Thanks for the information and suggestions everyone. I was hoping to make the switch from the manual trans to the automatic to save my clutch leg (arthritis), but think I'll have to wait awhile to do that since everyone agrees the castiron powerglide that I have isn't the best choice and I have virtually no budget to buy another automatic one right now. Maybe that is a future upgrade. If I can simply remove the bad engine and swap over the bell housing and flywheel to the replacement engine, I'll be a big step closer to getting it back on the road. I guess it makes sense to get a new clutch and pressure plate since everything will be apart?
