[MOJO Catalina]

Being limited in my transmission skills I may go for the rebuilt Slim Jim.
I'll PM about price and freight...
Another nice shot of the Kitty in the Caddy.

[MOJO Catalina]

Here it is..

[Scott M]

It's pretty neat how ladies still like to dress up like that for car shows and such.

Check this out:

www.nitroagogo.com

[MOJO Catalina]

It's the metallic medium blue color.
Can be seen on the door edge of the 3rd photo.

[Steve Barcak]

Before you choose what to do, take an actual look under the left side of your engine. There may be indeed a provision to mount a starter. I've seen more than 1 63 that had a starter mount provision and most 64s do too even though full size did not use it until 65.
If you have a starter provision, a 350-400-700 swap may be easier, and much smarter, than you may think.

I would really be reluctant to put any money in that rotohydramatic.
Steve

Thur-Sun April 8-11, 2010 12th annual Pontiac Heaven Phoenix www.pontiacheaven.org
Sunday April 11, 2010 8th annual Nostalgic Show & Go! Phoenix www.nostalgicshowandgo.org

[MOJO Catalina]

Steve, Thanks for chiming in.
I'll have a look tomorrow. This engine has a different water pump than my 60 and other 63's do. It's the one with 9 bolts. I guess late in the model year. Another thing is that it has AC and looks original to the car based on weathering but the number doesn't match the VIN like it should. Someone suggested that it was a service replacement put in under warranty. The car shows 88K miles and deosn't smoke or tap one bit so I'm hoping it has less miles than showing.
Maybe I'll be lucky and have the starter provison?
I fixed the brakes today and man, does this thing slip between 2nd and 3rd!
It's like it's in neutral for 3-4 seconds. When slowing down for a turn or a stop, it shudders and shakes the whole car when down shifting...

I know some of these guys have probably never experienced how bad a slim jim can be so I'll try to get my wife to help me make a short video before I swap it out.

[Engine-Ear]

MOJO, that sounds like what I had happening ... again, some time adjusting the TV rod (not to be confused with the rabbit ears on your Zenith in the living room) really made things better.

[MOJO Catalina]

What did you end up doing?
Shortening or lengthening?
Could it really be so simple?

What are the characteristics of a "Good" Slim Jim?
Will it shift like a "regular" automatic?

[Engine-Ear]

Start out by shortening it about 1/8" at a time, followed each time by a road test. If shift behavior starts getting worse,go back to your baseline length and lengthen it 1/8" at a time. (it's been 2.5 years since I last did it so I don't recall which way (longer or shorter) worked for me.

Give it a try and have fun!

[stevep]

Matt, spoken like a pro!

Shorten the rod to raise the pressure.

[Engine-Ear]

Thumbs-up.

[MOJO Catalina]

It turns out I was looking at the wrong number on the engine pad and below what I thought was the wrong VIN was the correct VIN to match the door jamb.

The color code is FFA.. What's that mean?

I assume the TV rod is the Passing gear kickdown rod, correct?

What am I looking for on the engine block? Two tapped holes?
Can someone post a photo of them or describe where they should it be?
Are they behind my currently mounted starter? Do I have to drop it out to see?

[strato gto]

FFA is yorktown blue,upper and lower color,black wheels-A.Same exact code on my 64.

[MOJO Catalina]

Thanks for the color info.

I tried shortening the passing gear rod and now the trans doesn't like to grab in first. After it finally does, it gets up to about 10 mph then hangs up between 1 and 2 for a few seconds before shifting into 2. gets to about 25 MPH then hangs up between 2 and 3, finally getting to 3 a few seconds later.

I'll try lengthening the rod 1/8th beyond what it was and try it again...

[Engine-Ear]

MOJO, you have the right approach. Don't get discouraged too soon; this may take an afternoon of test-n-tune...

[MOJO Catalina]

Well, I tried shortening, lengthening, shortening again a bit more, lengthening some more and returning to original setting and, though the trans reacts differently at different points, it seems that nowhere is good for 1st gear.

It gets the car rolling but it barely grabs. Forget about going up a hill. I had to back down and go around the back of my neighborhood than come back in the other way. Only in two positions (the shorter ones) does it shift somewhat smoothly and definately from 2 to 3. When downshifting from 2 down into 1 the car shudders but when I think its down into first and try to go it revs like it's in neutral.

Anybody know what I should be looking for as far as if my engine will mate to another trans/starter provision? Steve said look at the left side of the engine but I don't know what I'm looking for. Am I right to assume that the starter would bolt to the side of the engine? If I do have the right kind of engine that will accept a better, later model trans, I would then assume that I would I have to get another starter as well?

What year/type of starter?

Anybody "been there and done that?"

[BVR421]

Get your manual out and adjust the roto the way it should be before you burn it up! twisting the adjustments this way and that is just pissin in the wind.
Follow the procedure in the manual and it will work. (at least as well as a roto is capable of) (8-) If you dont have a manual consider the credibility of the advice written by the engineers who designed the trans vs suggestions by well meaning people on the internet. Its a simple 5min deal, set it and forget it.
Rotos are very sensitive, both for proper operation and longevity, to throttle valve adjustments and to low or high fluid levels, check carefully
If your efforts dont improve it then pick a better trans. As mentioned by others, I wouldnt spend a dime on rebuilding a roto. Any trans swap in a 63 is quite a bit of work with modifying this and that but sometimes you have to do it.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by MOJO Catalina

Well, I tried shortening, lengthening, shortening again a bit more, lengthening some more and returning to original setting and, though the trans reacts differently at different points, it seems that nowhere is good for 1st gear.

It gets the car rolling but it barely grabs. Forget about going up a hill. I had to back down and go around the back of my neighborhood than come back in the other way. Only in two positions (the shorter ones) does it shift somewhat smoothly and definately from 2 to 3. When downshifting from 2 down into 1 the car shudders but when I think its down into first and try to go it revs like it's in neutral.

Anybody know what I should be looking for as far as if my engine will mate to another trans/starter provision? Steve said look at the left side of the engine but I don't know what I'm looking for. Am I right to assume that the starter would bolt to the side of the engine? If I do have the right kind of engine that will accept a better, later model trans, I would then assume that I would I have to get another starter as well?

What year/type of starter?

Anybody "been there and done that?"

Yes....

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Post #3: Just did a TH400 swap a year ago (with a Bendsten's adapter plate) and I'm pretty happy with it.

My Slim Jim couldn't decide what it wanted for first gear, and third gear slipped. You had to nurse it into second gear and then go like he!! because that's the only gear you were gonna get!

I had a long tail TH400 out of a 76 Buick that I got for $75, so that's what sealed the deal for me.

The Bendsten's plate that I used was 1/4" thick, and adapted the BOP trans to my '63 Pontiac motor. As a result, it re-used the original starter (which bolts horizontally to the adapter plate, mimicking the original trans mounted starter configuration).

If you go from the Pontiac motor to a Chevy bolt pattern trans, you'll have to get the adapter plate that is thicker but will accomodate (or require, depending on your perspective) a new mini starter, which will attach vertically into the adapter plate.

Refer to the "sample installation" thread at the Bendsten's website for more detail, or there are several threads here I can point you to if you like. My own swap was so easy it didn't warrant much description but I do have a thread that shows how I did the shifter mechanism if you get that far and are interested.

K

[Engine-Ear]

OK, so BVR busted my chops...all I can say is that it worked for me.

But here are a couple of pages from the Hydra-Matic manual for the 3 speed automatic.

As a side note, the book refers to the Catalina & GP 3 speed as the Roto Hydra-Matic and the Bonneville & Star Chief 4 speed automatic as the Super Hydra-Matic.

[stevep]

Originally Posted by Engine-Ear

OK, so BVR busted my chops...all I can say is that it worked for me.

But here are a couple of pages from the Hydra-Matic manual for the 3 speed automatic.

As a side note, the book refers to the Catalina & GP 3 speed as the Roto Hydra-Matic and the Bonneville & Star Chief 4 speed automatic as the Super Hydra-Matic.

Matt, it works for me all the time, but you have to have some kind of starting point that is close to where the factory put it. If someone had drastically moved everything around, you would need follow the service manual procedure to get back to "basic setting".

Most of the time, the linkage bushings have worn, giving you extra travel, so you really don't need too much adjustment. The best bet is to mark your linkage before you start moving things.

It sounds like MOJO's Roto has a cracked Torus (or bowl) which is the most common Roto failure.