I taint twistin’ any wrenches yet, just trying to get all the pieces together and some of the
leg work out of the way.
But, I’m planning a little reverse engineering to my ’54, 3604, by that I mean I going in
the opposite direction that most guys do and switching over to the Hydra-Matic
I almost got all the original parts I need out of a 55 1st, 3104. What I haven’t gotten I’m
pretty sure I can copy and fabricate.
The questions that I woke up with at 03:00 this morning concern the differences between
the 1954 and 1955 1st. Hydra-Matic setup and the difference between the 3104 and the
3604 of the same years.
From what I’ve been able to sort out, the 1954, 3104 still had an enclosed drive shaft and
the rear of the automatic was supported at a rear cross member. I got that from Tim’s
pictures on his web page.
The 1955 1st, 3104 apparently had been switched over to the open drive shaft, my guess is
in preparation for the new ’55 2nd TF’s with their stock open drive line. I got that because
the Hydra-Matic set up that I have out of the ’55 1st had an open driveline.
Now, the 1954, 3604 4speed SM420 simply hangs off the back of the bell housing and is
not supported at the rear.
Question: was the ’54, 3604 Hydra-Matic supported at the rear like the ½ ton and was the
55 1st, 3604 the same?
I’d really appreciate any input or pictures of either or both the 54 or 55 1st ¾ ton Hydra-
Matic trans installations especially the rear mount and cross member if there was one.
Also, it appears and I’m assuming that the Rochester is the same for the standard and
automatic. Any discrepancy to my observation about that?
If I remember correctly Greg and Tim have posted that the master cylinder is also
different and I’m wondering how they took care of the single peddle vs the two. Either
they used a different shaft or spacers?
I will be posting to the Swap Meet for a few items like an automatic trans cover, original
push button, master cylinder and probably a few others.
Now I just know you guys are running for your cameras, so let me thank you before
hand.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
