I've got a guy coming over that wants to do some trading. I told him I need an aluminum glide and he says he has one from a '64 Chevy II that was behind a 6 cylinder. Question 1. Do the 6's and V8's share the same bellhousing boltpattern? Question 2. What year did they switch from cast iron to aluminum? Question 3. What is the average price for a rebuilder core going for? Thanks
Powerglides!!!! Cheap, easy to build, and sell, and a thousand aftermarket parts for them. Cast iron Powerglides stopped in 62 with the 235 six and 283 V-8 still using the cast iron units. The 327 V-8 and the Nova/Chevy II 4 and 6 cylinders all got the aluminum Powerglides in 62 and all cars/trucks 63 on. Forget about ever using a cast iron Powerglide, unless it's for a restoration. The aluminum Powerglide is lighter AND stronger. So, let's only talk about the aluminum Powerglide. Basically, 2 lenths; X-frame cars used the 25" long unit, the rest got 28" units. Course output shafts until 65, then they went to fine spline outputs. They had a rear pump through 66, in 67 the rear pump was dropped. 4, 6, and 283 V-8 engines got the 1.82 first gear planetary, 327, 409, 396, then the 307 and 350 engines got the 1.76 first gear planetary. The direct clutch frictions, as well as the reverse frictions, varied in number from 2 to 6. The valve body was slightly different in rear pump models, as there are two spring loaded check valves. Also the 4 and 6 cylinder Nova/Chevy II models for the most part were air cooled, they had a finned converter and a turbine ***embly for the inspection/converter cover, but, they also could be water cooled, meaning they used a cooler in the radiator. AND, the Vega also got Powerglides, those are the factory converters to look for, they stall higher. There were even a FEW BOP patterned bellhousing Powerglides, not the Super Turbine 300 that is frequently called a "Powerglide", because it is a 2 speed trans also. All aluminum Chevrolet Powerglides will fit the 153 4 cylinder, 194, 215, 230, 250, 292 style 6 cylinders, all V-8's, and many of the V-6 late model engines. The air cooled models also have 4 cooling holes or rectangular windows in the bellhousing to help with cooling the converter, so they're easy to I.D. Cost? Well, anywhere from free to $150.00, unless it's been built for racing. Most of mine, I get for free, never pay more than $25.00. I've just finished building 3 to sell to the bracket racers. One I have less than $400.00 in, and I'll be asking $700.00-800.00 for it, and it has just about everything in it. Get the book, " Powerglide Transmission Handbook" by Carl H. Munroe, published by HP Books, it has all you'll ever need to know about the Powerglide. That help some? Butch/56sedandelivery.
if its out of a chevy 2 it will have holes in the bellhousing as they were air cooled. they were all aluminum also. core value is whatever your willing to pay.
Just asking, but why do you want a power glide? With gas prices as high as they are I personaly wouldnt use one for anything except drag racing. Even for that there are better trannies to be had now days. Just my 2 cents.
Going racing. Was looking to buy a core to build and put behind a healthy 406 SBC in an altered. Cheap/light and fast. I'm selling a rebuilt 1970 Muncie M-21 from polished bellhousing to yoke, including a resurfaced flywheel,new clutch, new pressure plate, throwout bearing , clutch fork, and a Hurst and a Mr. Gasket shifter for $750 and he wants to use his 'glide as partial payment. I was paying $25-50 each for BOP Turbo 400's last year and have 4 extra for my g***er now. I didn't want to give him more than $50 for his 'glide sight unseen. This part about being aircooled has me thinking I may not want it now???? Will an aircooled 'glide work with a regular convertor behind a 700 hp motor
Don't let the "air cooled" scare you off. The ports for the cooler are there, just plugged. Remove the plugs, and put in fittings to connect cooling lines to. Then, remove the cooler by-p*** valve from the front pump, and replace it with a soft/freeze/core plug, you're now set for fluid cooling. Forgot one thing, they also made the Torque Drive, which was just a full manual shift Powerglide used in 69-70, in 4 and 6 cylinder Novas/Camaros. Did'nt have a modulator circuit or kickdown linkage. If you left it in "drive" after stopping, you left in drive, or second gear. I've personally only seen one of those, and it was in a Nova, and not for sale. Still hope to find one. The Powerglide is the way to go in bracket and lower cl*** drag racing. At one time, Hone, or someone else, even made a bolt on overdrive unit to fit the Powerglide that took the place of the extension housing. dragracerbsmith@netzero.net sells Powerglide parts and pieces for a good price, and he also buys Powerglide bands and valve bodies for $10.00 ea, and he pays the shipping. He's in Magnolia, Tx. Like I said, there's a thousand aftermarket parts for the Powerglide, you can even build a complete "Powerglide" without using ANY stock parts now. If you get the complete air cooled unit, I'd be interested in the finned converter and turbine housing, but a lot of these have been replaced or modified into fluid cooling transmissions. Butch/56sedandelivery.
"Most" of the aftermarket shifters do away with the "kickdown". I guess the p***age could be drilled through, but a 5 1/2" long shaft that's roughly 5/8" in diameter would require a milling machine/lathe, and then there's the O-ring seal to deal with. And, if you use a manual valve body, or transmission brake, it does away with the kickdown feature anyway. Just pull it down manually. A stock Powerglide is only really good as a core transmission (my opinion), but with a few simple mods and aftermarket parts, they can be built to be pretty tough, especially when you conscider their size and weight in comparison to other "more durable", and unmodified, transmissions. The supply of Powerglides is drying up, they're not making them anymore, and, they were last used in 73 production cars! I get them whenever/wherever I find them; most transmission shops don't stock rebuild/gasket/hard parts for them anymore, the only thing that really "wears" are the pump gears; and they leaked badly, especially through the kickdown linkage, another reason to delete it. Butch/56sedandelivery.
Do somebody know more about this? Where to buy, or somewhere to locate? All info is of interests. (And E-bay sources i know about, someone else,please )
Wow. Serious information in the posts above. Hard to add much. Regarding the BOP version. The Buick Skylark and stripped down version Special (same midsized bodystyle) ran these units, in case you are hunting yards for them. Called the ST-300 (super turbine). The torque convertors were designed with a lot of slip so that the car would have a very smooth acceleration from stop. They were used behind the early V6 (225 CI "odd-fire" engine -- also known as the Dauntless Jeep engine) as well as the Buick 300 CI V8. My wife and I rebuilt an ST-300 for our 64 Special on the dining room table. Very simple, worked fantastic.
Leaded, It was either Hone or Gear Vendors that made the overdrive unit for Powerglides. I dought very much if they still make them for that particular transmission. It's been many years ago that I remember seeing the ad for them, but you might want to search the net for those two companies. Butch/56sedandelivery. Well, I looked it up, it's made by Gear Vendors, and is apparently still available, and for only $2,595.00! It replaces the extension housing on the 11" extension housing model, which is the 28" total lenth model. You could build a couple of 700R4 overdrive transmissions for that kind of money. Anyway, that's where you'll find the information. Butch/56sedandelivery. What I found interesting on the Gear Vendors site, is they even make an OVERDRIVE for the 700r4 OVERDRIVE transmission. An OVERDRIVE for an OVERDRIVE (?)! Butch/56sedandelivery.
Landseer, Did'nt they make a swith pitch converter for the ST 300's also, like the switch pitch T 400's.; Butch/56sedandelivery.
The Jalopy Journal
