I bought a 50 bel air a few months back that has the first year powerglide In it. It slips so bad it’s gotten undrivable. I have stuff to convert it to 3 speed column or s10 5 speed but I’m not looking to tear this car apart right now. Too many others torn apart. Is there any quick fix for the powerglide? How do I know if it’s the pump or the clutches?
I bet it just needs rebuilt. Old age. It would still be cheaper to rebuild it than change the whole thing over to something else. Lippy
If I remember right, the first Powerglide started in high gear and stayed there. They didn't start shifting from low to high until 53. The only way you could get low was by putting in low. That pretty much means that either the high clutch is shot, or the pump. If it will move when you put it in low or reverse, that means the pump is working and points to the clutch. If it doesn't in any range, that points to the pump. It could be a convertor problem like stripped turbine splines, but the trans has probably had it. It might be able to be rebuilt, but it probably wouldn't be cost effective.
Dad loved to exaggerate, but he swore he was telling the truth: his boss back in the early 60's had an early Powerglide & from a stop you could walk faster than it could accelerate.
I’m not sure about Powerglides...but know I am able to soften up the seals in my 56 Fordomatic by pouring a pint of Berryman’s B12 in it about once a year. If I don’t do that, it slips so bad it takes probably 5 miles before it will even catch all 3 gears. If you think it is mostly shot, might be worth a try just to see if it happens to work. Apparently it used to say it could be used in transmissions years ago but that isn’t there now considering many of the more modern transmission designs.
I'd try adjusting the bands first and see if that helped enough. I'm thinking that unless you rebuild it yourself or can find someone that will bench it pretty reasonable you are looking at way more to rebuild it than swap transmissions for a stick of one sort or another. If you aren't goin to use the closed drive and a matching trans you are going to need a 55/62 235 bellhousing to match the later pattern transmissions though. Or figure out how to adapt the later trans to the small pattern bellhousing.
You can adjust the cast iron Powerglide low band "externally"; the reverse band needs to be adjusted after removing the side cover to access it; it's only adjustable "internally". If the direct clutches are shot, it's going to have to come out for a rebuild. There is no "pan" on a cast iron Powerglide. If the seals are hard, use a can of Trans-Medic, or something similar, to swell up the lip seals so they seal better; it's only a temporary fix however. Like has been said, swap to a 3 speed manual, and if you need a floor shifter for a 49-54 Chevrolet passenger car, I have both a Hurst Mystery shifter and a Hurst Synchro-Loc shifter; they are really hard to find, and they are no longer made. One is NOS, but I forget which one; I "think" it's the Synchro-Loc. Don't even consider one of the cheap (cheaply built but actually fairly expensive) shifters, like Mr. Gaskets universal or National Chevy Associations shifter; they are garbage. I still wonder how they came up with the name, "Powerglide"? POWER-GLIDE, really??? Maybe only the aluminum ones, and then only when modified! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Thanks for all the replies! It slips some in low gear but when I shift to high it’s really bad. I was hoping to be able to tighten bands up but it sounds like that’s just for low gear?
We used to save 'em this way ^^^ I am not sure if it will work today, chances are good that if you find one in a car that old it is wore slap out but it is worth a try. I would do this then if it did not work I would swap in the 3 gear. A cast iron power slip is just not a very desirable tranny.
A couple of things regarding the 1st gen cast iron glide: 1) It uses a 5 member torque converter, much like Dynaflows. This may have gone south. 2) This transmission has a rear pump. If you get up to 25mph or higher, does it still slip? If it does, then the converter may be the problem. (In Low gear, the slippage is less pronounced due to the gear reduction.) But if it does not slip, then the front pump may be bad. 3) A pressure gauge attached to the main line pressure tap would tell you if your front pump is defective.
Couple things. 1st. I have one out of a 51 which was my parts car. $50 Cherry fluid, with torque converter. Im in Pa tho. 2nd. Since your car is a powerglide car, it should have 3.55s instead of 4.11s which is atad bit better with a 3speed an highway speed. I put a 3.55 in mine. Made a difference. Still running 3 speed also. 3rd. And very important. Powerglide and 3gear dont use da same brake master cylinder. So you will need to deal with that also. In da long run, if you were considering a t5,nows da time.. But you will have to deal with putting an open drive rear diff in also. Just food for thought.
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