Curious...Chevy trannies...

[Deyomatic]

What is a Turboglide? According to my Motors manual, it is different from the Powerglide, and I'm wondering why they aren't common. How do you identify one? Are they junk trannies?

The Motors manual only really tells how it is different on the inside, in alot of mechanical terms. I'm wondering why turboglides seem to be more rare than Powerglides.

[RileyRacing]

I think Turboglides are like turbine type trans's. Like in Early Corvairs. Probably $$$ to fix too.

Jay

[Rocky]

Turboglides came in 58-60 Chevies as an option. They were a HUGE mistake, IMHO.....They had a really low first gear for pulling your 40 foot house trailer up Pike's Peak or sumthun. Problem was, when you were finished with first gear, most people just shifted to second gear under power. WRONG! Those things engaged 2nd gear with a gigantic BANG! They grabbed 2nd gear with absolutely no cushioning at all and the resultant tranny, U-joint and rear axle breakage was rampant. All my buddy's in high school with those things got a huge charge outa grabbin a big 2nd gear scratch on main street for about a week. Then they'd be looking for a powerglide or converting to a 3 speed stick.
Pass on this one...it's nothing but trouble....seriously.

[Deyomatic]

Rocky, how do you tell one from the outside? My buddy just bought a 57 Bel Air and all he really knows is that it is a 2 speed. (My Motors also says the Turboglide was available in 57). I told him that it was most likely a Powerglide, but how can you tell from the outside?
One of my neighbors has a 59 Impala with a turboglide, I don't know him well enough to go and look, I also don't have any experience with the Powerglides, so I wouldn't know what I'm looking at anyway.

[36-3window]

i tink the turboglides were 3-speeds,so if your buddy has a two speed,it's probailly a powerglide. rocky is right,stay away(that's what everyone has told me),i don't think you can get parts for them

[choprods]

look on shifter- It says "GRADE RETARD".........Boy thats an understatement.

[fab32]

I had one of those POS in a '58 4dr. The GR was for grade retard, meaning that if you had a load going down a hill you put it in GR and use the engine to help the brakes. The problem with using them for a boat anchor is you have to have such a large boat. Don't waste your time on one.

Frank

[Deyomatic]

I did actually read in that Motors manual that it says that the turboglide is a 3 speed that doesn't "shift."

My buddy (very new to the HAMB) just bought a 57 Bel Air and the tranny crossmember was all hacked up so he didn't know what was in it. It boasted a new 350 that was really half assed. The tranny cooler lines were also half assed to the point that one of them blew apart on his ride home. He was just wondering which tranny he had, wondered if it was a Power or Turbo glide. I'm thinking if it were a turbo glide, he would have mentioned the fact that it didn't "shift," as if it were just had one gear.

[enjenjo]

the TurboGlide was Chevy's version of a Dynaflow, but without the high performace attributes of the Dynaflow.

[shifts]

JUNK-JUNK-JUNK

[Bruce Lancaster]

You don't need to worry much about encountering one--GM itself essentially killed them off during the sixties by discontinuing parts and offering a kit to adapt the PG instead. Another oddity I don't know much about first hand is that they used a different crankshaft in the engine, apparently. If you look up Chevy pilot bearings at a parts house, there is a special bushing to adapt normal size bearing to hole in the special crank. Again, chances of encountering such a crank now are slim, but it's a good thing to know.

[Smokin Joe]

Had one of those cranks the pilot wouldn't fit a while back. Now I know why... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Learn sumpthin new every day around here.

[Fat Hack]

Choprods, that is hillarious...I'll be laughing about that all day! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[shifts]

Easiest way to recognize a turboglide is to see if the modulator is screwed in from the top near the dipstick. Biggest problem with this trans was if you used "grade retard" to start out in they would burn up real quick. They felt just like a dynaflow when working properly. Always were hard to get parts for too. Dave