Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

I got a 66 Chevelle Malibu wagon with a 325/396 and a powerglide runs in F or G stock. The only other trany option for this car is a 3 speed stick. Has anyone ran this combo and would it be competitive against 4 speeds.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Check the rule book online. As I understand it you can now run a 4-speed manual trans in lieu of the 3-speed manual trans. :)


Yea!!! Post #1500!!! Yea I know...get a life!!!

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

that must of changed this year otherwise i would have ran the 232 in my american....

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Replacing a 3 speed with a 4 speed only in Super Stock, this "swap" is not allowed in stock. I would have thought that a 3speed auto and a 4spd manual came in this car? If there is no way to run these combinations then I would run the powerglide. We run a 3spd manual in SS and it is a hard road. I like the unique combo. I might have some stock heads for that combo if interested.

Robert

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Ask tech about the manual trans. Just say "Is a 4-speed legal behind a 396-325 '66 Chevelle in SS?" They will say yes. Doesn't matter that it's a SW.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Robert,
I would go with the glide. Very reliable. If you get yourself a good one it will be plenty fast.There are some good deals out there on the glides with everyone switching to the 3 speeds in SS

Mike

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Robert a glide and 3speed stick are the only option, I will probably keep it a glide as I already have the glide. Are your heads race preped for stock or bare castings? would be interested if they are bare. I think a 325/396/4 speed in my car would be fun as hell in SS but I'am still waiting for the winning lotto numbers.:plol

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

4-speed is legal in this combination. There is nothing in the tech books that says it was only available with a 3-speed.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

I think Gene Bichlmeier ran that combination with a 4-speed years ago. He had to switch combinations the next year, as they told him it wasn't a legal combination. Gene wouldn't be caught dead with an automatic, so he switched combos.

Jerry

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Like I said before glide or 3 speed stick if a 4 speed is allowed I would like to see it in writingl

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Jerry you might be a little familiar with the car Darryl Huber ran the car with his son B.J. in the mid and late '80s

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Eric, I remember the car, but I didn't race at all from 1981 thru 1986, so I'm not real familiar with how they ran it.

Jerry

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Has this fallen on deaf ears? Look it up and figure it out!

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

I'd like to know who came up with that one.
The 396/ 325 and 360 are in the book for all models of Chevelle.
The SS cars had 4 speeds. Everybody knows that. The El Camino had them for sure. I've seen them. It doesn't make sense that the other models would only have a 3 speed available.
In fact, I've seen a brand new 300 Deluxe 396 with one, too.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

I would like to see it in wrinting that it's not.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Does the classification guide say that this combo can be used with either a 2 or 3 speed automatic transmission?

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

No, but the guide doesn't show a heavier weight break (W/TH ) for Chevelles , as it does with the full size cars.. Therefore, PG only.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

I wonder if some of the confusion might be that the BASE transmission for the SS-396 Chevelle those years was a HD 3-speed manual...console shifted...possibly a Warner trans? I'm quite sure that the 4-speed was an option...and could be had easily...as most went for the "four on the floor" option. I think I saw this in a GM ad in a magazine years ago. I actually saw a '66 SS-396 WITH the 3-speed...I was a young fella...and the car couldn't have been more than a year old at the time. I was scratching my head saying..."why didn't he go for the 4-speed?" I RODE IN A FRIEND'S 4-SPEED 1967 SS-396 Chevelle several times during the summer of 1967...it was a 325-hp....this I remember clearly!

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

Not trying to "hi-jack" this thread...just pass along what I saw over the years. Maybe some of you guys have owned these cars before. But getting back to Eric's original inquiry...I think he said he wanted to run the Malibu wagon as a STOCKER, didn't he? Eric, I'm
quite sure you're ok in Stock with the 4-speed, and would like to add that the base 3-spd/optional 4-spd situation back in '66 probably followed the 396 engine NO MATTER
which body style they were installed in...including wagons and El Caminos....as well as Super Sports and the Malibu and others. BTW, didn't Tom Baird in Div. 1 run a '66 Chevelle hardtop 396 4-spd in Stock years ago...don't remember particular class?

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

ss wannabee - You are correct that an HD 3-speed was standard equipment on many GM musclecar combinations. Over the years I have seen, ridden in, driven or owned SS396 Chevelles, Olds 442s, Buick 400 and 455 Gran Sports, a 400 Firebird, a 350 SS Camaro and two 396 SS Camaros that were factory equipped with 3-speed manual transmissions. Why anyone would order those cars so equipped, I do not know. Maybe the $185 optional cost of the 4-speed pushed over the budget or they didn't know you had to ask for it to get it. Yes, Tom Baird raced a '66 SS Chevelle 396-375 with a 4-speed many, many years ago.

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

I had a 65 Chevelle wagon with a 283 4 speed and a 66 4 door Biscayne with a 4 speed stick. The Biscayne was legal with the 4 speed and a 283 2 barrel engine ( it didn't run real well but was legal). Did they change the rules since the dark ages ? :confused:

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

JRyan, Jerry i talk to Gene today, he said the reason he quit running this combination was because it got hp, Gene said it was legal to run a 4 speed in a 66 Malibu wagon 396- 325 hp. Tom

Re: Glide or 3 spd stick?
 

OK. Thanks Tom. I had heard the other way, but there's nothing like getting it right from the source. I didn't race for several years, and I never did see that wagon run at TVD. I stand corrected!

Jerry