wrong, wrong, wrong.... in the the golden age of gassers, absolutely zero development was done on the powerglide as a racing transmission, period! only as a result of Jr. Stock racing of '55-'60 chevys was anything done with them and that all happened after 1969 or so. powerglides were a pure joke before that point. bracket racing furthered the development. that was the '70's. As usual, Porknbeaner, Blownolds, falcongeorge, LarryT and hotrddon have it right and have history on their side to prove it. the collective definitive answer to the OP's question is prefaced by another question. which period and particular gasser class are you building? if you are talking a 1963 to 1970 C/ or D/ class car powered by a smaller sbc that revved to the moon, a 4-speed would have been likely used. also used in A/gas Anglias and Austins when they were restricted to smallblock power. if you were building a 59-65 A/ or B/ gasser with a large displacement engine, the Hydro-Stick was king, but lots of cars up til 62-63 used 3-speeds, usually Cad/LaSalle or Packard (close ratio, and durable). from-mid '65 into the seventies, the switch was on to modern automatics. since the very first modern automatic with any serious development was the 727 Torqueflite, they were adapted to other-make engines as well, including Chevys. early on, all of them were pushbutton shift until after 1966-67 when lever-shifted ones started showing up in wrecking yards. C6 transmissions were next about '66-'67 for Fords, Clutch-flites, Clutch-C6's and Clutch-turbos were then used pretty much to the end in '74. a few late-built cars (Opel Gt's and whatnot) used Lencos
Yes, everyone thought they were junk. In late 1968 I saw one behind a BB Chevy and it wasn't breaking. That's when I started to wonder if they really were junk.
History, my first pass in a gas class car 1957 [KCTA] 1931 Chev. 5 window ,Olds 303 Ford 3speed Zephyr gears. The old Ford was not up to the challange.We changed to a Lasalle three speed very good trans. We used only second and high in both the Ford and the Lasalle. In late 1959 we went to blown class and the superb B&M Stick Hydro the only way to go in MHO. Today blown Ford 32 3window and yes a B&M modified hydro still the only way to go.
I run a Liberty faceplated TKO 600. I love it! I row the 4 gears at the track and it has .64-1 overdrive so I can cruise 100 mph alllll day long!It runs 75 mph @ 2700 rpm.4000 rpm is 111 4500 is 125
I think Brian in the movie "hot rod" said it best - when it blows up build it faster.....until its an automatic......then its boring
My small block C/Gas '55 ran a Muncie M-22 with a 5.57 geared '57 Olds/Pontiac rear with a spool and Henry's alloy axles. With a 427 in B/Gas ran the same M-22 with 5.13s. I power shifted the small block at 8,500 and the big block at 8,000. Broke the M-22 in the first round of B/Gas at the '67 Winter Nationals. The way my friends and I learned to drive a 4-speed was on the streets of LA. By the time we got to the race track it was second nature to power shift a Muncie. The years were '64, '65, '66 and into '67.
Years and years ago, onna the mag's did a slick test and used a great big mid '70's BBC Elky with a clutch turbo as a mule. A 555"er, I forget??? Anyway, the Elky had it's drivetrain street/strip tested until the owner got it to stay together under MAX. POWER!!! The article went on to say that the shift's were absolutely BRUTAL w/o the Converter to soften them up. I've got the mag somewhere in my many boxes.... Car was a Black Elky.... pdq67
Plan on running a liberty super t-10 in my 64 fairlane sedan M/P drag racer tribute car so I'm leaning towards the 3rd pedal. Paco
To answer zig zag wanderer's question. What I'm planning on running is a 289 with two 4's in my Henry J. I guess I'm going for a post 65 look!
i wasn' talking history when i mentioned the glide just sayin in this day and age for cars under 3k pounds the glide is probaly the best auto you can race with
Absolutely correct. It was pretty much down to Marv Ripes, and his work using John Barkleys '57 Chevy as a testbed in the '69 and '70 seasons. Prior to that, NO-ONE ran a glide, and the dominant chevy combo for the automatic classes was a sedan delivery with a hydro. I would even take issue with the statement that the glide is the best trans for an under 3000lb race car today. The glide WILL help to mask or crutch chassis issues, and it may be EASIER for most guys to set the car up, but with very few exceptions (VERY light cars with REALLY big power, and a broad flat torque curve), a thoroughly sorted, optimised 3 speed combo with a 904 TF or T200 based trans will outrun a glide based combo optimised to the same level.
falcongeorge, yep. thanks for the props ummmmkay, here is the OP's question from the first post. "What did most of the guys run for transmissions in the gasser classes? Did they run 4 speeds or Automatics?" that would imply that historically, he wanted to know what they ran "in the day" i'm sure that being a Ford guy as well, he'd probably rather drink Draino than put a powerglide behind his 289 anyway
I'd go with a super t-10. Most guys building a dual 4bbl sbf powered gasser in the sixties would probably be on a budget, and would have run a T-10. The Super T-10 looks pretty much identical, and is MUCH tougher.
ironic you posted the suggestion for the T-10. WICKEDJOHN just posted this in another thread for a friend of his looking for his old B/Gas Anglia.... ".....Anglia ran a radical 221C.I. and a 260C.I. small block Ford, '64 Ford Borg Warner Iron case T-10 4 speed trans. backed up by a '57 Ford station wagon 9" Ford rear with a 488 gear!" the car looked like a typical locally-run, low-budget build for mid-sixties
I have a pile of parts (one of many piles ) that is slated to one day become a mid-sixties style T bucket, included in that pile is a 289 and a pair of early small-neck afb's, and a smooth back 9", the game plan is a T-10, 30" tall pie-crusts on 16" ET Vintage V's, and a set of 4.88's. Small world...
The answers are here. The question is what period you choose to emulate. My Henry J will run a 427 Chev, which puts me 66 or later. I know an auto is more consistent in today's bracket race world but I sure have a hard time planning a build with only 2 pedals However it will be a dedicated race car with only street miles to and from the track so maybe I can live with it Devin Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
If you plan to race it in the nostagia gasser classes you'd better check with the sanctioning body, i have seen some gassers limited to torque converters only - no clutches.
We ran a close ratio t10 beginning in '66 in the '57 Chevy. When I got home from the war on '69, we put it in the '40 Willys and ran it a few more years. It's still in the car today. I know, late '60's is not Hamb friendly...
Well I used to be skinny enough to come close to passing through a spindle mount and I thought that I was a stud.
If it were me, with that combo, I would run a Ford Top Loader close ratio 4 speed. I have one and I like it better than the M-22 in the Anglia!
As I recall the powerglide wasnt used a lot until around 79 , we had one of Coleman and Taylor first powerglides. this was about a year before the trans brake came out. A automatic is eaiser to drive, but most older Gassers ran a Hydro,a Clutchflite, or a 4 speed. We ran 4 speeds,Muncies and Borgwarner, Then went to Ford toploader, Finally ran a Chrysler Hemi 4speed in the later years. All these transmissions were Crash Box versions. you used the clutch to leave, after that you just shifted. Worked great, but if you ever missed a gear, it usually had to be replaced, along with the slider About the only guys running automatics were the Chrysler guys,with a torqueflite SPEEDY
I love the discussion of "era correct" trannies! Good info, keep it coming! Hard to beat a TH400 for price and parts avalibilty and converters for every combo. A stick is just cool and those that can drive one fast are heros for sure, like Jeff Beck of OKCs SBC '32 coupe with a 4 speed that runs low 9s, impressive. But if you run something else and are having fun, don't let the haters bring you down, just smile as you DRIVE IT!! So many traditional cars have flatties with 5 speeds, so the traditional camp is a little fuzzy here. I am building a blown BBC '42 with a Lenco so it is way too modern but I will smile as I am driving it! The whole key....DRIVE IT!
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