Re: 1954 engine & trans questions

Posted by John On 2019/8/13 8:11:04

Yes the 359 is a 9 main bearing engine. When new they came with an aluminum head, but these deteriorated with time and many engines have been fitted with a cast iron head now.
It was rated at 212 hp with an 8.7 to 1 compression ratio.

There was also introduced during the 1954 year a version of the Ultramatic called a GearStart. It differed from the original that you had two drive (High) selections on the quadrant. In one selection it worked the same as the old Ultramatic had starting in high and then the clutch locking up the convertor when it got up to speed.
But for quicker get a ways, you could select the range and it would start off in low, shift to high then the clutch would lockup the convertor when it got up to speed. It would also downshift to low automatically if called upon. It is pretty similar to the 1955 version.
Not to sure they had to many problems with the Gearstart, most of the problems in 1955 were from the transmission not being able to handle the additional hp of the new V-8 engine.