I am in the process of restoring my 1963 Parisenne Safari. I have a 350 V8 in it and the transmission shop is telling me to install a turbo 350 instead of restoring the power glide. The shop says the transmissions are the same size and I would have no modifications to do except install a kick down cable. If anyone has ever done this or had it done any advise would be appreciated.
I pulled the glide out of my Acadian and put in a TH350 when I ran the 427 swap years ago. It is so much nicer to drive with the TH350. I would agree, put the glide in the corner somewhere and run the 3 speed.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I once swapped a PG for a TH350 in a small block 68 Impala. Besides making a bracket for the kickdown, I also had to modify the PG shift linkage, which is different. Performance and driveablity were better, but I also like the PG a lot, and wouldn't necessarily swap one out unless I was doing a big block conversion. I had a 283 PG in a 65 Parisienne convt that ran great and would cruise all day at 70-80 mph. Just swapped a 64 283/PG into a 62 Parisienne in place of the 261-6/cast iron PG. Before it stuck a valve it was good for 90+mph. 283 was a drop in except for the radiator and the engine mounts on the frame, but the V8 mounts do bolt to pre-drilled holes.
I once swapped a PG for a TH350 in a small block 68 Impala. Besides making a bracket for the kickdown, I also had to modify the PG shift linkage, which is different. Performance and driveablity were better, but I also like the PG a lot, and wouldn't necessarily swap one out unless I was doing a big block conversion. I had a 283 PG in a 65 Parisienne convt that ran great and would cruise all day at 70-80 mph. Just swapped a 64 283/PG into a 62 Parisienne in place of the 261-6/cast iron PG. Before it stuck a valve it was good for 90+mph. 283 was a drop in except for the radiator and the engine mounts on the frame, but the V8 mounts do bolt to pre-drilled holes.
I just removed, a healthy smooth 350 turbo from behind a real grumpy big block (real grumpy) They will take a lot of abuse with a shift kit...
My vote would be for turbo 350, given the 2 candidates. If you would like overdrive and lockup convertor for fuel milage, then I would seriously consider the 200-4R transmision. It bolts in where a turbo 350 has been and there is minimal work to wire the lockup circuit. As well, this transmision can be built to with stand 500hp for under $1800, no core! I have swapped out a turbo 350 and replaced it with a 200-4R behind a mild 327 and loved the extra lower 1st gear. Lockup and overdrive with 3.42:1 gears, the 327 with a quadrajet was good for over 20mpg. Not bad for old tech!
I had a bagged turbo350 in my parisienne when i bought it, and it blew 2nd and 3rd after crossing some train tracks. I swapped it for a powerglide, and with the 283, it works real nice. For cruising, its a sweet combo. My question is, If you are going to throw in a 3 speed, why not keep going and get the 4 speed OD?
here's a link to Weights and dimensions of transmissions commonly used for high performance: http://www.drwtransmission.com/trans_weights.htm