Wicked

Thinking of taking out my TH400 and putting in a Glide for the winter mod. I've heard that I will lose time and I've heard I will gain time. Anybody have first hand experience with this?

Also what would be the cons of going with the glide over my 400 for street driving.

Thanks,
Jason

Stephen 87 IROC

Depends on how much torque the engine produces. The extra low gear of the TH400 will get a car off the line quicker but if it has enough torque, that lower gear isn't really needed.

Theoretically the PG will produce a quicker time. The PG weighs 97 pounds while the TH400 is 130 pounds. The PG only uses up 18 hp to turn the internal mass while the TH400 uses 44 hp.

The TH400 is a very strong tranny and is still used by many racers. If you don't need such a low first gear then install the PG. Don't expect to enjoy the PG if the car is street driven. That's when you're going to want the third gear.

I switched to a glide from a TH400 at mid season but can't give a comparable time with each. I was also having fuel problems at the time. My best time with the TH400 was 11.04 in early July with a fuel system that started acting up shortly after that. After swapping trannies and fixing my fuel system I now run 10.5's.

Some things you're going to want to do when installing a glide. Buy an aftermarket input shaft with turbo splines. That way you can keep your current converter. Buy a new steel clutch hub. The factory cast one is very weak. There are many other tricks that can be done to a glide but that's the minimum that should be done.

Oh and the shift lever on the side of the tranny needs to be changed so that you can use any aftermarket shifter.

Wicked

Thanks for the response. I think on Nitrous I will have plenty of torque for the PG, it's just the motor passes I'm kinda worried about. Though once I get my car tuned, I think 10.8-11.2's is possible. I had the wrong tuning in my car and it still managed a 11.7@113.9 1.61 60' and with a 175 shot it went 10.53@128 1.445 60'.

I would be ok if I lost 60' time, gained MPH, and gained or maintained ET. It would make the car better for ..shhh... street races. It would also make it better for tracks that don't have the best of traction.

As far as street driving, I rarely ever drive mine on the street. It's 80pct race car 20pct street car.

Anybody else have times?

Thanks again.
Jason

Stephen 87 IROC

Because of the glides 1.76 or 1.82 first gear (1.76 is stronger), your 60' times will suffer. Mine are only in the 1.54 range where similar running cars are in the high 1.40's. My best 60' time was with a TH400 but it wasn't my quickest pass. Usually with a glide you have a tall tire and a deep gear to increase the starting line ratio.

On the other hand, even though the 60' time may suffer, you'll get a quicker run by staying in each gear longer. I don't do the 1-2 shift until about the 1/8 mile mark. The longer you can pull in each gear, the more consistant the car can be.

My current combination has 29" tall tires and 4.56 gears. I shift at 7000 and cross the finish line at 7000. This winter I'm installing 4.30 gears to bring the rpms down to around 6800. I'm shifting past my peak powerband and can make a quicker pass with the 4.30 gears. (Dyno/drag 2000 calculations). Doing the gear swap may hurt my 60' even more but with all the torque and hp my engine produces it won't matter. That's the nice thing about using a 9" diff. If I don't like the 4.30 gears I can pull the center section out and bolt the 4.56 gear section back in.

rskrause

Ever driven a car with a 'glide? Very annoying. Even if your car is 80% track, I'd advise against it. The ET gain (if any) will be very small, and there may well be a loss. Most 4th gen's do not have enough hp/weight to launch hard with the first gear in the 'glide. If you have a very high rev setup you can compensate with a very high stall and a high ratio rear end gear, but that is what makes for a completely unsatisfactory street ride.

I am old enough to remember how happy we all were when the TH400 was introduced.

Rich Krause

hotrod 95

Rich, I'm fighting all that now with a glide. I just put in set of 4.56 Fri. so I have not tried them. Drove them on the street last night. It's pretty entertaining with a 5000 converter. But the vert' does better than you would think! Right now I am looking for more mid-range, the 1-2 shift is killing me. The car did best a1.60 60' on the transbrake(3850rpm) with a set of 275/50 bfg's on the 4.10's. So any advice would be appreciated(other than put a turbo in haha). I'm going to see if I can work the glide out first.....

Clyde

Wicked

I may need to get some more times with my TH400. I'm not sure if it's slipping really bad or what. But it doesn't seem right, I was going through the traps at like 6800 rpms going a 128mph trap speed. It may be right, but seems really high considering I have 3.73 gears and 28" tall tires. My friend goes through at like 7800 rpms going 134mph w/ 4.56's and 29" tall tire.

I know if I go with 3.42's because I'm running out of rpms, there is no way I can go with a glide. The car wouldn't 60' at all.

Jason

DarthIROC

Im currently looking to try to get a powerglide for mine. The reduced parasitic power loss is rather attractive compared to the TH-400.

I cant afford insurance on two cars to drive the Camaro on the street anyway. But I dont see why it would be so much harder to drive a glide on the street compared to a TH-400. Arent the last gears in each the same anyway? If your running the same stall and gears in each I dont see the big differnece.

Stephen 87 IROC

Here's a thread you might want to follow

http://hre.com/discus/messages/2/674.html?1066685894

BES-383

Buy a Precision Industries lock up converter, with their valve body (VB). VB kit has transbrake,new pump,input shaft, and llock up capability in second and third gear. Thats 1:1 ratio in 2nd and 3rd. Have not got track times yet. Hope to make it this Saturday.

Joe Brodman

Jason, 128MPH w/ a 1:1 tranny ratio, 3.73's, and 28" tires = 5729 RPM. Of course, w/ an auto the RPM's will go up a couple hundred do to converter slip. Then of course if there is significant tire growth, the RPM's drop slightly (though an inch of growth would only drop it 200 RPM).

Regardless, something sounds wrong. My guess is at 128MPH you should have been right around 6000RPM.

rskrause

Let us know if it holds up to the hp. That's been the bugaboo with lockup converters to date; they won't handle high hp. I'd get one if I thought it was man enough for the job.

Rich Krause

Wicked

I sent them an e-mail and they got back to me, their kits are rather pricey going anywhere from $1900-2800 and my guess is that my kit would cost closer to 2800 because of all the stuff I need (trans break, manual valve body etc..)

I would be curious to see how these would handle on big horse power cars. I'd sure hate to spend 3k on something that I cant trust to last me a few seasons.

Jason