powerglide......is it good for a truck?

[iluvmy72]

I bought a tranny today for a Oldsmobile......how are these powerglides?....this one is from a 69.....can it be made into a tranny as strong as a 400 or 350 with another gear?.....or does it stay a 2 speed for life?

[Phillip Johnson]

I had a powerglide in a 65 Vette. Does that answer the question? It was a bullett proof tranny

[JimKshortstep4x4]

(2) speed Powerglides are used in drag cars as they seem to work where three speeds are not needed. I have never heard of anyone adding a gear to make a three speed out of them. Personally I think a three speed works a lot better for trucks. Overdrive is a plus if the trucks are driven any distances.

Jim

[bobs409]

Not sure but aren't the Buick, Olds and Pontiac transmissions different? Maybe different bolt pattern???

[MJN]

I've seen a couple of our trucks in the junkyard with powerglides in them, one had a lot of options too. Both were GMC's and 2wd 1/2 tons.

[Hutch]

iluvmy72
Mine works great for pulling the boat.
I think that the previous owner put a shift kit of some kind in it cause it downshifts at about 25 to 30 mph by itself.
I have never driven one that worked like this before.
Most of the ones I have driven would rely on the throttle to downshift.
Did they ever use them in 2wd Blazers?

Have fun

[N2TRUX]

Yes, you can easily add another gear. You have to pull it out, and install a turbo 350 in it's place. Power glides are tough trannies, but why would you want just two forward speeds?

[palallin]

My old '67 had a PG from the facotry. It was indestructable. But I hated it and replaced it with a manual 3-spd.

[1970cstblazer]

The two speed Buick Olds Pontiac transmissions are called Super Turbine 300's. They are tough like the Chevy Powerglide, but nobody really wants them when they can use a TH400,TH350,TH200-4R or TH700-R4.

[68LSS1]

I had a '56 Chevy--283 with a powerglide. That truck came out of the hole hard!!!

[oldsub86]

My 68 has the powerglide and it is tough. I have pulled our 23 foot Prowler travel trailer with it and it never let me down. I put a fairly decent tranny cooler up with the rad cooler first however.
I think that you might ultimately be happier with something like a 700R4 for fuel economy and cruising noise reasons but there is nothing wrong with the powerglides in terms of performance or reliability.

[junkyardjohn]

I'VE HAD SEVERAL POWERGLIDES (ALSO KNOWN AS A 2 SPEED SLUSH BOX) IN CARS, & THEY'RE GREAT FOR THE QUARTER MILE, BUT AFTER ABOUT 1/3 OF A MILE THEY SURE FEEL LIKE THEY NEED TO SHIFT ONE OR TWO MORE TIMES.

[Fred T]

My advice would be to sell it and get a 700r4 or th350.

I had 3 cars with the slushbox. A 63 Bel Air w/ 327 that didn't last, a 62 Nova w/ 194 that worked great and got as high as 30 mpg, and a 68 Bel Air with 283, it worked good in it. The later ones were far better than the early, and if you're going to put it in, I'd recommend a rebuild with street/strip parts.

[crazy longhorn]

Those old pg's were damn near indestructable......better suited for a lite weight car tho. You can use another gear in that heavy truck I had an old frame car....eons ago! Tangled with a bud talkin trash(69 chevelle,with a warm350/350, & 4.10 gears)....got his @ss kicked! I had no speedo on the frame car, & the dude ask me "what gear were you in?" I said low the next thing I heard was bull chit, I was running 90 mph! I said , well did you hear it shift?.......that little sb was running about 7500 rpms, & pulling a tall rear gear I could run that thing up to about 40-45 mph....stuff it in nuetral , ring the snot out of it & pop it in low....it took a couple lanes to 'hang on " after that! after a couple seasons, that trans got real tired.......but never did come unglued! leave the 2spd to the guys racing.....crazyL

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I had a powerglide in a 66 1/2 ton and that thing got great mileage and had lot's of power. Not sure why I ever got rid of that truck .

[Eddie H.]

I had a 70 Impala with a 350 and a powerslide. I pulled a camping trailer through the mountains all over Colorado with it.
The tranny was still going strong when the motor finally died and I got rid of the car. They're tough little trannys, just not enough gears to suite me.

[jmanz69]

I had a PG in my 69 originally, but pulled to put in a TH-350. Had no problems with it, just wanted another gear in between 1st and 3rd. The 2nd gear in a PG is 1:1 just like any 3 speed in 3rd gear. So you won't gain any MPG with a 3 speed just an intermediate gear. I sold mine to a guy with a circle track car for $200. He said they work great for short track and he had 3 of them in his trailer. He also built my 327 and gave me a good price on it since he got my trans. You could maybe put a Gear Vendors O/D unit on it if they make one that bolts up. Just an idea.

[Lobo'74]

My first car was a '66 Impala two door. Stock 396, 325 horse with a powerglide. When I stood on it you could hear the secondaries on that quadrajet open up and watch the gas gage go down. It shifted about 55 at full throttle. No lie, I got about 8 mpg in town, 13 mpg at 70 mph on the highway, and once going across Arizona I averaged 90 mph between gas stops and got 17 or 18 mpg. However, it was a dog off the line. Got my butt beat royally by a buddy in his '64 GTO.