At least they should have given Chevy a 3-speed automatic like Ford and Dodge. The bands had to be adjusted and replaced. I have never heard of anybody replacing one and in taxi circles, they are legandary, although before my time. The Powerglide lingered on as a low-cost automatic transmission option primarily for the six-cylinder and four-cylinder until it was phased out after the 1973 model year, replaced by the. That thing was slow and thirsty. He is using 355 Chevy small block.
There was no punch off the line. Most transmission shops are flamilar with these transmissions due to the progressive popularity of these old pickups for restoration and they are also used in drag racing circuits as well. The modern Turbo-Hydramatic started becoming available, initially only on the new big-block motors, starting in 1965. My 66 Tempest was 326 two barrel that actually felt pretty quick. It could be something internal but these things have a reputation for being stone axe reliable. Its simple and robust design has led drag racing enthusiasts to work with it, giving the Powerglide an effective service life of nearly five decades past its intended obsolescence.
The transmission underwent little change, major exceptions being a switch from iron to aluminum casting and the addition of manual first and second gears. Both Orange and Green use ethylene glycol bases for the coolant. Early models were air cooled, and later 60's versions used a fluid cooler in the radiator. Had a friend with a junkyard. Second, the drivers are not responsible for repairs, so they tend to run the bag off their cars. My grandfather drove his 64 Parisienne until about 1990 with a 283 and a powerglide until he gave up his license at age 90. I just remember it as a disappointment that made me appreciate my Ghia.
Again it was no slouch. Sister was learning to drive when she slipped it into reverse at 30 mph. Checking the tranmissiong fluid is just like checking oil. This happened with transmission fluid and filter service every 12,000 miles to try and stave off the inevitable. The new Powerglide was a dramatic improvement over the older transmissions. This is what clicks through the gears when you shift.
It is heavier duty fluid than the fluid that came in the transmission originally. While drivers had to shift manually into high gear, they loved the idea of driving without using a clutch, third gear and overdrive. In short: It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. The Powerglide from 1950 to 1961 featured a cast-iron case and no oil pan. In the olden days with mechanical fuel pumps on the engine and no fuel injection, plus real big chrome bumpers, push starting might have been more effective than cranking.
It was already loaded to the gills like a mini-Impala, why not spend the extra green? Easy to say, not so easy to do. After 63, all were aluminum, and the only thing they really share, with the cast iron version, is the name. I still have the 65 to this day and its a drag car now and still has the original Glide in it. Apparently that was death to resale value. Around the 3:10 mark, the car makes an acceleration run starting in low. I opted for a reverse bcause my parking brake is good. According to Hemmings Motor News, pre-1967 codes were five or six digits long.
. Legend and slug, all in one. Of course, in the real world, things like how the front suspension caster reacts to high speeds in reverse enter into it, but it was fun trying! Power band is nice and flat. This treatment wreaked havoc on the transmission's components, which led to premature repairs. By 1955, more than half of all Chevys featured the Powerglide. This is the video I was referring to: a 56 Studebaker Golden Hawk with the Packard 352 and Twin Ultramatic. Seems in the early days of automatic transmissions all of them used the same fluid.
In any case, torque convertors have significant losses, which is why modern transmissions use torque convertors with a narrower range, as well as locking up the convertor almost constantly. In fact, there was a switch at the bottom of the injection tank that automatically popped open the wastegate if the fluid reservoir was empty, to avoid engine damage. Good idea in 1940 or 1950; no real relevance today. When I went looking for deep pans to increase the volume of fluid and a floor shifter to replace some bad linkage it was no go. It tries to keep the engine at max efficiency, by increasing the effective powerband pb is from the rpm for max torque to the rpm for max power, as a rule of thumb from the narrow engine-characteristic to a wider, more tractable range.
Simpson, a former Ford engineer. I grew up around Chevrolet cars of all sorts and Canadian Pontiacs not a big difference and most of them had Powerglide. And of course you are right. After about 8 months of ownership it started making a noise above 50 mph. A large slot screwdriver and some muscle would pop it back into alignment. I did run that one a lot harder.