The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop stovebolt to powerglide?

I was considering the idea of changing my wife's truck to automatic transmission. I was wondering, has anyone ever put a powerglide in a pickup? If so, whats a good transmission? Whats a good donor vehicle?

what year and size truck? what engine? you sure don't want an actual "powerglide", at least not the original cast iron version, about 1950-60

Bill

What engine in what truck?

During the 60's the Powerglide was used in pickups so GM thought it was an okay idea. I once owned a '66 with a factory 327 and Powerglide and it was a nice driving truck.

There are two basic versions of the Powerglide, the original cast iron case version and the later alloy case type. My '66 was the later one. That later one was never made with the bolt pattern to bolt directly to a Stovebolt six.

The early version came with both the V-8 pattern and the early six pattern. GM never used (far as I know) the early version in pickups, but instead installed the 4-speed Hydra-Matic.

Unless you have a Powerglide I'd encourage thinking in terms of a newer automatic.

The truck is a '50 chevy 3600. The engine is a 235. Honestly, i'de be happy with whatever bolts up the easiest. The reason im thinking automatic is because she cant drive stick.

Why not use a 50-55-1st Powerglide in a truck? Perhaps because the enclosed driveshaft length (and spring mounts) would not work? Or, is there something else inherently incompatible?

its a 3/4 longbox, it has a two piece driveshaft. Honestly i cant remember if its a torque tube going to a prop shaft, or if its two normal prop shafts. No matter what the case is, its not hard for me to make a driveshaft that will work.

My main concern is finding a tranny that will just bolt up to the 235, i dont want to spend $$$ on adapters. We wont be using the truck for heavy work, so im not worried about the tranny being able to handle heavy loads. Eventually, i would like to swap out the rear end for something with road gears. right now its running 5:something gears with the stock 4spd. I had a heck of a time gettin her up to 30mph. Poor ol' gal cant seem to get out of her own way. Could be because she hasnt run for 20sum years before i brought her home.

Unless it's been changed it will have a torque-tube front half of the driveshaft - back to the carrier bearing, with an open shaft back to the diff. And the 50-54 cars with Powerglide had torque-tubes. The only automatics that will bolt direct to your 235 are the 62 and earlier cast-iron PG and the early truck Hydramatic. I think another guy who has posted on here has done the PG swap. Try a search of these forums. Good luck with this and keep us posted.

The 5.14 rear gears were an option with 4.57 being standard in a 3/4-ton. You might find a 4.11 gear set from a later truck with the Eaton rear that would swap right in.

I think when you compare the cost of rebuilding a cast iron Powerglide or a Hydra-Matic (the only autos that could simply bolt up--you have to get the right version of each) to the cost of an adapter and something like a TH350 you might find the adapter is not all that expensive. Maybe you'll find a good one cheap, but its hard to bet on.

I'm concerned about the condition of your motor. If you have trouble pulling past 30 mph you may have more problems than just a transmission will solve. Even with the 5.14 gears 45 or more should be possible with a healthy motor and stock size tires.

poor truck hasnt run in over 20 years. It still needs the cobwebs spit out of her.