heard it should engage without pressure and i havent lit it yet so i know there is no pressure built up. any one have feed back on this would be helpfull. its my dads old car and a lions drag strip survivor and i remember back in the day it was flat nasty outa the hole thats why i want to keep the combo... cause it works great

 

A 1954 HydraMatic does not have a Park position. That didn't come out till 56. Park on a 40-55 HMT is engaged by shutting engine off and putting the selector in Reverse.

Or is that what you're trying to do and it won't do it?

 

I seem to remember an old story on that trans, since Reverse is in the bottom position:
R does NOT stand for RACE!

 

Yeah that's what I meant about the park. It's actually my friend's ride, I let him post on my profile. It goes into reverse but the park function doesn't seem to be working.

 

So any ideas? If it makes any difference he's using an old Ansen shifter for his combo, it used to work great and he's never adjusted or messed with the linkage, so unless it was installed incorrectly that shouldn't be the problem. I can post pictures if it would help any.