Well guys, heres the story. I just acquired another (this makes #3) Desoto 291 hemi from a fellow HAMBer (thanks Reece!!). This is the engine that will be in my "A". It has a 2 speed Powerflite auto attached to it. This is a complete drive train. I could slip this in and be on my way. My delema is I was planning on an 833 mopar manual but haven't gathered all the parts yet. I have been wanting a manual instead of an auto the whole build but then this came along. I'm not a huge fan of autos mainly because I haven't had the best expieriences with them up to now. I like to be able to side step the clutch and lite up the tires. Do you think the 2 speed will be strong enough for aggresive driving or should I wait for the manual? Thanks, ******Knuckles
If thats you in your avatar, picture you with dark hair and.....hmmmmm?? Just ****in wicha. ******Knuckles
There's nothing performance-oriented about it, and they're obsolete so you won't find anything either. But it will hold up just fine behind a baby Hemi in a 2000lb car... One thing to consider, you can't use a normal shifter, you have to have the push****on from the donor. Which is kinda cool. The kids will like it anyway.
Basically bulletproof, in a light car don;t think beaking the skins loose wuold be an issue. I believe some of the early ones were shifted through a cable by a little lever sticking out of the dash board (remember Corvair automatics?) I believe you could dial in any type of performance you would like by adjusting rear end ratios and tire size. As I remember them, they were no better or worse than powerglides performance wise. Go to the Old car manual website, they have a nice section of early MOPAR powerflites and Torqueflites. Keep in mind that the powerflite was a torqueflite that hadn't grown up yet. Scroll to the right for specifications and gear ratios. this from 55 Chrysler, Desoto should have been the same.
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