3/7/03

QUESTION 1

Mike,

How would I be able to determine if the stock Powerglide planetaries on my workbench are 1.76 or 1.82 just by looking?

Thanks.

Michael Holder

Michael,

It is fairly simple to identify the Powerglide planets. The small stamped steel housing with the small gears in it is a 1.82 or 6-cylinder planetary, which came from GM in low horsepower 4-6 cylinder applications.

The larger cast steel housing with the larger gears is the 1.76 V8 set up. In almost any performance applications, the 1.76 is the one you want.

Mike

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QUESTION 2

Mike, I am racing a '68 Camaro in the Netherlands. The car has a 383 Chevy small block with a TH-350. It is running 9.4 seconds at 144 mph. The transmission is performing really good, but after about 20 passes, the front planetary gears are burned up. That means that due to the helical gears, the thrust washers fail and melt down.

Do you have a solution for this problem? Maybe straight gears?

Greetings from Holland.

David

David, You have a lubrication problem. The fluid you're using isn't up to the load you are putting to it. You need a high viscosity semi-synthetic racing ATF. If you can't find anything in Holland, go to our website www.mikestransmission.com. We have just what you need.

Mike

QUESTION 3

Mike,

I have a 3800-lb. car with a 10.5:1 compression 355. I have a TH-350 trans and 3.31 posi. I was going to put in a 3500+ stall, but I have been hearing different things from different people.

I hope you can clear it all up. I am going to be driving it on the street, so my question is, will that kind of stall hurt my overall performance?

Brent Cusick

Brent,

The possible problem here is the gear ratio. The 3.31 gear is a little tall for a 3500 stall torque converter. The problem is when you're cruising around you need to be above the stall to keep the temperature down. With this type of set up, you will need a trans temp gauge and possible a large cooler. More rear gear will give you more acceleration from a stop and also couple up the converter better.

Mike

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