Could anyone tell me the problems I am likely to run into fitting a powerglide trans to to a 53 Chevy that was originally a 3 speed manual? I am going to be using a 53/54 trans so it's still a torque tube set up as I don't want to go to the hassle of swapping out the rear end. My main concern is that I can use the driveshaft that is currently behind the manual trans or is this something else I am going to have to source?
Shouldn't be an issue. A guy I used to run wiht did something similar. Only what we did was put a diff and torque tube from a '53/'54 'Glide car into a '50 that was a 3 speed. The only issue we had was the brakes, Huck on front, Bendix on the rear.
I did the opposite swap. Very straight forward. I would recommend you consider pulling the whole the engine to do the swap. We never could get the trick of dropping the trans on 53/54's without at least unbolting the motor. Don't forget about the flexplate!
i did this swap on a 54 sedan delivery i had and it went well. expect some gain in red light performance as the powerglide gets you off the line smooth and strong. good luck with the job.
Thanks for your answers guys, all slightly different takes but all pointing in the same direction! If anyone else has any useful advice/info let me know. Neil.
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