powerglide or turbo 350

First here's the story. I have been fighting the manual trans in my model A and today the hyd throw out bearing blew out. Ive had enough. So I will be putting in a automatic. My knees will thank me. I have a turbo 350 I can have rebuilt or I can get a hold of a Powerglide. I know I will like the 350 but how would a powerglide be in my car. The only real advantage I see with the power glide is it is a little bit smaller and will not eat up more floor space.My engine is a SBC 350 with a 8" rear end with 3.20(Ithink) rear gears, and 7.50 rear tires 32" tall.

 

PGs are fun trannies - wont be as quick off the line, but Hi/Lo is a fun way to scoot around town fer sure

 

i switched from a PG to a th350 in my chevelle and it made a big difference . Im pretty sure the 350 has a lower 1st gear , seemed like i gained 50 horsepower

 

It's a toss up........but I would go with the 350 turbo for the fact it has more gears.

 

My kid's 41 Ford has a 305/350 in it now. Our plans are to do a frame swap because the previous owner butchered the frame something bad. We also have a 65 327 and PG that we plan on replacing the 305/350 with. The PGs can be tricked out to be strong runners. As a matter of fact, back in the mid 70s we had a modified driver that tricked out a PG and out ran most of the other modifieds on the track.
I'm not a ****** man so I can't tell you the tricks but I know a ****** shop owner fairly well that's run a 5 window Model on the 1/4 here for years. Now that all our dragstrips are shut down he's turned it into a street car. Not a street rod.

 

Hey Matt, My opinion is turbo 350.... the gear ratios are 2.52, 1.52, and 1.00 compared to 1.82, 1.00 (with the glide) so the glide is like starting in second gear.
For racing.... I would recomend the glide for a car 3000#, but for streetability th350 is the way to go

Enfo

 

Enfo is right...driving a Powerglide is like driving a 350 with no first gear,the reason they use them for drag racing is the weight,least horsepower to use,and no sprags to break,but a 350 is like adding 50 horsepower to the motor and with that gear ratio in the rear end you will want it.For street use the 350 is bullet proof also.and they are very close in size , length is so close you can use the same driveshaft length for either trans. , etc.

 

Imwalkin...

You'd hate the PG with that gear ratio and the tall tires...think "effective" ratio.

Drag racing is one thing...but street/highway driving? You'll miss the first gear like you miss that old girlfriend.

TH350.

 

thanks for the input guys. I guess it makes more sense to run the 350.

 

If you go with a 350, get one with a lockup converter. Now this is not the way to go if you have high HP and expect to pound the snot out of it. But on a street car, even with some burnouts given that you car is light, the lock-up 350 will return much better highway mileage.

But for fun, I'd go with a Powerglide. IOW if you don't care about having a lockup ******, go with the one that is more fun to drive and that is for sure the Powerglide.

Find a cast iron PG, and they have a rear pump, so you can push start the car, too.

 

Or you could go with a 200R4 it has a lower first gear than the 350 to get you off the line faster,it is small in size,pan is narrow for more room and with the overdrive you'll save at the pump when you cruise.

 

i have a mini rod pulling tractor with a modified 350 engine and a turbo 350 trans. i heard the power glide is or can be stronger than the 350. was wondering what the dimension difference is will i have to make a new drive shaft and modify all the shielding? also wondering what the cost diference would be building them. my 350 currently has a sliping issue. wondering if id be ahead using a power glide any suggestions?