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I hope all is well! I'm slowly restoring a 1964 Dynamic 88 Holiday Coupe and am getting close to ready to remove the engine and transmission to rebuild them. The engine won't be a problem but I'm going back and forth on the transmission on whether or not to rebuild the original Roto-Hydramatic (which works fine, but leaks a lot and feels like it's slipping a little in the 1st range (with the fluid coupling - 1st and 2nd speeds), or to try and adapt the car to a TH350 or TH400. So, my questions are:
1) Does anyone know of a good transmission guy who could and would tackle the Roto 10 (the nearer to New Mexico the better), and
2) Anyone who has converted to a more modern transmission: Could you tell me about your conversion process (how you adapted the new trans and what tricks there were to the conversion)?
2) Anyone who has converted to a more modern transmission: Could you tell me about your conversion process (how you adapted the new trans and what tricks there were to the conversion)?
Before you go off the deep end though, where is the leak?
The front seal is easy enough to do yourself, although it will require trans removal. The pan gasket or rear seal are also do-it -yourself jobs , and do not require trans removal.
Get a copy of the 64 Olds service manual.
It's leaking at both ends...it sat for about 15-20 years and the rubber parts dried out.
That's great advice; I'll probably end up doing what you suggest when I have the engine out for rebuilding.
However, in the bigger picture, I'm doing a restoration and am currently collecting information on costs associated with various options. Since the car has high mileage and the trans shows signs of wear (clunking going into reverse, seeming slippage in first range and non-positive shifts in other ranges) I'm considering rebuilding it along with the engine.
The problem I've run across is finding someone who will rebuild this model trans; hence the thought of swapping it for a newer design with an overdrive, etc. I'd rather keep the original transmission though if I can find someone to rebuild it
Oh hey, I just saw your thread on the 63 Dynamic 88; it looks like a fabulous project, and congrats for rescuing it from getting parted out. My 64 Dynamic 88 is also a New Mexico car (in fact I'm located in Albuquerque myself...with the car). It was nearby here and sat on a farm for those 15-20 years before I found it on CL...got mine for $1,000 and after going through several systems (gas, cooling, brakes) it's pretty much a daily driver now (if you ignore the lifter clatter, blue smoke and low oil pressure). I'm preparing to pull the engine within the next 3-6 months to rebuild it.
I've got a few pics in the gallery..but check out this dealer insignia I found in the truck from when it was new:
That's quite a find. And like all southwestern chrome looks to be in excellent shape.
Mine is missing the dealer insignia, but the outline was still there in the trunk lid where the sun burned off the paint. It said , Sacramento Motors, which I understand was a Chevy - Olds dealer in Alamogordo.
Why don't you join the "Darksiders" at this thread;
