I'm looking at getting a back-up powerglide for my 54' chevy... the one I may get is a cast iron unit supposed to have come out of a running 55' chevy... when looking at the cast iron powerglides, how do i know that mates up with my 54' 235? are the housings different if this glide came off of a 55' with a V8? Also, I have already blew my planetary and main imput gear in my chevy, about 6 years ago, under normal driving conditions, with only 60,000 miles or so on the car.... it's rebuilt with a NOS Planetary and gears now, but, I've always heard about these things being indestructable????? Now I'm always leary of 'goosing' the car for fear of meeting a big repair bill again... I've always heard that the powerglides were used by drag racers, short track racers,etc. which certainly put more torque and power thru the tranny than my stock 235... so what gives? should I be worried? Any info on either question would be much appreciated.. thanks!
cast iron and aluminum are completely different transmissions, drag racers use the aluminum version. there are mounting differences between 54 and 55 powerglides, I think the 6 cyl 55 trans will bolt to the engine, but it may not have the mounts where they need to be, along with some other differences.
Quick I.D. between 54 and 55 ci.glides,54 had closed driveshaft and 55 open driveshaft,correct? glider.
55 = open drive. as for V8 to six, I had a 56 V8 powerglide, and it came with a cast iron adapter that bolted between it and the V8.. I assumed that was needed since the powerglide was designed to bolt to the six?? or could have been just for the starter. if yours has a cast iron piece between the motor and trans then that just shoots my theory all to hell. what I do know for certain is that they are hard to find, and even harder to get rid of. finally gave mine to the scrap guy and i tried and tried to find a new home for it
I would also be an idiot for not remembering that the 6 and V8 transmissions have different front housings, even though they both use an adapter to bolt to the engine.
You shouldn't have a problem finding a 54 PG. The only problem comes in getting it. As noted people nearly give them away. Few want to ship the beasts though. Just keep your eyes open, one will show up within a reasonable distance for not alot of money.
haha, yep, that's why I was asking these questions, a certain Model B engine horder I am friends with draged one home with a load of engine blocks.. I think he might just part with it.. haha
The Jalopy Journal
