im about to put a powerglide into twin turbo iroc , im just wanting to make sure i have all the bases covered so i dont find im missing something when i goto put it in


#1 powerglide ( built with a new input shaft 10 clutch drum ati servo , good clutches bands etc full manual vb with brake )
#2 fab new cross member
#3 shifter and cable ( not sure what im going to go with yet
#4 trans blanket and flexplate scatter shield
#5 converter

anyone know what length driveshaft ill need as thats the only thing i havent figured out just yet hoping maybe one of u guys are running a pg and know offhand the right length


look like im missing anything

 

Can your shifter be converted to work with the power glide? If the old trans went bad then flush lines and new cooler.

 

i still have a stock shifter in the car lol.
ive blown up one 700 and one 4l80 flushed the cooler and lines both times, this time around im going to install all new lines and external cooler

 

I use a Pro Ratchet shifter. There's a removable stop pin that lets me use it with a 2, 3 or 4 speed auto. I'm not sure what options are available for a gate shifter but most can be used with all the GM transmissions.

The powerglide is almost the same length as a long tailshaft TH350. In the old days when TH350's were first coming out, it was very common to swap out the powerglide for a 3 speed as an easy and direct swap.

The long tailshaft TH350 is almost the same length as a 700R4. The difference in length between a 700R4 and a Powerglide is very minimal but if you're still using an OEM driveshaft with a twin turbo car, you're going to want to get something better custom made for it anyways.

Upgrade the input shaft to a hardened shaft with turbo splines so you can use normal TH350/TH400 converters.

My powerglide has minimal upgrades. I still run a stock 1.76 gearset and I know I should upgrade to some straight cut gears. I have 7 disks in the forward clutch. I use a B&M deep cast aluminum pan to add strength to the case plus increase the oil capacity. I use a dual servo piston and a TCI Vaccu Melt 300 input shaft, which I'm surprised I haven't broken yet, and a TCI manual valve body with a pro tree transbrake. The last thing to make it better is a TCI steel clutch hub to replace the weak cast hub. I don't have a case saver inside the transmission but I should.

I don't use a transmission crossmember. The engine is supported with a front and mid plate. The transmission is simply bolted to the back of the engine. I fabricated a mount on the tranny tailshaft mount to attach a travel limiter to a crossmember behind the transmission which holds the driveshaft loop. The limiter keeps the engine and tranny from moving forward or backward if the mounting plates flex.

I run a one piece CSR tranny/flexplate shield. A blanket is inexpensive but there isn't a lot or room to install a standard flat plate style flexplate shield. My new modified firewall and tranny tunnel now has lots of room if I ever decide to get rid of the CSR shield.

Converter needs to match the camshaft however with a turbo engine, you're going to need something a bit more specific. Contact the converter manufacturer that you're going to use and get a converter custom built.

Using a stock style powerglide case is fine. They've survived many high HP cars but there are also many good aftermarket cases out there which are much stronger. I could easily spend $5000 just on a transmission that I wouldn't be able to break.

I like my powerglide. In a drag car with lots of torque, I have no reason to go back to a 3 speed. Although I wouldn't be able to use the transbrake, I could launch in high gear and do an entire 1/4 mile run in one gear although a 10 disk clutch would survive that a lot better.

I launch at around 4500 rpm. Shift around 7400. The rpms drop back to 6400 after the shift and I cross the finish line at around 7400. My converter and gearing is about as closely matched as I can get. I swapped out the 4.86 gears a few years ago to try some 4.57 and the converter hated them. I needed a different converter for the 4.57 gears. Put the 4.86 gears back in and the car run much better.

 

thanks this is the kind of post i was hoping to get

anychance u could post up a link to the sheild and shifter u are using?

i was going to purchase a 300m input shaft but maybe i should get something even a lil stronger.Also looks like the 10 clutch drum maybe a lil overkill , but it is fairly cheap


my biggest concern is how is this thing going to drive on the street but its not that big of a deal really , as id much rather have a nice strong cheap trans i wont break anymore , or if it breaks its damn simple to rebuild and fix

 

Those csr shields are such a pita dude if you have a stock firewall, I'd just go with an ultrabell and seperate trans shield if I were you. Dedenbear (sp?) Case if you have the funds. Measure your drive shaft, it's too easy not to do it. That and you didn't mention what rear end you have so who's to know? Just measure

 

well yeah i know i can measure it but i was hoping somone could just tell me the measurement so i could have a new shaft built before i was ready to put it in.
s60 rear is what ill be running with it

this way i could make this a one day swap,actually the ultrabell is good idea , and not costly at all

 

Drive shaft turn around is three days for us. Might as well make it correctly to the 1/16th of an inch

 

Someone can say the driveshaft is xx" long but that's only for their car. My engine/tranny is pushed back as far as it can go. I doubt my diff is sitting in exactly the OEM location. I run a 9" so there are far too many variable to say how long your driveshaft needs to be.

Here's my shield without a tranny tunnel. I have no pictures of it with the original floor since you wouldn't be able to see it anyway. Getting the shield on and off is a real pain with the original floor. The bellhousing bolts are longer to go through the shield. The hardest on is the upper bolt on the driver's side. With my engine pushed back, I needed a big hammer to modify the firewall to get the bolt in. With a SBC in the stock location, it may not be so hard to access.

You can also see the shifter. It's mounted on a pedestal. Cable goes through the floor in the stock location, loops around to the right, goes under the tailshaft to the shift linkage on the side of the tranny.



The downside of any of these more expensive shields is that if you run quicker than 9.99 where you're required to have shields, they have an SFI date on them and are only good for 5 years. The SFI flexplate is good for 3 years. The shield can be sent back to be recertified but it will still cost you. The inexpensive blankets are good and bad. They do the job, they're cheap but they can also retain heat. When they expire, just buy a new one.

The main reason for a shield is to protect the driver if something fails. I saw a transmission explode on the starting line. Clutch hub went through the kevlar blanket, through the floor and through the passenger door.

 

wrong. powerglide is nearly the same length as a short shaft th350 or th400. i know because i swapped out a th400 and powerglide in my car and used the same driveshaft (just swapped yokes). the driveshaft i used is ~3" longer than that of a factory 700r4 shaft.

 

I'll take your word for it. I don't have my transmission references handy right now. So technically, you would need a driveshaft from a 82-83 with the 200c 3 speed but like I mentioned above, you're probably going to want a custom made shaft anyway.

 

good to know i know were theres an 83 firebird sitting in the junkyard maybe it still has a good driveshaft in it. this way i can have something to put in it the day of the swap and measure and have a proper driveshaft built.
that is if i can find a shop around here that will build me a driveshaft.

if not do any of u guys do driveshafts? i used to build driveshafts but no longer have the machinery required

 

i had PST do mine, and i HIGHLY recommend them

 

Local truck driveline shop built mine. 3" x .083" tubing with 1350 series yokes.

Like all custom driveshafts, you just need to give them the length you want. Slide the slip yoke all the way into the transmission then slide it back out one inch. Measure the distance from the center of the slip yoke to the center of the diff yoke. That's the driveshaft length required. The driveline shop should also require the slip yoke so they can balance the driveshaft.

If the shaft is made too long, they can always cut it down and weld the yoke back on. If the shaft is too short, a new tube needs to be installed. It's cool watching them weld a yoke on with a lathe. Nice perfect continuous bead all the way around.

 

i used to build all mine in the lathe, true the end up with a dial indicator so u have no runout tack in 4-8 places , then one continuous bead. if i didnt do it in the lathe id tack it then take it over to the welding table , and hang it off the end, then lay my arm on the shaft so i could use my arm to roll the driveshaft around as i welded it

balancing a driveshaft is a joke when dom tubing is used , if u have no runout on the ends and everything is perfectly in line it will not vibrate.

we have driveshafts in everything from street cars to 6 second door cars and not one has ever vibrated


if i had a lathe i could use id just build my own , but i dont so i wont even attempt it

 

x2. Great people to deal with & great product.

 

yup, they've done work for me three times, and i don't think i've ever met someone so confident in their products.

 

....but the tubing isnt exactly balanced all the way around, and im not sure how close to perfectly straight you can get with tubing. problem is, every spinning object has a critical speed where it loses the ability to keep its shape. seems like an unbalanced driveshaft would have a much lower critical speed than a balanced one.

 

we have never run into that issue and we have shafts on all kinds of cars from 200 hp to 2000+, the only shafts we would have balanced are when we would cut down a stock driveshaft for ppl , as those will deffinatly vibrate like mad

 

Although they checked the balance on mine, I see no balance weight on it. Typically it's a washer welded somewhere on the tube.

 

Just gonna throw my opinion out there, Hurst Pistol Grip. Got mine a few days ago, and I love it. Mind you, it's for a TH350, not a Glide, but nearly the same concept plus a gear. It looks sharp, and I love the feel of it. Also has a N/O button for line lock/trans brake built into it. Just an idea.

I'd agree with these guys. Get an exact measurement instead of "it should be close." The driveshaft is already a weak link. With that much power, I wouldn't chance it.

 

+1 on the hurst pistol grip. it's a nice quality piece.

 

actually have a spohn x member for a powerglide if you're interested. Don't remember if there is a torque arm attachment or not. If there is it would be for a spohn torque arm, which i wouldn't have. Lemme know if you're interested and i'll look into it