Thread: 54' Olds Rat Rod help needed

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I just purchased a new rat rod with a 54' Olds 303 motor in it and a Hydromatic Trans. I dislike the trans so I want to put a Turbo 350 in. Does anybody have any experence with this and where can I get an adapter?

Sorry man i dont have a clue, never messed with one, i know someone here can help

Welcome to CHR

Go to Parts Wanted Forum and look up 1954 Olds 303 flywheel

I think Don may have the answer for you.

Good luck

Ok Alexander, I was able to get some of the information for you on this. But I am really confused, because the story I got today from them was 180 degrees different than I got a year or so ago.

I called BENDTSEN"S Transmissions, because I saw their site on Google. I talked to Bob there a while ago, and at the time their website said that the Oldsmobile Transmission adapters they had been selling were no longer available. However, I still called him a year ago, to see if that was true, and he was less than cordial. He told me basically that he no longer made them, and really didn't want to even be bothered talking to me about it. He finally told me to call some other company out in ( I think) Washington State, or California. I found that company and spoke to the owner, and he told me the ones from BENDTSEN'S were found to be not working well, so they were pulled out of circulation.

His system (I'm now taling about the guy in Washington) for joining the Olds engine to a 350 turbo is that you send him an empty turbo case, and he modifys it with a new bellhousing so it will bolt up. Then you send the modified case to some local transmission shop and have the gears and all put back into it. His cost was something like a thousand bucks, if I remember correctly.

Now here is the weird part. Today when I looked at the Bendtsen site, they DO SHOW the Olds to 350 adapter, so I called. This time Bob was semi friendly, and told me he had redesigned the kit and that some were coming in after January 1st. He gets $ 995.00 for this kit. Plus, he also sells a complete STICK SHIFT setup for Olds, that allows you to bolt on a Chevy 3, 4, 0r 5 speed tranny. !!!! How cool is that???? His price for that is about $ !500.00, but it is complete, down to the starter and all.

When I asked him about our conversation of a year ago, he acted like that was never the case, but I remember it distinctly.

Anyway, I may now go for the stick setup, because my '39 Dodge truck has lots of room for a 3 pedal setup, and I like rowing around town.


I have the name of that other company somewhere, and will dig it out if you give me some time. Here is Bendtsen's site address:


www.transmissionadapters.com/

And here are some pictures of the kits for Oldsmobiles. They also have Buick and lots more.

Hope this helps out.


Don

No self respecting rat rodder would intentionally use a auto trans.


mwahahaha