KNUT

A well know problem. During the years of use, transmission oil seeps through the seals into the torque tube and migrate further into the rear end and finally through the wheel bearing seals and into the brake drums. My suggestion is to drill a tiny hole (3mm) in the torque tube to drain it. If the seeping is not excessive, you might leave it there. In the torque ball you have internal seals to prevent this, but age or use takes them. The photo shows one of the seals.

Hans 1965. That plug is only for pressure tests. I think your transmission oil looks strange, could it be water infiltrated? The oil is not supposed to be “cloudy”, but clear, though red. You have a drain plug in bottom front of oil pan. In order to drain out all oil, you also need to drain the converter. A total of 10-11 liters.

Mr. Reed. Very good, indeed. Fatsco is really good with those old automatic transmissions. I think they have piles of them, and are selling high quality new rebuilding kits.

Yes, I would be surprised if Fatsco does not have them. Postage from here is excessive, so try Fatsco first.

Mr. Reed. Here you have photos of the bolts. However, since I am over here in Europe, you should contact Fatsco in New Jersey. Ask for Mike.

There are two types for 57-60 Buicks, Saginaw and Spicer. You may look into the catalog of CARS or OlsBuickparts, and you see the difference and you can order from there which one you need.

Sorry, no, they are higher on the Super/Roadmaster cars, though looks pretty much the same.

Ok. I check tomorrow. We are 6-8 hours ahead of you here.

Mr. Reed. If I read you correctly, you pushed the bolt in and “it fell into the transmission”. Well, that is not possible, it can only fall in between the converter pump and bell housing. You should be able to shake it out while turning the converter. Those depicted bolts without nuts, are those you use for fixing the converter to the flex wheel. If the bolt is still there when starting up, severe damage will occur. I may not understand you correctly. I have bolts, if still needed, will check their length tomorrow. The length you gave, is that total length or the shaft length of the bolt?

I think you need to find more closely where in the drive train the play actually is. It is one U-joint inside the torque ball at the rear end of the transmission, which normally save well, unless the fixing bolt of the u-joint have clogged the oil passage and no longer lubricate the u-joint. Jack it up from the floor, put in park and turn wheels back and forth and try to observe where the play is. It can be poor differential bearings. You have to take off the rear cover to inspect, while turning wheels back and forth. Just an idea….

Hi from Norway. The 59 is definitely different. You may use 48 to 52 bolts, but still you have short and long through those years. They used the short ones if you did not have balance weights and long ones if you had balance weights on the converter pump. I have these if you can’t find them over there. Take a measure of the bolt length you have.

Yes, you cannot pull the TC out (like more modern cars can). You need to take off all the bolts and then the converter cover. First possible leak point can be the gasket between the cover and converter pump (no o-ring on this early 51). Take out the respective turbines and finally the converter pump. Then you see the front oil pump and its seal, which is second leak point.

Hi. If you are selling out parts from a 55 Century, do you have a LH front seat side cover (plastic)?

Hi from Norway. I just saw this thread. Hope you are still on. I have been doing these Dynaflows for decades over here. The 55 came with a totally revised torque converter versus the 53/54. Inter Alia, they introduced a sprag in the converter sun gear. However, the sprag tended to “flip over”, which resulted in that the sun gear did not lock in the anti clockwise direction. This was critical for accelerating from 0, making the car very sluggish up to about 20-30 miles, and from there it should act normal. The service bulletins proposed to install the 56 sprag and two spacers in order to replace the 55 sprag.

Yes, absolutely correct that they can move sideways. Beware the markings when installing the propeller shaft into the U-joint. Described in the 57 work shop manual.

Leif. Thank you, I will try that.

I have this 55 Century convertible project car here in Norway. Anyone who could help me with a power window mechanism for drivers side door (I have the motor)? Also seat side panel drivers side needed. Otherwise I have most of the parts missing on the photo.

I have this 55 Century convertible project car here in Norway. Anyone who could help me with a power window mechanism for drivers side door (I have the motor)? Also seat side panel drivers side needed. Otherwise I have most of the parts missing on the photo.

Dexron II and Dexron III should do the job. Just check that that the box has GM specifications (and not Chrysler, nor Ford specification). Did you know that your 1950 Buick originally came with brown transmission oil? Just like a motor oil. First year with dyed oil was in 1958 and has been red since.

Well, you mention «removing the electric seat motor». The 54 Skylark came originally with a hydraulic cylinder mechanism to move the seat forth and back. Yes, as seen in bottom line, series 100 uses hydraulic. Series 50 and 70 use electric.

Hi again John. Could you possibly have a 55 seat side panel driver side for sale?

Well, you mention «removing the electric seat motor». The 54 Skylark came originally with a hydraulic cylinder mechanism to move the seat forth and back.

Further John. You said New York. You have real specialists on old time transmissions in NJ. Company is Fatsco transmission parts in Pine Brook, NJ. Ask for Larry or Mike.

MrEarl. Yes, correct what you says. The difference in length is 1 inch. The 53 V-8 transmission, the 54 and 55 series 50-70 and the 56 transmissions have the same overall length. However, it is to be noted that the 53 extension housing is very different from the 54 and 55 and uses the same rubber mount as the manual transmissions. The 54 transmission would fit on motor, torque tube and the mounts, but you loose the “kick down” function and the internal “clicks” in different gear positions. In 54 they are on the steering column, in 55 inside extension housing (a new feature they used all the way up to 63).

Ok John. If you only have a leakage problem in the rear end, and the 55 transmission otherwise works, that should be easy to repair. The seal in front face of torque tube is to prevent oil from seeping into the torque tube which finally migrate into the rear axle and further out into the brake drums. Check level in differential housing. This is an internal leakage. If you have an external leakage at the torque ball, you need to check the outer retainer. The original outer retainer has direct metal to metal contact with the torque ball and will create leakage over time. The newer outer retainers have a vulcanized rubber ring which thrusts against the torque ball and forms an outer seal. Much better solution. Check what you have, and let me know.