Powerglide for a bucket

[Hot Rod Todd]

Now the LencoDrive 2-speed with the torque converter is really nice. And they'll hold up to anything you could throw at them on the street! They cost though....

A LencoDrive is too tough for my wallet.

But I see some of the older 2 speeds with reverser that are in my price bracket on Racing Junk. With a can, clutch and levers they can be as low as US$3000 (about NZ$4500)and having a clutch, I wouldnt have the issues you get with a hi stall converter on the street?

Or am I just too cheap & missing the big picture here?

 

[Screaming Metal]

Well HotRodTodd, older racing stuff usually finds a good home on the street. I love the old TR1Y's! Ha!
Anyway, it depends on what you want. I believe it'd make a good trans in a bucket or street/strip car. Call the MFG and get all the spec's on it, look it up here on the internet. I don't see any issues with it.
But the main thing is for YOU to be happy with it. I mess with racing stuff on a daily basis and I'm in a unique position to where when I decide to build something, I can use or utilize racing parts that are compatible.
In a bucket is kinda like a altered....not a whole lotta weight. What you could run in something like a SBC in a Nova will act totally diff. in one of these little cars.

 

[CrAlt]

What is the story with the kickdown linkage and vacuum modualtor? You guys who are running PG do you have that stuff hooked up or are you running some kind of modified valve body?

I just picked up a 1973 Alum PG for super cheap.. but its going to need a rebuild.

 

[sstock]

What is the story with the kickdown linkage and vacuum modualtor? You guys who are running PG do you have that stuff hooked up or are you running some kind of modified valve body?

I just picked up a 1973 Alum PG for super cheap.. but its going to need a rebuild.

73?? You mean 63? 62 was indeed the first year of the alum. pglide

 

[CrAlt]

73?? You mean 63? 62 was indeed the first year of the alum. pglide

no its a 73 out of a nova. 1973 was the last year of the alum pglide.

 

[Screaming Metal]

This is just my experience talking here....Ted, BlownT, Putz, Ron or Mango will probably chime in here....
A kick-down linkage kicks the trans down into a lower gear for passing. Great for heavy cars....as light as a bucket is....I, myself personally, don't have one hooked up on mine. I had a blown 392 Hemi, over 600 horses, and when I stepped on it, it went. Now, maybe if you were running everything stock, I mean completely stock and had 2.90's or 3.08's in the rear, but these little rods usually only weigh about 1500....so I'd say they'd still be pretty peppy.
As for the vacuum modulator, if you want the trans to shift automatically, yes, you need one.
Without one, a stock trans won't shift. Now a modified trans without a Modulator will bark the tires on a shift from 1st to 2nd and sometimes from 2nd to 3rd.
The Performance shift kits and trans rebuild kits have a plug so you can do the track, street/strip thing....but for the street, I feel you need a modulator, a adjustable one.

I have just recieved my new aluminum block for my Inline6 cylinder. My Crank came in last week along with my rods and oilpan. My block is for a 4.625" bore and my crank is a 4.5" stroke. Since I'm only turning it to 5000 rpm and running a 4-71 straight up drive wise, the balancing guys were really sweating it. The block casting is max'ed out at a 4.5 stroke crank....they had to really cut in there to get clearence on the oil pan rails.
I'm running essentially a 2800 stall with a stock turbo 400 with a B&M performance trans-kit with a performance valvebody. With the I6 being blown and a big inch one, the torque curve should be really flat. I hope to bark the tires for every shift....It will probably be very squirrelly when wet.

 

[Mike]

A 454" inline motor? I like it, already. There should be enough torque on hand to rip your head off, if you can get the shovel stuck into the dirt. :nod: That will likely be with a good tire on a prepped track, probably not a good enough street tire or street surface to make it stick.

It should be a lot of fun, either way!

 

[Screaming Metal]

A 454" inline motor? I like it, already. There should be enough torque on hand to rip your head off, if you can get the shovel stuck into the dirt. :nod: That will likely be with a good tire on a prepped track, probably not a good enough street tire or street surface to make it stick.

It should be a lot of fun, either way!

Yea, I figured since I build off the wall stuff anyway. build a Killer 6. You can get on up there on the mountain motor v-8's, up into the 600-750 cube range, why not build a killer 6.... The crank guy thought I was funning him, till he saw the dimensions....I thought the block was gonna take a while....they ha it ready in about 3-1/2 weeks. Crank only took 2 weeks, the pistons are whats holding me up, I can't do anything until they're here. Carillo rods off the shelf Long ones. Pistons are gonna be machined next week, then they have to be sent off for a wear coating on the piston skirts....