Anyone want to talk Chevy! LOL

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j par

j par

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It's funny how out of touch I've got with the Chevy World. I have a customer who I'm helping just kind of refurbish an old car. It's a 1968 Chevy El Camino with a 307 2-speed Powerglide and I would like to know what gears it may have had? We're doing all the simple stuff like redoing the brakes the fuel cell and the front suspension needs plenty of attention. The motor had good even compression all the way around cranking compression that is. We took the motor and tranny out yesterday and of course it was one of the sludgest things I've ever seen on the inside. Our plan is to throw a small cam at it and clean it up and dress it up nice and clean. Put in Edelbrock intake and 4 Barrel on it. And some cheap Summit headers. We're looking to do a general cleanup and safety revision.
So obviously we're not going to do much performance besides the four-barrel headers and Mild cam. Maybe some valve springs and we'll definitely pop the heads off and get a complete reseal kit and get things cleaned up. Maybe a little Port matching maybe not. Our plan would be to build another motor over the next winter for any serious effort. Although his plans are for no serious effort but for some really cool looking hot riding stuff for the most part. My questions become in also using that 2-speed Powerglide? It seems a great thing to have for drag racing or something but for a guy just wanting to Hotrod around town and maybe cruise to the coast I'm thinking of 350 turbo or would fit him better? But then again I don't know how this operates with what kind of gears and all that stuff too?
 
j par said:
It's funny how out of touch I've got with the Chevy World. I have a customer who I'm helping just kind of refurbish an old car. It's a 1968 Chevy El Camino with a 307 2-speed Powerglide and I would like to know what gears it may have had? We're doing all the simple stuff like redoing the brakes the fuel cell and the front suspension needs plenty of attention. The motor had good even compression all the way around cranking compression that is. We took the motor and tranny out yesterday and of course it was one of the sludgest things I've ever seen on the inside. Our plan is to throw a small cam at it and clean it up and dress it up nice and clean. Put in Edelbrock intake and 4 Barrel on it. And some cheap Summit headers. We're looking to do a general cleanup and safety revision.
So obviously we're not going to do much performance besides the four-barrel headers and Mild cam. Maybe some valve springs and we'll definitely pop the heads off and get a complete reseal kit and get things cleaned up. Maybe a little Port matching maybe not. Our plan would be to build another motor over the next winter for any serious effort. Although his plans are for no serious effort but for some really cool looking hot riding stuff for the most part. My questions become in also using that 2-speed Powerglide? It seems a great thing to have for drag racing or something but for a guy just wanting to Hotrod around town and maybe cruise to the coast I'm thinking of 350 turbo or would fit him better? But then again I don't know how this operates with what kind of gears and all that stuff too?
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Being a low performance variant it's most likely a 2.73 or 3.08 peg leg 10 bolt. Glides are great, but if it's in questionable shape just do a th350. You can find them completely rebuilt for way under a grand.
 
And don't worry about it being a 307. They are way underappreciated much like the 318. It was an unglamorous workhorse and powered countless cars and trucks. The only downside to them is the small bore limits valve size.
 
Pascamp said:
Being a low performance variant it's most likely a 2.73 or 3.08 peg leg 10 bolt. Glides are great, but if it's in questionable shape just do a th350. You can find them completely rebuilt for way under a grand.
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The power Glides in unknown condition right now. I'd like to just use what we have and keep the budget low. Either one I can rebuild for the price of the rebuild kit. (Last year I found out how ridiculously easy automatic are to rebuild) what I was kind of wondering is if we kept up the 307 just a little bit will we even see anything because of the 2-speed Powerglide and the freeway gears? I thought possibly because these were a dual purpose they may have put more of a lower gear in it? Kind of like it's half truck so I would figure they would at least look at some truck gears for it. Or just the normal station wagon gears that would have came in it had it been not chopped into a El Camino? LOL
 
Power glides can be built to hold LOTS of power. Used behind SBC on pulling tractors, with Blowers, turbos, had one behind a 1200 HP SBC. Never had issue with it. The engine was another story!
 
Mopar Tim said:
Power glides can be built to hold LOTS of power. Used behind SBC on pulling tractors, with Blowers, turbos, had one behind a 1200 HP SBC. Never had issue with it. The engine was another story!
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I feel comfortable with rebuilding it and or just trying it the way it is. I was just wondering for kind of a Snappy Street kind of feel is this going to make any performance effort feel kind of fruitless? Seat of the pants of course we're talking here.
 
My Dad had a 307 in a 72 Nova ,he bought brand new. I really liked the looks of that car, but the 307-TH350 was a slug from the get-go. And it didn't take Dad long to figure it out either. He wasn't much of a gearhead but he did what he could.
But the 305 Malibu he bought a few years later was worse,waaaaay worse,lol.
IMO that Camino needs a 3speed and some decent gears, plus the ever overlooked TC. Dad had 3 sons, 2 of which were just of driving age in 72. His Nova woulda worn out a lot of tires with a higher stall, and probably wouldn't have survived all of us with 3.91s,lol. Maybe Dad was a gearhead afterall, but just protecting his investment...RIP Papa.
 
Glides are pretty bulletproof. They came with a couple different 1st gear ratios. They were all 1:1 top gear though just like a th350. El camino's usually got car gears. There was really nothing truck about them. Just a Chevelle with a big trunk. The numbers off the trans and rear should let you know what you've got. 3.55 or 3.73 usually are a good compromise with a glide.
 
307’s are ok. Guys used to chooch up 283’s so why not?
Going to upgrade trans, a 700r4 can be had just as cheap as a turbo 350. Then you may see mileage gains. And can play with gearing later if it suits him.
This summer we are pulling a 97 vortec to go in a 69 gmc. With the overdrive the lower gearing will be a bonus. I think it as 3.73 or 3.23.
I forgot exactly what.
Yours sounds like a funner project.
 
My customer is kind of a new bee at all this and inherited this rig from his wife's deceased father. We're trying to keep it simple. At least for this first round of pulling a motor out for the first time for him and still asking me if these are push rods or what? I just want to do kind of a simple clean through and around with the motor and the transmission and then again like we talked about put something on the motor stand next winter for maybe a real performance effort. Right now we can clean this up get it running nice and safe and he can go to some car shows and figure out what he really wants. I guess a good question would be - would the transmission mount be the same for the 350 turbo and the two speed?
 
Tooljunkie said:
307’s are ok. Guys used to chooch up 283’s so why not?
Going to upgrade trans, a 700r4 can be had just as cheap as a turbo 350. Then you may see mileage gains. And can play with gearing later if it suits him.
This summer we are pulling a 97 vortec to go in a 69 gmc. With the overdrive the lower gearing will be a bonus. I think it as 3.73 or 3.23.
I forgot exactly what.
Yours sounds like a funner project.
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If he's got 373 or 323's at least that would be just fine.
 
IIRC, yes. But don’t rely on me for this one.

I had a power glide in a ‘67-straight 6 impala. It was swapped out for a T350. I did not do the work myself.
 
What I remember about PGs was one of the boys in hi-school had one in a 67 2+2 Pontiac, that hit over 80mph in low gear,lol. It couldn't spin the cheapest crap bias-plys avalable. And we had to push it up to 30 mph, with our Mopars,before he could floor it. But with Cherry Bombs on it, that thing sounded good floored for at least a half a mile. But it did have neck-snapping performance...........
when he downshifted it at 60mph, with the throttle closed.

I had that same type trans in my first car, a 1957 Belaire 283. I was not yet 16 when I got it, and the engine was out right, quick for a "rebuild", and a 4bbl; don't you know. A WCFB. Funny thing is it weren't no faster with the 4bbl, but at least it weren't no slower. $75.00 I paid for that set-up, and about 6 more for the gaskets. Before the summer was over, the PG was fried, and at 16, I was not ready to get into that.That was 1969.
 
This is why I like to bounce it off ya"ll, it helps me kind of ying and yang it around in my mind. Keep it simple-one thing at a time.
 
It’s all good J par!
As long as we’re talking cars....
 
A 2004R and some 3:90 or 4:11 gears would work really nice. The 2004R is slimmer than the PG but the trans mount on the 2004R is further towards the back. I always use a non-lock up converter to avoid the switches, wires and brake pedal lock up disconnect. It will be deadly off the line and cruise at low RPM (plus nice gas mileage!!)>
But that's just me!!!!:thumbsup:
treblig
 
One two speed Powerglide experience in my day. My first roommate (older could buy beer!!) He was dumber than a box of rocks. I would borrow his mid-60s Tempest with a GTO hood. If I put it in neutral when I was approaching the corner at too fast of a speed I could whip the corner while floor boarding it and slam it into low as I was rounding the corner and get it to chirp the inside Tire a little bit. Does that count?
 
Honestly considering the big picture I'd just clean up what he's got and let him think a bit. Nobody is really wasting much time with SBC's since the LS's came out. You can get a junkyard LS with an overdrive and all necessary paraphernalia for under a grand. You'll get minimum 300hp, 25mpg, a huge weight savings, claw hammer reliability, and massive future potential.
 
Good point. Unless you want to keep the old stuff for whatever reason.....
Cheaply obtained modern equipment is a home run.
 
Just leave the engine as is and rebuild it properly. Maybe shave the heads a hair. I took a 307 Chevelle from that year, about three years old, and held the throttle to the floor. in neutral, for five minutes. Thing didn't have enough guts to blow itself up. Took a '70 Chevelle from Fremont, Califronia to Reno. Going up the hill floorboarded in spots it actually got over fifty mph, with two people in the car.
I had a '68 Chevelle with a 396. That would be the engine I would recommend.
 
I had a 70 Camaro with a 307. Ran good, smooth, but pretty gutless. 3.25 stoke 3.76 bore if I remember right. Far less bottom end then any teener I've driven. Not sure I'd sink money into it or spend time on the heads, or cam it. It doesn't take long to get to the cost of an GM L31( the 1/2 ton version) drop in crate engine piecing and patching. That and an LT4 cam, easy 370ish. With GM it's hard to beat the bang for the buck you can still get from the dealer support.
 
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