They're not cheap. I always ran stock cases in my dragsters and never had a problem, 4.50's in the last one behind a 582 BBC. Maybe I was lucky. I am putting a after market bell on the one I'm building now, street and strip 5.3 turbo. I hate fooling with the shields for the bell housing. You got a really nice build and fab work going on here!

 

Thanks! It's fun and keeping it on a budget adds to the challenge

 

Few easy tips / upgrades to improve durability of that Powerglide:

1. Install a heavy duty band adjuster screw. Stock ones can be prone to bending which will result in a band failure with progressive damage to the direct drum. I like ATI part number 205313 because it features an external hex on the adjuster screw instead of a socket head so it makes in-car band adjustment for maintenance much easier.
2. Install a heavy duty direct clutch hub. The stock clutch hub is cast iron & will fail. Sonnax part number 28304 (or similar) is a good quality, reasonably priced choice that will fit the stock direct drum with clutch counts in the 4 - 6 range.
3. Assuming the pump is in good condition replace the stock pump gears with Sonnax part number 28201. The stock pump gears will eventually experience drive tang failure on the inner pump gear.
4. Install a dual ring servo for improved sealing & shift speed. Avoid models that use o-rings for seals. You want to stick with stock style cast iron sealing rings or PTFE sealing rings on the servo. Sonnax part number 28821-02K as well as a variety of others all work well. You can re-use the stock cast iron servo cover. No real need to replace with aftermarket billet unless that's just something you want. Sonnax 28133-HD servo spring is also a smart, affordable upgrade while you're in there.
5. Sonnax part number 56241 is a roller thrust bearing that will fit in place of the stock GM thrust washer that rides between the pump stator & direct drum. This is another affordable upgrade that will improve thrust load capacity in the transmission & reduce friction without having to do any machine work to the pump stator or direct drum.
6. Re-use the original used band that comes out of that transmission as long as it's in good shape. If it's a little glazed then you can de-glaze it with some 400+ grit sandpaper & wet sand in some solvent. Original GM bands are the best Powerglide bands out there, have excellent long-term wear characteristics, & will hold more power than any aftermarket band currently available.

 

Thank you for the detailed response! I'll lay out all my parts but I think I have purchased almost everything covered that you listed out, though not necessarily the same brands.

I'm glad you mentioned the gears as I missed that and thought the OEM ones were good to reuse. I plan to document the tear down and build as I get into it.

 

There are some mods you can do to the pump that help. a lot of info on the internet on this, I replaced my servo cover, I have heard of them cracking. I've seen people reuse them and put large washers on the bolts to spread out the clamping force. Pete gave some real good advice.

 

Brands aren't as critical; those are just part numbers I know off the top of my head for the most part.

If it were a TH350 or TH400 then the OEM gears are for sure the way to go whenever possible, but PG's are a different story for sure.

 

I went high 8's with a 1.76 and that is what I'm putting in the one I'm building. I'll cross my fingers when it leaves the line and say a prayer. They sure are proud of the straight cut 1.80's. Good luck with yours, sure is a nice build.

 

Progress!

I finally had a night to myself and got a bunch of stuff knocked out. Some piddly shit like a new coolant reservoir and replacing a hose coupling. Some more fun like the bumpers "finished" in primer and mounted and the tail lights hooked up.

I reused the OE lenses and cut out new buckets using 3157 lights and pigtails. This saved a good bit of weight over the original stuff. I was going to body mount the lights but it would have been tricky to adjust and get the fit remotely close so I just bolted them in similar to how the originals did.

A few more punchlist things to get done but with luck I hope to make it to test and tune next week

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...And wow the front looks naked without the chin spoiler.

 

Good job on the tail lights.

 

I wasn't able to make it to Milan. My youngest brought home a super daycare bug that shut all the fun down.

I did get all the maintenance stuff knocked off the punch list. The front line lock is finally hooked up, and the rear line lock hooked up with the 2 step. Garage tests say all that is working.

Someone forgot to tighten the transmission cooler lines at the case and pumped a giant amount of fluid onto the floor. It's such a bitch to tighten too with the exhaust in the way. I made up a quick crow's foot and with a swivel was able to tighten it up without removing the exhaust.

Remember to work extra harder just to avoid one small easy task!

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Thats an "investment in the future", not a waste of time to do one simple task

 

A quick rip today between rainstorms and it's very promising. First tests of the rear line lock / 2 step combo are very promising.

Previously I couldn't hold more than 2300rpm or it would push through. Now I have it set to 3100 and it held it fine. Felt like a clutch dump letting go of the button -at least compared to before.

Also whoever pointed out the line lock acts like a check valve deserves a beer! So easy to push button then pump the brakes up tight.

Hopefully some good gopro video coming soon.

 

A couple trips around the corn fields this evening...

Short shifted 1-2, bumped limiter, and it's generally squirelly...



Light burnout to see if that helps. Still slippery haha. The line locks are working mint and seat of the pants it feels faster than ever.

 

Yea! I felt it....

 

So I thought I was good to go but on a random Sunday drive the brakes felt strange. It had decent pedal at first stab but felt like it was slowly leaking down. I slowly returned home and parked it.

No leaks anywhere on the car, fluid full, etc. so I just ordered a new master.

I modified the bolt pattern again, bench bled, then power bled for what felt like forever. The pedal feels great and holds firm. The old one was only 3 years old but what's $35 for piece of mind.

And now I might just be ready to go run this pos

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On . my previous project I went through 3 GM master cyls, 3 turn signal assy, 3 ignition switches and 4 steering boxes, 1st one was Speedway's vega box, second was a used 525 and the last 2 were Borgesons. It was a 33 plymouth and the steering had me pulling my hair out, going back over and checking thinking I done something wrong. Never know what you are getting anymore. Love this build, you are doing a great job.

 

That's a bunch of parts. I'm not there yet but I bet I haven't put 500 miles on this thing in total!

 

Quick trip to Milan yesterday and it was half successful.

The good:
-Drove to work, dragstrip, and home. Over 70 miles with no issues
-4 passes and no major failures
-New best 60ft (1.63 from previous 1.82)!
-New best time (11.6 vs 11.7)

The bad:
-Front brake line fitting started leaking. Tightened it and continued.
-Pushed through rear line-locked brakes on 2 step.
-Forgot all go pros
-Pushed to hard on shifter and went from 2-N on best past. Still recovered but it's tweaked for sure
-TH400 has a "whirring" sound on drive home. Or my ears were ringing?
-MPH down at 111 from 118
-No significant improvement after new turbo and weight loss

At my last outing I had put 2° timing in it but fat fingered and put in 4°. Then ran a personal best... I pulled that timing back out hoping to add it back in slowly and then completely forgot about it.

From the Wallace calculator just for arguments sake: (http://www.wallaceracing.com/et-hp-mph.php)

Old weight 3350# 118mph 424 rwhp
New weight 3200# 111mph 337 rwhp

So those 4° added 87 rwhp?! Since my compression measured low and I'm spraying h20/methanol probably.

The new plan:
-New shifter - thinking a B&M pro gate 80889
-Check every fucking brake fitting front to back and rebleed again
-Pull pan on TH400 and check fluid and filter.
-Add that timing back in and send it

So maybe I should be happy I ran a new PB on low power!

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So I'm going to try this weekend for what will likely be the last attempt this year at a test n tune.

I got the new shifter installed and it seems good. Hopefully I quit playing the find the rev limiter game...

I pulled the pan and replaced the Th400 filter while I had it in the air. It had a whirring sound on my last drive which some say can be a clogged filter. Might have been my ears ringing too but who knows. It had a little metal on the magnet but the fluid looked fresh otherwise.

A new switch plate for the line lock and 2-step arcade button should be waiting on the printer.

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Only use screen type filters in your TH400. The Dacron alternative is garbage & can definitely lead to a noisy TH400.