"Powerglide" opinions

[tracterman2]

Okay, I'm wanting to keep my truck as original as possible...it has the powerglide in it and I'm assuming it is okay. I haven't driven the truck yet...what are your opinions on the powerglide...what kind of milage do you see with it....your not wide open at 55 -60 are you?? I have never been around one so I don't know the ratios or depenabilty of them...I have heard that they are very reliable..guess because of the fewer moving parts. Just wondering on opinions of you guys with them. This is going to be a daily driver...conversation piece...nothing special.

[Palf70Step]

To me worth keeping. There is nothing wrong with them. They are very sturdy. Because you only have low and drive (1to1 ratio) you may notice a different shifting since low will wind out mnore then drive kicks in. From what you are talking about I would keep it in and use it. Now granted any of these trucks without an overdrive gear are not great on fuel economy, but for a daily driver and being original (and different) the powerglide is a good tranny.

[RACINJASON22]

The Powerglide will give you the same rpm in drive at highway speed as any of the other non-overdrive tranny options that you can put in your truck. 1to1 in high gear.

[sb69chevy]

I have a powerglide and drive 200 miles per week. Get about 13 mpg, w/ mostly highway driving. I plan on keeping mine, mainly because they're pretty darn tough.

[special-K]

I bought a truck for the bed and was delighted to see I got a complete Powerglide set-up to boot!They`re getting harder to find like other vintage drivetrain,like the motors you found in front of them.With so many going overdrive and the older stuff being cast off,it makes it all the more worth having.They give a ride a feel like nothing else and even have their own sound.

[dave2953]

I still have the factory Powerglide in my 68. It's been a great transmission, and I also get around 12 mpg. I have 3.73 gears, though, so at 65 mph I'm turning about 3,500 rpm. I would keep it if I were you. Just my .02

[tracterman2]

Yeah I will I think...its also VERY cheap to keep serviced...I have heard they are about bullet proof...plus I want to stay as stock as possible

[sixtysevengmc]

keep the 'glide and regear the rear end to suit you needs

[special-K]

Maintain adjustment of the bands.

[boogie67]

Bullet proof is right.I had a 67 chevelle with a powerglide.You could'nt kill it.I know I tried I was 17 at the time.It had a pretty stout 350 in it.Man I wish I still had that car.Keep it!!

[67arch]

Isn't the powerglide an aircooled tranny. I have been kicking around getting one behind my inline, just haven't heard good or bad about them. Sounds good so far.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by 67arch

Isn't the powerglide an aircooled tranny.

Nope. If it was, I had some blown cooler lines on the old race car I need to have explained?!

[1BadSS]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

Nope. If it was, I had some blown cooler lines on the old race car I need to have explained?!

Some were air cooled.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by 1BadSS

Some were air cooled.

Were they early versions?

[bobthecop]

Originally Posted by boogie67

Bullet proof is right.I had a 67 chevelle with a powerglide.You could'nt kill it.I know I tried I was 17 at the time.It had a pretty stout 350 in it.Man I wish I still had that car.Keep it!!

I managed to tear one up in a 66 Caprice when I was 17. All it had left was reverse, but then I've been known to tear apart a steel ball with a rubber mallet.

[cameeks]

I had one in my truck and all gears went at once except park so i believe i blew out the input shaft. I'm switching over to a 700r4 so i can get the rpms to drop on the freeway. Me personally I think that a powerglide is pointless unless you have a big block.

[zacut]

One minor advantage that a powerglide does have is minimal power consumption. You will loose about 8 hp through a powerglide compared with about 25 through a more modern transmission. That is one other reason besides the indestructability that racers like them.

[ghackett1]

I never heard of an air cooled powerglide. All I've seen have been fluid cooled and those lines are a pain to get to when the tranny is installed!

[gregsplace]

Originally Posted by ghackett1

I never heard of an air cooled powerglide. All I've seen have been fluid cooled and those lines are a pain to get to when the tranny is installed!

I've had a few air cooled glides around. The air cooled ones had holes about the size of tennis balls around the front case. I wish I hada pic to show you, but I dont. Someone one here will post one eventually!!

[mnunn454]

I had a 68 Camaro with a PG in it. I agree with you all. It's hard to kill. On the down side though, low gear in a PG is like taking off in 2nd in any other 3 speed automatic transmission. It's horrible for takeoff, particularly so in a heavy vehicle.

However, I hear your preference for originality. If it trumps performance (sounds like it might) then at least use it with a decent stall speed (say around 2500 RPM) converter. At least then you'll get some of your low end performance back without affecting highway MPG much. The good news is if you try the PG and don't like it, short tailshaft TH350s and 400s are about the same physical size and would be an easy swap in.

For me, performance trumps originality 95% of the time, so I'd opt for a TH400 or an overdrive TH700-R4.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by mnunn454

For me, performance trumps originality 95% of the time, so I'd opt for a TH400 or an overdrive TH700-R4.

Until you go to a higher level of performance where hp over rules.The Powerglide vs Hydramatic will show the P/G launches off the line and gets down track while the T/H is catching up.Not only will the P/G get better traction,it will gain speed faster,and one less shift.Drag racers love them.
O/T...in drag bikes they start in 2nd gear for this reason.Mine`s a potent street machine and when we blueprinted my trans we installed a higher 1st gear.If I`m up against a stock-geared bike with the same power,the other rider can`t figure out how I always win.

[mnunn454]

Originally Posted by special-K

Until you go to a higher level of performance where hp over rules.The Powerglide vs Hydramatic will show the P/G launches off the line and gets down track while the T/H is catching up.Not only will the P/G get better traction,it will gain speed faster,and one less shift.Drag racers love them.
O/T...in drag bikes they start in 2nd gear for this reason.Mine`s a potent street machine and when we blueprinted my trans we installed a higher 1st gear.If I`m up against a stock-geared bike with the same power,the other rider can`t figure out how I always win.

special-K, I respectfully disagree completely. PG has a 1.8:1 ratio in low. The TH350 or 400 has roughly a 2.5:1 in low. Unless the rear end of the car is super light like a Chevy II with big engine and in dire need of traction, there's no way a taller, harder to turn low gear is going to run with the 3 speed trannys. I had one in a 68 Camaro with a 5:13 rear gear and lost many a race to my roughly equivalent counterparts due only to the steeper 1st gear I had to pull.

When it comes to getting heavier vehicles with ample traction rolling, the more gears the better. The ONLY time you'd stray from that equation is if the 3 speed only "boiled" the tires in low (as is the case with the stock motorcycle example you cite above). Taking your logic to an obsurd extreme, then a 1-speed transmission should out perform a 2 or 3 speed. Hardly ever in my experience.

Sounds like what you've achieved with your bike's higher 1st gear is the perfect balance between tire spin and engine-through-driveline torque. I compliment you on that. However, that's hardly a fair example to use to justify using a PG for a guy who's trying to restore a stock C-10.

The ONLY way you'll get a PG to perform comparably to a TH350/400 is with a HUGELY torqy engine in an ultra-light vehicle, or else use it with a much higher stall torque converter.

Bottom line: You can't defeat physics (in this life anyway). Torque is what's needed to get our heavier than stone C-10 "pets" moving with the least amount of converter slippage (slippage equals heat, and heat equals loss of MPG). A TH350/400 has more take-off torque to offer than the PG with a stock converter, period.

None of this is to underrate the PG's toughness or reliability factors. Those ribbons are well earned over millions [if not billions] of on/off road miles. If that's what matters most, then a PG would be my 1st choice. Just don't expect much in the way of take-off performance out of it.

[glock35ipsc]

It's been a few years since I last raced, but if I remember correctly, the Powerglide in my Monza used a 1.82 low gear (lower of the two). I also used a turbo-shaft input shaft. It lets you use a TH350/TH-400 converter, so I had more options of what converter I used. I ran a 9" TH-350 converter......left with a trans-brake at 5200 rpm!! Race track, skyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, race track!

[cacauba]

When we were moving up to Colorado, we drove my truck up from Houston. my Wife wanted to drive one leg. whell she accidently left it in 1st gear the entire tank full of gas (however many miles, or hours that was) going 55-60 mph. when we stopped she told me that it wouldn't go any faster and the temp on the engine was climbing. after some q&a i found out about the 1st gear thing. to sum up the truck was fine after some checking and sitting to cool off. the tranny is still going strong just needs a new pan gasket from drying out. been a couple of years now since and no problems. they will take some (or a lot) of abuse.

as far as ive heard the pg's last year was the 69, and that is also the year they added the cooler and lines. dont know for sure but that is how mine is set-up

[special-K]

Try that with a six-speed.The`69 C/20 with Poewrglide I have has a cooler,looks factory,and not listed as an option.I didn`t know they were even offered in`69.I associate them with the 283/327 vehicles and mostly cars.