powerglide swap

[WhippinSaw]

I want to replace my powerglide with a th350, which th350 do I want and what mods can I expect. I currently have a 327 with the powerglide and 373 rear end.

[Jurassic-1]

Depending on what the turbo 350 is out of they made a short and long shaft. The short shaft should be the same length as the Powerglide. You will need to get a kickdown cable mount that goes on the intake manifold. Depending on the year of your engine and if you have a 2 or 4 barrel carb. as to what bracket you need. The driveline should be fine as will the trans cooler lines and speedometer cable the crossmember should also fit in the original mounts.It should be a one day swap. The turbo 350 will be the same final drive as the Powerglide but you will have 1 more lower gear.

[1963c-10]

You can mail me that old powerglide for the fleetside project....

[lha1992]

I'm doing this same swap on my 65. Getting rid of my original powerglide that was rebuilt I guess but I want the 1 more gear haha. I have a th350 from a 80z28 camaro I'm swapping in.

[WhippinSaw]

Originally Posted by Jurassic-1

Depending on what the turbo 350 is out of they made a short and long shaft. The short shaft should be the same length as the Powerglide. You will need to get a kickdown cable mount that goes on the intake manifold. Depending on the year of your engine and if you have a 2 or 4 barrel carb. as to what bracket you need. The driveline should be fine as will the trans cooler lines and speedometer cable the crossmember should also fit in the original mounts.It should be a one day swap. The turbo 350 will be the same final drive as the Powerglide but you will have 1 more lower gear.

Thanks for the response, I have the long shaft powerglide (just under 28") and just wanted to make sure I won't have to mod the driveshaft. The th350 with the 6" Extension housing or short shaft is the right one. Looks like everything else will go smooth.

Transmission
Power Glide 25 23/64" Short shaft
Power Glide 27 9/16" Long shaft
TH350 27 11/16" 6" Extension housing
TH350 30 11/16" 9" Extension housing
TH350 33 27/32" 12" Extension housing

[Jurassic-1]

It sounds like you will have no problem if it is the short one. If not the shaft can be shortened pretty reasonably. everything else will work fine.

[WhippinSaw]

picked up a transmission jack on craigslist. Do I support the trans with it while I remove transmission crossbar and do I have support the motor? I usually pull them as a unit and never used one before.

[Jurassic-1]

The engine will stay up but it can be hard on the mounts. You can put a ratchet strap under the rear of the pan to take some of the load. Put the trans jack under and strap the trans to it but be sure to unbolt the torque converter from the flywheel. After the bell housing bolts and the cooler lines and the linkages and everything else is removed move the trans back until it clears and let it down. Caution keep it level so the torque converter does not fall out. When you reinstall the new one fill the converter with a couple quarts of trans fluid and support it as you install it as to not damage the front seal and slowly spin it as you push the converter in you should notice it aligning with the pump as you go in . Make sure it clicks in 3 times . If it is not inn correctly you will damage the trans.

[Clyde65]

I think the short tail would be your choice. however, may I suggest a 2004r 4 speed auto, this will give you better mileage and regular highway speeds.

Use a tail mount from CPP or maybe stock one.

Good luck with whatever you do!

[WhippinSaw]

The power glide I have has 16 splines on the output shaft and the th350 has 27, Will any th350 slip yoke work, or do I need to get a certain length yolk and a certain size universal joint bearing cradle?

[Jurassic-1]

Is the power glide a cast Iron one? All of the aluminum ones I have seen are fine spline. If you have a cast Iron trans the flex plate will probably be different but you can easily change that out. Also the starter would be different mounting on the block instead of the trans bell housing. Make sure you use the starter with a cross bolt pattern with the larger 168 tooth fly wheel and the straight bolt pattern for the 153 tooth fly wheel. To answer your 1st question the turbo 350 yoke will interchange if it has outside snap rings as used on early model 350 trans.

[WhippinSaw]

Here's a pic of the 16 spline output shaft of the powerglide. I ordered DANA SPICER 2-3-6081X, the 1310 Series slip yoke fits the stock
1 1/16th" universal joint bearing cap. The new yoke is about an inch longer than the old one from the powerglide. It rides about 3/4" out from full insert onto the output shaft of the th350. The transmission jack made the swap an easy one man job, I did have to lower the engine with a floor jack to remove the inaccessible bolts off the top of the trans and I didn't take the starter or flywheel off when doing the swap. Now to figure out the speedo gears and the shift linkage. Thanks for the replies
Dan

[1963c-10]

You can crate up that powerglide and ship it my way when your done!!!

That jack will sure take a lot of the muscle out of the job...I've done a few trans swaps in my time.

[Irishbleueyes]

What did you do with your e brake cables?

[WhippinSaw]

Originally Posted by Irishbleueyes

What did you do with your e brake cables?

Except for having a different spline on the output shaft, which is unusual because most power glides have 27 splines just like the th350, and needing to change the speedo gears for the speedometer and installing some custom shift linkage, everything else on the th350 are the same dimensions as the powerglide and I just hooked everything back up and adjusted.

[Irishbleueyes]

Originally Posted by WhippinSaw

Except for having a different spline on the output shaft, which is unusual because most power glides have 27 splines just like the th350, and needing to change the speedo gears for the speedometer and installing some custom shift linkage, everything else on the th350 are the same dimensions as the powerglide and I just hooked everything back up and adjusted.

I read that 64 was the first yr for the 27 splines on the PG. So you didn't have to move the crossmember? Im doing the same swap and I just about have all the parts collected. Mine is a 65 but it looks like I have to move the crossmember. Looks like 63 to 65 have some differences. Thanks for your posting, any info helps

[WhippinSaw]

Originally Posted by Irishbleueyes

I read that 64 was the first yr for the 27 splines on the PG. So you didn't have to move the crossmember? Im doing the same swap and I just about have all the parts collected. Mine is a 65 but it looks like I have to move the crossmember. Looks like 63 to 65 have some differences. Thanks for your posting, any info helps

Yes, I did loosen up the ebrake and the trans crossmember and slid it back out of the way, Other parts I had to acquire were a new torque converter, correct speedo gears, shift linkage, tv cable and mount brackets for the cable, trans dipstick, and a Flywheel Cover (Dust Shield or inspection cover for torque converter)

The trans mount was in the same location and everything lined up but the bolts were 3/8th" instead of 7/16th" so keep a couple of different sizes on hand.

[Irishbleueyes]

Originally Posted by WhippinSaw

Yes, I did loosen up the ebrake and the trans crossmember and slid it back out of the way, Other parts I had to acquire were a new torque converter, correct speedo gears, shift linkage, tv cable and mount brackets for the cable, trans dipstick, and a Flywheel Cover (Dust Shield or inspection cover for torque converter)

The trans mount was in the same location and everything lined up but the bolts were 3/8th" instead of 7/16th" so keep a couple of different sizes on hand.

Can you post a pic of the new linkage you used?

[WhippinSaw]

I used Lokar's Column Shift Linkage ACA-1800, You have to unbolt the shifter on the th350 and this bolts on, The shifter on the power glide does not unbolt from the outside. The 5/16th rod that comes with the kit was 3 inches too short (I needed one 26 " long) and I had to get a longer piece and bend it like the stock one, The indicator is off a little but it works and I am going to adjust it some more during the winter storage. Maybe there is better one out there. I know CPP makes one also.

[Irishbleueyes]

Originally Posted by WhippinSaw

I used Lokar's Column Shift Linkage ACA-1800, You have to unbolt the shifter on the th350 and this bolts on, The shifter on the power glide does not unbolt from the outside. The 5/16th rod that comes with the kit was 3 inches too short (I needed one 26 " long) and I had to get a longer piece and bend it like the stock one, The indicator is off a little but it works and I am going to adjust it some more during the winter storage. Maybe there is better one out there. I know CPP makes one also.

Thats a lot cleaner set up than stock. Lokar have the longer rod or did you make it?

[WhippinSaw]

Yea it does look good, the stock linkage was almost worn through at the connections and rattled at idle, and needed to be replaced anyway. I wanted it back on the road quickly, so I ran to sears hardware and picked up a 3 foot section of 5/16th round stock steel for 5 bucks and ran a 5/16th-24 die on one end to thread into the heim joint. I acquired a longer piece of round stainless to replace it in the winter. Overall the new linkage works as described. Don't think it will help but I am going to drop lokar an email and let them know about the rod in the kit being too short for our trucks.