I have a 68 Impala that I am repairing for when I can drive next year. I have been rebuilding the 307. I’ve got a 350 intake, a 600 cfm carb, a new camshaft, and am looking for 305 heads. But the biggest problem is the transmission; the low band and the clutch packs are shot. A transmission shop told me they would rebuild it for $600-$650 if I take it out of the car myself. So my question is can I remove the transmission myself in the driveway? How high does the car need to be raised in order for me to get the transmission out from under it? Is $600-$650 a good price for a transmission rebuild? Also would buying a used Powerglide be a bad idea? Thank you in advance for your help.
call it a 63 chevy so we can answer your question You can pull a PG in your driveway, if you have the luxury of having stands and a floor jack then you'll be 5 steps ahead of the first time I did it (in the dirt with a bottle jack and a long 2x12! really) also you can rebuild it yourself, parts are not real expensive, and you can spend the $400 you save on a set of 4 really good jack stands and a full size chinese floor jack.
So 12 is high enough to pull it out form under the car? I have a piece of shit floor jack and some good jack stands.
I see your close to Poughkeepsie, NY. Ever run into a guy who runs a single turbo red 70ish Nova or maybe someone with a Blue 67 Cutlass with a Procharged BBC? The guy with the Procharged Cutlass has painted the streets of Poughkeepsie with burnout marks hundreds of feet long. The guy with the Nova builds a mean glide but would probably also do a stock rebuild for ya. I don't have any numbers but figured you might know him since your so close. Now that I think about it, the guy with the Nova might actually live in Highland. Glides are pretty basic transmissions. If you have a little mechanical knowledge, you might consider picking up The Powerglide Handbook by Carl Munroe and taking the rebuild on yourself. Just lay everything out the way you took it out and assemble the way the book describes.
If it were mine, I'd give serious consideration to swapping the PG for a short tail TH350. I made the same swap in a '68 Impala years ago and it felt like I picked up 50 horsepower by having the lower first gear.
You need to be able to drag the trans out from under the car, the bellhousing needs to clear the frame, that's about it. If you can leave the trans on a jack it would be nice, but in real life working in the driveway conditions that usually doesn't happen. Just be very careful! lotsa opportunities to get yourself or at least your fingers squished. Also look at a good sized bookstore for the Carl Munroe book on aluinum powerglides....could be very helpful....
A TH350 would be better, but cost is really the limiting factor. I don’t know the guy with the Red Nova or the Blue Cutlass. If I try to rebuild it myself how seriously could I fuck it up?
Can't help you with the removal, but here in Buffalo you can get a powerglide rebuilt for about $300-$400. You may want to shop around. You can get used PG's anywhere from $50.00 to$150.00
if you rebuilt it yourself and fuck it up pretty bad, then you could always just find a good used th350 for $50 and be done with it. the swap is pretty easy.
I'd listen to anything squirrel has to say. He has helped me out quite a few times and he really knows his stuff. If it were me i'd go for the used th350. They are cheap and you can find them anywhere.
I've got a th350 and converter that I would give ya too but it's a long tail. I have a glide too but that's goin in my Malibu when I get around to building it.
The powerglides are super simple to 'refresh' if all it really needs is clutches/bands - I was running them in a direct drive setup for a circle track car and could drop it, change clutches and have it back up in the car in about 1.5 hours or less (it was a modified so there really wasn't anything blocking access to belhousing bolts so it came out in a couple minutes.) Anyhow - I'd say tackle it yourself - especially if you know the history of it and knew it was running before burning up the clutches. Rebuild kits run under $100 and have all the frictions, steels, bushings and parts for rebuilding - or you can go the budget route and get a band, a set of pump seal/converter seal, clutches and steels and freshen it up for $60 or so. PM me if you need info on what to do once you get it dropped... Also - I doubt 12" is going to clear - probably more like 14" or so... Here's what I've done in the past... Drive the rear up on ramps, set the parking brake, then jack the front end up by the crossmember and set stands under the frame - if you've got to go a little higher - then put a block of wood between jack and crossmember and be super careful raising it a little at a time and racheting up the stands so that if it falls it won't fall but an inch or so onto the stands.
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