Powerglide or TH350?

[Shawn F.]

Well guys, I have not been around in a while since I have been working on two projects at once currently which are my 68 Lincoln Continental and 63 Chevy II wagon. I have been saving parts for a T bucket for a few years now and have almost everything I need besides the body, frame, gauges and seats. I was going to go with a 302 and C4 setup but bought this 63 Chevy II wagon that I plan to make my daily driver and still get 22 MPG out of it by putting in a 350 roller cam motor and 700R4. That means the fresh 327 and powrglide need to come out. Here is my question... Since I am going to run the 327 now, which trans would be better in a 27 track T, the powerglide or TH350? Pro's and Con's of each? The car will be my weekend toy and get driven quite a bit. I was going to make it strictly street but now I have my street cars and want a fun fast toy that is not comfortable with a nice cam, stall and something to take to the strip here and there.
Thanks for any info and opinions!

 

[Swimeasy]

Well guys, I have not been around in a while since I have been working on two projects at once currently which are my 68 Lincoln Continental and 63 Chevy II wagon. I have been saving parts for a T bucket for a few years now and have almost everything I need besides the body, frame, gauges and seats. I was going to go with a 302 and C4 setup but bought this 63 Chevy II wagon that I plan to make my daily driver and still get 22 MPG out of it by putting in a 350 roller cam motor and 700R4. That means the fresh 327 and powrglide need to come out. Here is my question... Since I am going to run the 327 now, which trans would be better in a 27 track T, the powerglide or TH350? Pro's and Con's of each? The car will be my weekend toy and get driven quite a bit. I was going to make it strictly street but now I have my street cars and want a fun fast toy that is not comfortable with a nice cam, stall and something to take to the strip here and there.
Thanks for any info and opinions!

I would use the 350 and sit on the glide, they are getting real hard to find!

 

[72442conv]

I would use the 350 and sit on the glide, they are getting real hard to find!

I second that.

 

[putz]

I would use the turbo 350 a little smoother and better mileage due to more gears.

 

[Lee_in_KC]

I have TH350 in my T, but I wish I had gone with an O/D tranny. Even though I have a 3.42 rear-end, cruise RPMs are in the 2,800 to 3,000 range and there is a drone to the exhaust in that range that is really annoying. If I ever have occasion to pull the body off again, I may swap out the 350 for a 200-4R.

 

[Shawn F.]

Thanks for the info guys! As for the Powerglide, why put it to the side and not use it even if I always decide to keep it? It can always be rebuilt easily can't it? I am not questioning your guys' advice either, I am just wondering. As for the car, I dont ever plan to drive it on the freeway on long trips and the rear end I have is a 3.42 I believe that is in the S-10 rear I have with posi unit and rebuilt. Either way I do not mind using a TH350 and cannot afford an overdrive right now.

 

[VegasBruce]

If ya already got it, I'd run the Powerglide. Both trans have a 1 to1 high gear, and the PG takes less power to turn it. As light as a bucket is, you don't need anything more than that.

 

[RPM]

Normally I would recommend the 700r4 first because of the lower 1st gear and OD. Next would be a turbo 350 or 400. Since you already have a glide with a converter I would just use it.

 

[Stock Racer]

Either trans will work fine. T-350 has a 2.52 first gear, the glide has a 1.76 or a 1.82 first. For this reason the car will accelerate from a stop much snappier with the 350 all else being the same. As the others have mentioned, they both have 1 to 1 high gear. About the same money to
rebuild. The glide that is getting scarce (everyone is looking for) is the 1.76 first gear version because it is much stronger for drag racing. It is not an issue with street tires. To find out which one you have, slide the input shaft out and measure it. 1.76 input is 12 7/8" long, 1.82 input is 12 5/8" long. Hope this info helps.

Joe

 

[Swimeasy]

Thanks for the info guys! As for the Powerglide, why put it to the side and not use it even if I always decide to keep it? It can always be rebuilt easily can't it? I am not questioning your guys' advice either, I am just wondering. As for the car, I dont ever plan to drive it on the freeway on long trips and the rear end I have is a 3.42 I believe that is in the S-10 rear I have with posi unit and rebuilt. Either way I do not mind using a TH350 and cannot afford an overdrive right now.

I see your point, Shawn. I guess that I was just trying to point out that the glide is most likely worth keeping around, in fact if it had a short tail shaft and you lived hear you, I would be trying so swap ya out of it to have a spare for my front engine digger!

 

[iajjpop]

I've had cars with powerglides , but I sure like my T H 350 in the bucket, when you pull it down into 2nd and punch it, AND AWAY WE GO.....

 

[HTWOODS]

I'd run the Glide. Use what you have.

 

[Shawn F.]

Thanks for the info guys! I am not sure what I am going to do now because all plans have changed over the last week or 3 days. I just bought a 1980 El Camino with a 4.4L 267 V8 (yes you may not have ever heard of this engine) and a TH350 (might be a TH250 but I don't know how to tell the difference). The car needs quite a bit of interior and mechanical work but it runs and drives just fine. The reason I bought the car is because I am getting rid of a little Honda Prelude car I bought when I sold my 85 Chevy truck when gas got high. I do not want to throw money at a little Honda so instead I am selling the Honda, bought this El Camino and going to use the El Camino as my daily driver until my 63 Chevy II wagon is done. The 327 and TH350 transmission I was thinking about using in a T bucket project may be used in the El Camino now. I'd rather throw a 350 in the El Camino for more torque since it's a heavy car/truck but I do not have the funds right now for that. I can always find a TH350 so that isn't my worry but the 327 I'd rather keep for a T bucket. I will do what is necessary in order to have the El Camino in good running order though so I will have to just wait on the T bucket now for another 6-8 months.