just wondering how many of you are running a 4spd saginaw and how much torque/horsepower is your motor making. was wondering if a saginaw will hold up in my buick 455.
I had one behind a strong small block with no problem hammering on it. I have heard of people blowing them up behind big blocks but have had no experience of that myself. They're usually cheap enough to experiment with, at least around here. I'd say run it and start saving for a muncie or t10/super t10. jerry
I have one behind a 6-71 blown 283 in my coupe. No problems with the ******.although i killed a couple clutches.. But i'm really not too hard on it, and when i am all it does is fry the tires.. I ran sag 4 speeds in a 81 malibu i had with the same 283 minus blower and they held up decent. I was MUCH harder on that car, and did manage to mess a couple up, along with a couple rearends too. BUT, i didn't destroy the gears in them, it was more bearing issues than anything.....and once i did break one of the forks that shift the gears when i shifted from first to second...that one had to have been a weak casting though, or something screwy like that. If your 455 isn't a full race mill, and your not launching the car with slicks on a regular basis you'll probably be fine..
If you let off the gas between shifts you should be ok....I did tear up the 2nd synchro in one by leaving the pedal down between shifts, on the street and at the strip. A friend has had one in his 396 powered pickup for 2 decades with no trouble, he's easy on it.
I run one in my '53 Ford behind a '61 348 and it hasn't let me down yet. I'd trust it behind the big Buick.
I've got a saginaw behind my 301. I used to rip on it alot when it's not at the upholstery shop getting finished. I just smoke the tires alot though. I think they are alot stronger than people give them credit for. I can't say because I've never blown one.
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