Hot Rods Chevy 283 --What trans should I use??

He did not say "tranny shop" he said "you".

I am a cracker moron, and I can build, rebuild, and upgrade a GM automatic transmission.

If I can, so can you. It is not rocket surgery.

 

I’m sure I can, but I don’t have time these days to learn a new craft. Plus, the vertical learning curve would probably end up costing me more in the long run.

 

Ask my left nut what it thinks about CI 'glides...

 

Engines are also heavy, and I don't try to lift them by myself, either!

 

WTF!! You never drove a car with a manual transmission?? It was just a smart ass remark about "Anti Automatic "!

 

A factory or common built 283 will be real happy to cruise in the 2800-3200 range. A 3.2 to 3.5 gear with no OD works really well behind one for an all around gear. The deeper gear would be for a heavier car like say a Chevelle or impala. I have been building common everyday cars for a very long time and granted it is an opinion from a sage old man but I still believe that OD is way over rated. Give me 1:1 final anytime.

I may not run the loose converter depends on what @Blues4U considers loose I guess, but you all should listen to him, for what the OP asked he is spot on. Granted it is just my sage opinion.

LOL real hot rods run slant pan hydros

 

Of course I have, I learned to drive with a manual shift trans >40 years ago and have driven more than my share of miles with manual shift transmissions, but I've never seen one that sifts via the clutch.

 

It really depends on what your using the car for. I think a stall speed a bit lower than hwy cruise rpm is good for a car aimed at mostly street driving with a fair amount of hwy use. Good acceleration plus good efficiency (less heat) at hwy speed. A car aimed more for the strip or stop light to stop light racing may want it looser than that. Higher stall speeds are going to generate more heat, you have to deal with that.

Allison used to run advertisements showing trucks with their transmissions drag racing the exact same truck with a Road Ranger trans. The Allison equipped truck will smoke the Road Ranger truck every time, no contest. That doesn't mean it's the better transmission for every application, but if you're just talking acceleration, the auto trans is definitely quicker. I think manual shift transmissions are just fun to drive, no doubt about it. But after 4 decades of driving about every type of transmission arrangement out there I no longer define my manhood by the transmission type in my car! haha!

 

I want a 5 speed for my next project but man it gets expensive in a hurry....

 

I use my legs for an excuse, but the truth is that these day I am just tired of shifting. We both have reached a point in life where we have nothing to prove I think. We have paid our dues.

The only road ranger I ever drove was in a log truck and it was a two handed deal. The tractor would have been easy to drive without the 10 speed, LOL choice of transmission is easy once one knows the use of the vehicle. Same with converter I suppose. The converter behind my 355 flashes at about 1200 -1500 depending on the weight of the vehicle. I am comfortable with it, I don't like the converter in the wife's '05 Silverado, it is good for driving but I hate to have to get it rolling when I an trying to move slow. It just is too sloppy for that sort of driving.

 

Put a manual valve body in your automatic...get the benefits of no clutch pedal, and you also get to shift all the time.

Most of the quicker street/strip and drag only cars use this setup.

 

If money plays the bigger role in achieving your goal of an OD 5 speed (or even a 1-1) trans. you really can't beat the Richmond T-10 4 speed. all things considered.
They have gone up from my $1200 trans. purchase (Jegs or Summit?) many years back but in my opinion it's still the best deal going.

 

Want to know something funny???
For years I drove cars with manual transmissions....
When I first bought my '96 F-150 with an auto trans, there were a few times I caught myself reaching for a floor shifter that wasn't there....
Doh!!!!

 

so what about connecting it to the pedal? i asked if anyone had done that in a recent thread but got no response

 

I don't know if anyone has, but you should be able to. The Corvair powerglide...the pedal connects through a long linkage to the transmission, and from there to the throttles.

 

Beaner, I used to think the way you do about overdrive transmissions until I put a Tremec 5 speed behind a 355 SBC. Tremec's shift like butter and at 75 MPH and going to 5th gear the engine RPM's drop to 1900. The Tremec's first gear is still low enough to light up the tires. Big difference in old and new OD transmissions.

 

Yep! Got one in my '05 pony...

 

The obvious choice would be a Cragar adapter and a '39 Ford 3-Speed...

 

I never cared much for the Allison automatic truck transmissions they tended to shift hard with a jerk and where very hard on the driveline and rearends. I always liked a 13 speed. I excelled at shifting one very slow. The last old pete I drove had a 475 cat and a 13 speed. To rest my leg I would put it in neutral at a stop light. And It took me a moment or two to get it in gear and start moving when the light turned green. If anyone behind me wasn't patient and honked their horn. I would shift so slow my trailer would still be in the intersection when the stop light turned back to red. Now the newer trucks that are clutchless shift. They are not automatics. They are a 12-5.09 fuller. and a computer shifts the trans and operates the clutch. When it works properly perfect shifting every time. great when they are new. a nightmare when they get worn or out of adjustment.

 

Yep I like a manual shift in a powerglide. Its no problem to pull it into low and shift into drive after every complete stop.

 

I drove a old GMC 238 Detroit diesel 10 speed Road ranger. Too tall rear gears. I had to gig up the RPM and jump the clutch to get it rolling when loaded to 80,000 pounds on flat ground. You never dared stop it on any sort of grade. Kept the pedal flat on thee floor changed speed with the shift pole. It would pull down on the steep grades. And no matter how fast you downshifted you would still be a gear too high and still lugging. So I learned to get it in a gear low enough to pull the grade before I got there. Or to downshift and skip every other gear when shifting down on a steep grade. That truck wore you out rowing the shift pole. I didn't mind I was just a kid and didn't know any different. It thought I was made the truck driver because I was such a good hand. The truth was no one else wanted to drive that POS.

 

700R4 Overdrive and 3:1 low gear FTW.

Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

We're getting kind of off track here, hope we don't get the thread closed down, but the new automatic manual trans are dual clutch technology, it's the combination of the best of both types of transmissions, and it's the latest technology used in cars too. Almost instantaneous shifting, using paddle shifters. I think Allison's days are numbered to be honest with you, they're gonna have to come up with some significant advance or they'll go the way of Kodak and Polaroid.

 

The wife mobile has a dual clutch 6-speed, built like a manual, externally shifted. No clutch pedal.

Not traditional.

 

The early vehicles had the straight cut gears and no syncros. you had to learn to finesse the shifting. You had to learn to double clutch and match the engine RPM with the ground speed to shift without grinding gears. The old 50,s chevy and ford three speeds low and reverse weren't syncro . They did have angle cut gears. However you moving a actual gear not moving a slider. And if I was the OP I wouldn't rule out a stick transmission.

 

non synchro low was used in most 3 speeds into the mid 60s, and a few into 1970...like my wife's Dart.

We haven't heard from the OP in a long time, my guess is it doesn't really matter...

 

With a 39 Ford coupe wrapped around it.

 

TH200-4R ~120# dry, plus converter (~50#)
TH700R4 ~155# dry, plus converter (~50#)

 

My problem with my 355 is that it doesn't start climbing the cam until it hits about 2500-3K at 1900 I would be lugging it. I think that two things burnt me on OD, the I don't like the feel of most AODs the 4L60 and 4L80s are not too bad but still a little loose for backing up in a down hill driveway. And I drove a 4 cylinder S-10 for a while back in the '90s that literally could only use 5th gear if you were exceeding the speed limit on flat ground.

Actually an OD tranny with the drive train set up properly isn't as bad as all that.

 

OD works better with a powerful engine....