1954 Dynaflow Transmission

[Bill Meginley]

I am new to Buick and just got a 1954 Buick Century with a 322 Nailhead and a DynaFlow transmission. 

 

The car runs drives and stops but I will be looking to have the dynaflow rebuilt soon since the 200r4 conversion is kind of expensive to weld in the 4 link and do away with the torque tube. 

 

Anyone have a transmission mechanic in the North Carolina region that can help rebuild when needed. 

[Rusty_OToole]

What is the matter with it? They are a simple trans, normally they start off in high and don't shift unless you select low manually. Sometimes a fluid and filter change is all they need.

[Bill Meginley]

1 hour ago, Rusty_OToole said:

What is the matter with it? They are a simple trans, normally they start off in high and don't shift unless you select low manually. Sometimes a fluid and filter change is all they need.

I am new to Dynaflow transmissions and have had little luck until tonight from my Buick group finding a tech.

 

I does do exactly as you mentioned.

 

If I manually shift her it can use both gears but if I just put her in drive it starts off like its already in 2nd gear and no shift feeling happens. Based on what you say that is normal

[Frank DuVal]

That is normal!      Read the owner's manual. Do not shift from L to D in normal driving. Just leave it in D. It does not shift a gear set, but the vanes in the torque converter move to change ratios continuously. And you thought CVTs were new technology!

[avgwarhawk]

1 hour ago, Bill Meginley said:

I am new to Dynaflow transmissions and have had little luck until tonight from my Buick group finding a tech.

 

I does do exactly as you mentioned.

 

If I manually shift her it can use both gears but if I just put her in drive it starts off like its already in 2nd gear and no shift feeling happens. Based on what you say that is normal

That is the Dynaflow way. It does not shift.  Just smooth acceleration. Google search the Dynaflow and see what an engineering marvel it was for the time. 

[Rusty_OToole]

There were several torque converter + 2 speed transmissions back in the day. Dynaflow, Ultramatic, Powerglide, Powerflite, Ford - O - Matic etc. All worked on the same principle, using the torque converter for all normal driving, starting off in high gear and staying there. Low gear was only for emergencies, very slow driving, starting on a steep hill, or driving in mud sand or snow. At the time, the ideal was a smooth flow of power with no jerks or gear shifts. Later on they changed their philosophy in quest of more performance and better mileage but, at first, getting rid of the clutch and gearshift seemed like a miracle.

[Bill Meginley]

Thanks to all for this info the power of the internet good guys exists!!!

 

[Frank DuVal]

16 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

There were several torque converter + 2 speed transmissions back in the day. Dynaflow, Ultramatic, Powerglide, Powerflite, Ford - O - Matic etc.

Powerflite was two speeds, shifting automatically between gears transmission. It came on the scene in 1954 model year, past when the Powerglide and Ultramatic transmissions did not shift between gearsets automatically. Ford-O-Matic was three speeds, just started out in second and went to third unless the accelerator was floored, then it started in second, quickly downshifted to first and the back up through the gears. 

[Rusty_OToole]

What was the Ford 2 speed called? I know they had one.

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, Rusty_OToole said:

What was the Ford 2 speed called?

Lots of unprintable things.

 

But seriously if we were talking about 1954, it was a Borg Warner type, possibly built by Ford that had 3 speeds but only used two in normal operation. They called it Ford-O-Matic. A few years later they enabled 3 speed shifting optionally and called it Cruise-O-Matic. Sometime after Cruise-O-Matic was around, they had an unrelated aluminum case 2-speed, probably a Ford design(?) that they called Ford-O-Matic. A little while after that, they were calling the C4 and the C6 Cruise-O-Matic, but only the versions that had the optional 2-speed or 3-speed shifting.

 

Edited July 1, 2022 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I was thinking of the 2 speed found in a lot of Falcon sixes in the sixties. Ford's cheapest automatic. Probably offered on other Fords too.

[Bloo]

49 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

I was thinking of the 2 speed found in a lot of Falcon sixes in the sixties. Ford's cheapest automatic. Probably offered on other Fords too.

I am pretty sure that is the Ford-O-Matic, the later 2 speed type that had an aluminum case. I can't think of anything else it could be.

[rocketraider]

On 6/29/2022 at 9:50 PM, Frank DuVal said:

It does not shift a gear set, but the vanes in the torque converter move to change ratios continuously. And you thought CVTs were new technology!

Was Dynaflow using that technology in 1954? Thought that came a little later with Twin and Triple Turbine versions.

 

Like the OP, first time I drove a Dynaflow car I thought something was way the hell wrong with it, till its owner assured me that Dynaflow indeed do not shift and everything was perfectly normal. Or in his words as normal as a Dynaflow could be!

 

You have to give it to Buick. Dynaflow is still one of the coolest names ever devised for an automatic transmission.

[1937-44]

7 hours ago, rocketraider said:

Was Dynaflow using that technology in 1954? Thought that came a little later with Twin and Triple Turbine versions.

 The Dynaflow came out in late 1947 and  In 1953, Buick redesigned the Dynaflow, calling it the "Twin Turbine Dynaflow". 

 

 Good history of it here;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynaflow

 

Carl