couple of 55 hydramatic questions

hoggyrubber

i checked out the 55 tranny manual in the Mr Burr's online library and just wanted to ask a couple of things. on the 55 hydramatic, on the column, on left it starts with N D4 D3 L and ends with R on right or pass side correct? i got rid of the column and am making a new selector and wanted to get it right. when the car is shut off you put in R first correct?
also it says it has a 11 quart capacity, but when drained start off with 5 to 7. if it hasn't been ran in years is it ok to start off with just the 5 quarts while i am trying to do my initial startup?

Frankvintagefullflowcom

You have called the selector positions correctly. Note that there is no specified "Park" position since the Hydra-Matic of that era uses the "R" position as park when the engine isn't running, hence no hydraulic pressure to prevent the parking pawl from engaging. It's sorta like a Maxi-Brake for us old truck drivers.....a spring applied/pressure released brake, or in this case, pawl.
If you drained only the pan, you didn't drain the several quarts still in the torus. That should closely account for the difference. There is a 1/8 npt plug in the cover that you must rotate to the downward position in order to access/drain.
If it has been out of service for a long time and you aren't privy to the history of the trans, you should probably remove the pan and clean the pick-up screen and clean the inevitable layer of clutch/band silt from the bottom. The manuals are pretty specific about how to go about all of this stuff so read it all and heed their advice.
F

hoggyrubber

thank you Frank. I am wanted to make sure before I go to the trouble to make a selector. I read thru the manual and had removed the pan and cleaned the screen before. I wasn't real clear on what I was saying in the first post. the online manual seems to imply, even after all 11 quarts of fluid is drained, only fill with 5 to seven quarts then run for a while and fill to correct level on tube. I can't do exactly like the manual since I couldn't run for a while before I drained fluid and dropped pan.