1952 Hydramatic difficulties.

[Hilarius]

I have overhauled my 1952 transmission and it is clean, primed and put together and one last problem occurred
In the front there is this rather big nut on the main shaft that holds the two parts of the torus together and is fastened, or held, by a lock nut plate ( pic 1 ). I made a new one and when trying to tighten the nut to the prescribed 30-35 ft.lbs. I was at a loss. The book says to put the gear lever in reverse and tighten it ( page 15-49, 36 Installation of rear flywheel gousing and torus member, point 6 and 7  ).
I thought that the reverse prawl would arrest the main shaft so the nut could be tightened, but the torus and shaft turn and there is no obvious way to arrest it by the shift lever in reverse, so the nut can be tightened down. The prawl hooks in all right and the trans goes into reverse but the turning of the main shaft when trying to tighten the nut is not stopped. Did I do something wrong or what might be the reason the main shaft is not held in place for the nut to be tightened?
Any help and suggestions more than welcome.
Hilmar

[Hilarius]

No one out there with better knowledge of the internals of a 1952 Hydramatic transmission than I have??
No one out there to help me with my predicament??
How is the main shaft arrested to tighten the torus nut?
Hilmar

[Hilarius]

Found the reason myself.
The rear drum band needs to be slightly tightened to stop the main shaft.

[Cadman-iac]

Found the reason myself.
The rear drum band needs to be slightly tightened to stop the main shaft.

Glad you were able to find the problem. I've heard that the Hydromatic 4 speed is a really difficult transmission to overhaul, but if you get it right  it's a really dependable one.
I've rebuilt several turbo 400's and a couple of 700's with good results, but I've haven't tried one of these yet.
Finding someone who has experience with these that's still alive is rare.
I've also heard that the parts are very expensive for the hydromatic.
My hat's off to you.  I hope all goes well when you try it out.

[Bobby B]

I've rebuilt several turbo 400's and a couple of 700's with good results, but I've haven't tried one of these yet.

Then you'll find this Trans is basically a piece of cake......
                                          Bobby

[gene harl]

Bobby is right... they are a piece of cake  after you make all  the dumb  mistakes ,,,  I think the easy one is the oil del. sleeve  ,, put it in wrong ,it looks right ,but it won't shift out of 1st gear....
   Gene Harl         CLC22406

[Caddy Wizard]

The Hydramatic is extremely reliable in my (substantial) experience.  But I haven't mastered rebuilding them yet...LOL!

[Cadman-iac]

This is all good to know. Kinda makes me wish I'd gone the original route on my 56 instead of "upgrading" to a 472/TH400.
I decided that route because I'd already built both years ago,  and the cost of doing the 365 and the Hydromatic didn't fit my budget.
But it's a little too late to back out now.
Where the &#@% were you guys when I needed you? !!!!!