DragStuff

Getting my dad's nova ready. Currently its a 406 TH350/10bolt. The goal is to keep the motor, switch to a powerglide(need does it need a new driveshaft) what about the detent cable? and the 4.10 gears. Any suggestion on torque converter? How about the Transmission? I see there are a couple different first gear selections. Any advise is always appreciated.

What are you planning on doin with the car? What tires will you be running? All of these will be a big factor on some of your choices that way your not having to upgrade later when the car gets faster.

The Nova is a 1972, it has a 406, dart iron eagle 215 heads with a COMP 12-609-5 Cam, 750 double pumper with a Victor Jr intake. 4.10 gears, slicks are Toyo 28x9. He just had a roll cage installed, battery is in the trunk and a 5 gallon fuel cell. There is no back seat and just about everything that is not needed was taken out. He definately wants to go with a powerglide with an electric shift solenoid. Currently he has a TH350 with a 2500 stall converter. No baseline for this combination. The car did run 13.08 with a 327. He does have South Side machine bars on the car and mult springs with them bent and add a ply.

My question, will the driveshaft fit a powerglide? He wants to use a trans brake. What size converter? Does a powerglide need a detent cable?


The car is going to be track only.

I have a powerglide in my camaro and from what I was told, you should be able to use the driveshaft from the T-350, because this was my concern when my engine builder said he'd like to see me switch from PG to a T-350 and I just spent money getting a new shaft made.

The tranny crossmember should also be the same for the T-350 and P/G and also the tranny yoke should have the same splines.

If you would need a driveshaft, I used Shaftmasters and ordered a custom shaft with 1350 joints. the can even supply you with the tranny yoke if you need one.

As for the first gear selection, from what I understand, there was two gears, 1.76 and 1.82. The 1.82 gear set is significantly weaker than the 1.76 gear set. The 1.82 has a stamped steel carrier, the 1.76 has a cast carrier, therefore it can take more of a hit. Now from what I was told, and it may not be correct, you can tell what gear you have in your P/G by checking out the factory numbers and if it was for a V-8 car, it should be 1.76 and 6 cylinder cars had the 1.82.
I have been told though that the 1.82 gears will work in cars going into the 9's but it is not recommended.

Mine does not have the detent cable and if you don't have a manual valve body and want a good kit to convert it over to one, use the kit made by Trans King and follow the instructions for the manual convertion. I cost me $30?? from Summit.

A good book to get is one written by Carl Munroe from TSR Transmissions. You can get that book anywhere and has a lot of good info.