Transmission Specifications

While starting the project for the Talon, one of the larger decisions would be which transmission to go with. There wasn’t much discussion of whether it was going to be an automatic or a manual – more of a discussion concerning which automatic we might go with.

The only thing we ever really even considered was a GM transmission. Dave Buschur at Buschur Racing sells motor plates, along with a flywheel, and converter in order to make bolting a GM Powerglide to a 4g63 a relatively painless proposition. The only pain is caused in the wallet ;-) But, this still gives us a lot of options.

TH350? TH400? 200R4? PG? WTF?

Originally, I started looking into whether we could get a TH350 that was stout enough to work with the 4G63. After all, this 4G63 was already putting out over 350ft/lbs of torque, and that’s what the TH350 was originally designed to handle. Our best Guesstimates would put the engine in the Talon at no more than 600 ft/lbs. Some research showed people having success with big iron running over 550 ft/lbs through a TH350. I also happen to run across one that was a good deal, but was stock. It would have to be modified. The price was right, though, so I grabbed the transmission, and we used it for some mock-up.

Mark wanted to go the 200R4 route. Not only did it have another gear, it also had provisions for locking up the converter during the run (or whenever we felt like it). While I wasn’t against the lockup converter, or the extra gear, I was against the cost difference. In addition to that, my step father owns a GN making a bunch of power, and the original transmission was swapped out for a TH400 in order to regain some strength to the drivetrain. Either that, or the original owner grenaded the stock transmission while making too much power (either one is a likely scenario.) In any case, this option was considered, but I didn’t really want to go this route.

So, we went with a TH350. At first. We cut up the floor, and then found that the converter that I had laying around wouldn’t fit between the transmission and the engine. It was too large. So, I called up Dave Buschur, and at the end of the day, walked away with a Powerglide. Why?

Well, here’s this powerglide that Dave had in his tube car. All parts total added up to about $6,800 worth of transmission. Vasco gearset (spendy), Dedenbear case (it would eliminate a shield and blanket on the car), Dedenbear tailshaft, Dedenbear pan, hardened input shaft, trans brake, and stuffed with goodies. It had just been gone through. It came complete, with a converter that should be just right. So, Dave sold me on it. The price was right, and it it the ultimate transmission. So, Dave sold it to me, and I picked it up the next day.

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