1946-1949 1949 Hydramatic rebuilding

[Phil J]

Anyone tackle this themselves?  not having any luck finding a rebuilder in the Milwaukee Area?

fluid is dirty and smells burnt--engine is out for a rebuild and I have no idea of when the car last ran or the condition of the trans

[Jay Friedman]

I suggest you contact someone in the Badger Region (Wisconsin) of the CLC at BadgerCLC.com.  They may know of a Hydramatic rebuilder. 

[Joe Jensen]

Phil:

I rebuilt my '49 Hydramatic.  The hardest part is getting the transmission in and out of the car.  There are a number of specialty tool including snap ring pliers necessary to rebuild a Hydramatic.  I would suggest you search out videos on YouTube.  I would recommend the Pontiac Hydramatic service manual for 1949 as well as the Cadillac Service Manual.

Take a lot of pictures during disassembly.

Note:  I did end up making some mistakes and I had the transmission out 3 times including the initial rebuild.

Good luck!
Joe

[dn010]

Using a transmission jack makes removal/install much easier. Another hint (which you probably don't need since you already have the engine out) is to use a ratchet strap from a point on the back of the engine to a point on the side or front of the car (either a shock tower/brace/support etc.). This removes the need for a floor jack under the engine that gets in the way.

[Phil J]

I have the tranny out and got a quote from a local trans shop for 2-3K for a warrantied rebuild--thoughts?