[Delray210]

Does anyone know of a transmission re-builder who will work on a cast iron power glide in the Southeast? Turns out the trans re-build was botched and didn't come to my attention right away as several months went by before the car was ready for the road.

I've gotten a lot of "Check with ol' so and so, he used to work on them" I've checked with 4 or 5 old so and so's and the best I can get is : I'll do it. Let me get whatever, blah blah blah out of the way and I'll call. Months ago.

I've learned that cast iron power glides weigh 250 lbs., They are not the same as aluminum power glides, just because someone has built 100 drag racing power glides doesn't mean they know anything about the old ones. And, apparently, the bell housing in different, so I can't order one from Summit.
The car is back together and is in Oxford, Mississippi. Thanks.

 

[angs1957]

What troubles are you having with your PG?

 

[Delray210]

What troubles are you having with your PG?

It's burping fluid out of the filler tube. It's a one owner car with about 55k miles. We had the transmission re-built and I didn't get to test it right away. I've found an old Master Power Glide Tech who named 4 or 5 things it could be. I just can't talk him into working on it.

 

[56ls408]

A couple things you might try.
1. leave the fluid level one quart low
2.remove the tail housing drill & tap a 1/8" pipe threads add a 90* fitting & run a hose up near the top rear of the engine put a plastic vent like used in a 350 transmission or rear axle housing.Later iron PG had the vent.
3.change the transmission fill tube to one for a 1958-62 they are longer might help with the burping there is one currently on ebay.
4. start the car once a week or so put it in gear forward & reverse
Thats all I got & this is only if the transmission is functioning properly when driving may still leak some but might stop the burping condition that root cause may be wear in the valve body where the input shaft sealing ring wears into the valve body. Good luck.

 

[Carmine2]

A couple things you might try.
1. leave the fluid level one quart low
2.remove the tail housing drill & tap a 1/8" pipe threads add a 90* fitting & run a hose up near the top rear of the engine put a plastic vent like used in a 350 transmission or rear axle housing.Later iron PG had the vent.
3.change the transmission fill tube to one for a 1958-62 they are longer might help with the burping there is one currently on ebay.
4. start the car once a week or so put it in gear forward & reverse
Thats all I got & this is only if the transmission is functioning properly when driving may still leak some but might stop the burping condition that root cause may be wear in the valve body where the input shaft sealing ring wears into the valve body. Good luck.

Some good advice there. The driving season in the northeast is almost upon us. I plan on driving my car much more this year then ever before. So, hopefully the burping will be at a minimum. When I put the car away at the end of the season, I'm going to make it a point to start and run it weekly. There's no reason why I can't, except laziness. I really want to see if this helps. Mine leaks quite a lot and regardless of this, quite candidly, I still don't care for a Powerglide. For me, Chevy was way behind in the transmission dept. Cadillac, Pontiac, Olds, had already arrived or were on the verge of a 4 speed automatic transmission. Someone was sleeping at the switch at the Chevrolet division. JMO, Carmine.

 

[stoveboltgeek]

Some good advice there. The driving season in the northeast is almost upon us. I plan on driving my car much more this year then ever before. So, hopefully the burping will be at a minimum. When I put the car away at the end of the season, I'm going to make it a point to start and run it weekly. There's no reason why I can't, except laziness. I really want to see if this helps. Mine leaks quite a lot and regardless of this, quite candidly, I still don't care for a Powerglide. For me, Chevy was way behind in the transmission dept. Cadillac, Pontiac, Olds, had already arrived or were on the verge of a 4 speed automatic transmission. Someone was sleeping at the switch at the Chevrolet division. JMO, Carmine.

The Hydra-Matic 4 speed automatic was introduced on the 1940 Oldsmobile. 1940 Oldsmobile's Exclusive Hydra-Matic Drive

After seeing some use in tanks and weapons carriers in WW II, it was used across almost the entire postwar GM line. HydraMatics were also used in Chevy and GMC light trucks. A heavy duty version called the PowerMatic was used in big trucks and busses. The Rosa Parks bus (now in the Henry Ford Museum) is equipped with a PowerMatic - I saw the bus myself.

Buick and Chevy, however, went their own way. Buick developed the DynaFlow, sometimes derisively referred to as the DynaFlop. Chevy did the Powerglide. The 1950-52 PG didn't even shift itself - it stayed in Drive and did funky things with the stator in the torque converter to do torque multiplication when starting off. I've never driven a '50-52, but I understand the acceleration was exciting, but not in a good way.

The '53-54 did shift from Low to Drive. The PG was revamped again for '55-57 to handle the V8, and again in '58. The aluminum PG was introduced in 1962 on the 327, and used on everything in 1963.

You have to remember that Chevy was the lowest cost car offered by GM, and cost was always an issue. The PG was obviously less complicated and therefore less expensive to build than the HydraMatic.

The HydraMatic was a very good early automatic transmission. That said - if you think a '55 Olds wouldn't be having a few leak problems by now when it sits for months on end, well....

 

[stoveboltgeek]

Also FWIW - Chevy introduced the PG in 1950. Ford did not offer an automatic until 1951. The 1950 Dodge did have the Fluid Drive transmission (which still required a clutch pedal and shifting), but I'm not sure if it was offered in Plymouth. So, despite the shortcomings, Chevy was the first to market among the low priced three to offer a car that didn't need a clutch pedal.

 

[Carmine2]

After posting my thread SBK, I thought more about it and you mentioned cost. I think you're correct and that a 4 speed automatic would have had a bigger expense then the Powerglide. My father had a 1960 Cadillac with the 4 speed automatic and that car for being heavy, could move right along. I just think Chevy should have come up with at least a 3 speed automatic long before they did. What year did they introduce the 3 speed automatic; was it 1966??, Carmine.

 

[56ls408]

The 400 came out in 1964 in some GM maybe Buick & Cadillac 65 for Chevy if I remember correctly.

 

[stoveboltgeek]

After posting my thread SBK, I thought more about it and you mentioned cost. I think you're correct and that a 4 speed automatic would have had a bigger expense then the Powerglide. My father had a 1960 Cadillac with the 4 speed automatic and that car for being heavy, could move right along. I just think Chevy should have come up with at least a 3 speed automatic long before they did. What year did they introduce the 3 speed automatic; was it 1966??, Carmine.

THM400, 1966, THM350, 1969. That said, the PG continued being available as the budget automatic. A friend had a '72 Chevelle with a 307 and PG. A girl I dated had a '73 Vega with a PG.

 

[vich57]

Vega with a PG

As a mechanic, I had to work on a few. Very sad, underpowered combination...
They even had a switch to disable the A/C clutch when the throttle was wide open.

 

[stoveboltgeek]

A girl I dated had a '73 Vega with a PG.

As a mechanic, I had to work on a few. Very sad, underpowered combination...
They even had a switch to disable the A/C clutch when the throttle was wide open.

I didn't date that girl for her taste in cars. Good thing, huh? I think her parents actually bought it for her. We eventually went our separate ways, though not for any reasons related to cars.

Another girl I dated had a POS Pinto that was a couple steps ahead of the junkyard. Her car matched the kind of girlfriend she turned out to be.

The very last girl I dated had saved her money after graduating from college, and had recently bought a new Corolla to replace the Rambler she drove in college (and thoroughly despised). She was a keeper - and still is all these years later!

 

[angs1957]

I would follow some of the recommendations some members have posted first, it could be as simple as too much fluid