The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk My new 1954 3100 with a Hydra-Matic

So, I was on the for sale tab of stove bolt and this truck popped up. I wrote down his information and decided to call him after work. I called him and talked to him about his truck. It was his fathers truck and he used it up until 1976. There it sat until the mid 90's when this guy decided to have it tuned up, brakes done and a paint job. He was asking a price that I thought was fair but being all the way in Las Vegas i was taking a huge risk by buying something sight unseen. So, he accepted my offer and my buddy who owns a trucking company went up to pick it up. She is now currently sitting in my barn next to my 1950 GMC 100. This will be my summer daily driver. Here are some pictures.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mwardlo/

Matthew

Welcome to Stovebolt, Matthew- that's a nice looking truck. Good work on the resto and good luck with the truck!

This is the place for any information on it.

Brad

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That is a good looking truck.

Thanks, I can't wait to get home and look it over. Buying something from just a picture is scary. Are these Hydra-Matics good transmissions? I rarely see them on early trucks.

They are considered to be good strong transmissions (with four forward speeds).

1953 GMC was the first year in non-military trucks. 1954 was the first year in Chevrolet trucks.

Are they hard to get adjusted correctly with the carburetor? How about the electric choke? I am only use to working on my GMC 228 with a three on the tree.

MFW

They have a heat-actuated choke. A heat tube goes from the choke mechanism on the carburetor to a sheet-metal "heat stove" that goes around the exhaust manifold.

The carburetor/transmission adjustment is tricky and sensitive. This affects both the up-shift and down-shift of the transmission.

Oh thanks for the link. Again, I don't know much about it. This will help me out. I am sure I will have to tear the carb apart and rebuild it.

MFW

Does the number on the engine block stamped into the boss to left of distributor match
the number that is on the riveted on plate, that is on the flywheel housing just beyond the starter?

The reason I ask is because the Hydra-Matic transmission and engine were matched at the factory.
Matching means: Flywheel Housing Alignment
(1) The flywheel housing rear hole is in the center of the flywheel and crankshaft. Within .004 of an inch. This is called Bore Runout.
(2) The flywheel housing rear face squareness to the engine. Within .003 of an inch. This is called Face Runout.
Read about it here:
FHA1
FHA2
FHA3
Illustration: Flywheel Housing & related parts

What would happen is the engine would wear out.
They would find another engine and just throw it in without aligning the flywheel housing.
When the Hydra-Matic transmission would go thru the gears the truck would shake or vibrate, like something was out of balance.
Because they couldn't figure out what was wrong.
Some truck owners would pull out the Hydra-Matic transmission and put in a manual transmission.

Manual transmissions are a lot more forgiving.
You can easily ruin a Hydra-Matic transmissions with a flywheel housing that is not properly aligned.
That's why Chevrolet took the time to cast This into the Flywheel Housing

I haven't been able to check the numbers yet. Thanks for the information. I will check when I get back to Michigan around xmas.