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Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? #2698717
09/18/19 12:29 PM
09/18/19 12:29 PM
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Val-haul-ass... eventually
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BradH Offline OP
Taking time off to work on my car
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Val-haul-ass... eventually
https://www.autotransdesign.com/index.html

My wife's cousin, Charlie, is one of the co-owners. I'd never heard of the place and didn't get a chance to meet him until a family funeral where the out-of-staters came back east for the service.

Just curious if they're a known quantity in that region. I'll admit I didn't get a warm-n-fuzzy from him when we met, but the circumstances weren't exactly party-like, either.

Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: BradH] #2698718
09/18/19 12:37 PM
09/18/19 12:37 PM
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Milwaukee WI
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TRENDZ Offline
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Yes. They are not far from me. Previously known as Hipsters. As in Hipster brake. A lot of innovation has come out of that shop. Charlie has kept the place in order for a long time.


"use it 'till it breaks, replace as needed"
Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: TRENDZ] #2698782
09/18/19 07:49 PM
09/18/19 07:49 PM
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Rogue River, OR
Jeremiah Offline
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I grew up around a guy that was sponsored by ATD for his off road truck. Hipster was always cool to me. He had a mopar or two as well as a stick drag car. I met Charlie a few times and he seemed nice. Answered my dumb 727 questions very directly lol. Ah the good old days..

Hip spends much of his time in Idaho and is mostly retired now from the last emails we shared.

Small world!



Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: TRENDZ] #2698783
09/18/19 07:52 PM
09/18/19 07:52 PM
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Rogue River, OR
Jeremiah Offline
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Originally Posted by TRENDZ
Yes. They are not far from me. Previously known as Hipsters. As in Hipster brake. A lot of innovation has come out of that shop. Charlie has kept the place in order for a long time.


The ATD sign on the GLD starting line is kind of an institution IMO. Always a sign of home.



Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: Jeremiah] #2698832
09/19/19 12:10 AM
09/19/19 12:10 AM
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Posts: 20,149
Park Forest, IL
slantzilla Offline
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Is he Mr. Hipster on Yellowbullet? If so he's an interesting individual. boogie


"Everybody funny, now you funny too."
Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: slantzilla] #2698847
09/19/19 01:19 AM
09/19/19 01:19 AM
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Rogue River, OR
Jeremiah Offline
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That is him. He is uh...opinionated. Definitely old school Milwaukee type.



Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: Jeremiah] #2698857
09/19/19 05:21 AM
09/19/19 05:21 AM
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Milwaukee WI
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TRENDZ Offline
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Ahh, yeah... They use to have an add in National Dragster with customer testimonials. (Paraphrasing)“We don’t use their products because Hipster is such a nice guy, it’s because the products work.”
Anyone who knew Hipster got a laugh or two out of that.
People on here may know Sheldon Gecker(“King Kong”cars) He worked, or was at least tightly knit with ATD. A ways back he left and went to Hughes in Texas I think.
Pretty much anyone involved in any racing of any kind in this area had some link to ATD. They are the designers and builders of some B&M products also.
Probably the first to fool with converter pressure altering to change stall speed, fastest releasing brake, etc...


"use it 'till it breaks, replace as needed"
Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: TRENDZ] #2698865
09/19/19 07:00 AM
09/19/19 07:00 AM
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Posts: 15,439
Val-haul-ass... eventually
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BradH Offline OP
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If I understand the ownership structure correctly, Charlie is co-owner with the original Hipster guy. I have no idea who posts on YB, though.

One of the comments during our conversation was about another trans shop about an hour away from me whose name also starts with "AT...". My wife's cuz said they basically ripped off one of ATD's designs, made some minor/insignificant change and advertised it as their own innovation. I'm guessing they don't send each other Christmas cards.

Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: BradH] #2698923
09/19/19 10:15 AM
09/19/19 10:15 AM
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Posts: 421
montana
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montana
Lol, sounds like another shop about an hour away from the second “AT” shop, he was using their stuff. We don’t exchange Xmas cards anymore either. Jim


64 Dodge Coronet 440. In progress
1998. Dodge Avenger. 8.35@165. 4400 DA
250” Neil and Parks Slip Joint. 7.36@183.
4600 DA
242" Mullis Dragster. 6.90@ 200mph
Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: BradH] #2698952
09/19/19 11:52 AM
09/19/19 11:52 AM
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Park Forest, IL
slantzilla Offline
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Originally Posted by BradH
One of the comments during our conversation was about another trans shop about an hour away from me whose name also starts with "AT...". My wife's cuz said they basically ripped off one of ATD's designs, made some minor/insignificant change and advertised it as their own innovation.


That seems to happen a lot in the transmission parts business.


"Everybody funny, now you funny too."
Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: slantzilla] #2698956
09/19/19 12:11 PM
09/19/19 12:11 PM
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Posts: 350
Mequon, WI
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gzig5 Offline
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Mequon, WI
They are a couple miles from my house. I stopped there to get a quote on my 727 rebuild but they were a bit higher than the other shop and I really didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling from talking to the guy that I did. Don't remember his name. I found mostly positive reviews and one very negative one. So probably about like most shops you're not going to please everyone.

Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: gzig5] #2699095
09/19/19 09:03 PM
09/19/19 09:03 PM
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 595
Nashville, Tennessee
Tempest Offline
mopar
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Nashville, Tennessee
Had a couple trans done by them. One came apart and they stood behind the work. This was probably 2001-2002 time frame.

Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: Tempest] #2699099
09/19/19 09:25 PM
09/19/19 09:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,540
Milwaukee WI
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TRENDZ Offline
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They specialize in glides and turbohyds. I probably would look elsewhere for a mopar specialist. If you run a gm trans, can’t go wrong.


"use it 'till it breaks, replace as needed"
Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: TRENDZ] #2699290
09/20/19 04:48 PM
09/20/19 04:48 PM
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Posts: 15,439
Val-haul-ass... eventually
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BradH Offline OP
Taking time off to work on my car
BradH  Offline OP
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Val-haul-ass... eventually
Originally Posted by TRENDZ
... I probably would look elsewhere for a mopar specialist.

Yep. We've got good sources for 727/904 stuff simply by looking through Moparts' sponsors.

Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: BradH] #2711060
10/29/19 11:17 PM
10/29/19 11:17 PM
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Rogue River, OR
Jeremiah Offline
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A note of interest; the company that produces Moldstar90 valve seat material is down the road from ATD. Small world!



Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: Jeremiah] #2711156
10/30/19 10:19 AM
10/30/19 10:19 AM
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Mequon, WI
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gzig5 Offline
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Originally Posted by Jeremiah
A note of interest; the company that produces Moldstar90 valve seat material is down the road from ATD. Small world!


I've worked in manufacturing and machinery fields most of my life. I've always been amazed at the concentration of companies in the SE Wisconsin area that produce a large portion of the country's manufacturing equipment and tools. A lot of the foundries and shops have merged or are gone but if you look at an old machine nameplate it's more likely to have been born around here than anywhere else.

Re: Ever heard of ATD Trans in Wisconsin? [Re: gzig5] #2711175
10/30/19 11:07 AM
10/30/19 11:07 AM
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 9,091
Rogue River, OR
Jeremiah Offline
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Jeremiah  Offline
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Rogue River, OR
True! I sold my Dake 25H press and a mill when I moved West thinking there would be some used/surplus equipment to be had. Wrong! I ended up shipping one from Rockford that came out of Harnischfeger.









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