Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I heard a rumour yesterday that powerglide cars were going to be allowed to use a three speed transmission next year. Anyone heard any thing about this?

Greg

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I heard the same thing,which should mean that a 3 speed combo can use a 4 speed Lenco soon.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Puff, Puff, Pass!

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Greg @ the Indy Div. race the guy that tec me in ask " would you be interested in a 100lbs weight break?"( this was when I was running spare parts) he said NHRA was looking @ that. I told Tom Rambo & Gail Pinkston about it & they said they still couldn't run with the Mopars BUT it would be a help.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

The cars have to be re-factored if that's the case,and not by dillute stock more and more everytime someone "needs help",this are creating "papercars" the same way as everything else like the current shelby's and so on...I dont like the direction stock is going... where does it end?

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Hey Greg,

Lots of rumors coming out Div. 3 this year.

I heard a whopper that came out of Div. 3.

Bruce Bachelder is taking over Stock and Super Stock next year - and supposedly he is going to manage the two categories from his office at Indy????

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

NHRA has polls regarding buttons, two-steps, and indexes/AHFS... but not e-shift and powerglide/3-speeds? Hopefully that means it's just rumor.

Maybe they want to supercede 3-speeds because powerglides are getting hard to find. ;)

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Wouldnt it seem that if a powerglide car ran in a class that became open game for 3 speed cars you would want to move on to a 3 speed car? There is that option instead of waiting for "help" It is always too long in coming. You have to move TO the competitive car not wait for rules to make you competitive. In this time of SO MANY cars and combos to evaluate for the Tech department and racers things tend to be slower and slower in being corrected and then maybe not enough. Example AHFS.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I wouldn't discount that rumor.....I'm thinking Bruce may have extra time on his hands for '08, I'm betting there will be no bracket race program at Indy for '08, and will further predict that the Div. 3 ET Finals will be in Joliet......

NHRA doesn't own the Indy facility anymore, and the rent they charge for an event won't work for bracket racing.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

So what do us racers with a 3 speed combo get? SCREAWED!
I also heard Bruce is back.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Bruce, that doesn't suprise me. I think Bruce misses his stock and super stock guys. Also with Indy not being owned by NHRA after this year Bruce may not have a job. Bruce locating in Indy makes perfect sense, in fact why not re-locate all of NHRA to Indy. Less overehead, closer to more racers and tracks, this would be a perfect time to do this.

Greg

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

GREG ,i was at indy last weekend and was tol by a track employee that same rumor ???? i spoke with bruce briefly, nothing said about this prior to catching the rumor from bruce , did,nt get a chance to talk to him sunday, i think i would be great for us stock/superstock racer,s, bruce is a fair strait shooter... dennis

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I think the glide deal is done, and I'm not sure about Bruce. That might be a work in progress.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Having Bruce back would be an asset to us all. He not only has the knowledge, but he is always fair.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I guess I'll hold up on my 'glide trans & converter rebuild.....Whatever happened to "transmission must have same amount of forward speeds as equipped from factory for model & year claimed?" We're turning into a great bunch of bracket racers...don't ya know....just run whatever pieces you want..or whine until they're LEGAL! Maybe I'll run brackets...with a POWERGLIDE! I agree with 633...whatever happened to STOCK...and also the STOCK in Super Stock as well?? Does this rumor mean that the old '55-'56 Chevies in SS will get 4-speeds some day? or Lencos?

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Get ready for Randall Klein and his 56 Nomad with a Metric 200. There goes the HP rating again.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

SS Wannabe asked, "Whatever happened to "transmission must have same amount of forward speeds as equipped from factory for model & year claimed?"

I guess it died many years ago when they started allowing 3-speed Turbo 350s to replace the 4-speed 700R-4's and 200-4R's in G.M. late model cars. The rulebook states that you can't use a lockup converter, but these transmissions CAME with lockup converters... another can of "legal" worms.

When I asked the NHRA tech department about the number of gear ratios (3 or 4 speed) they answered back that since the 4th gear was an "overdrive." it didn't count. No kidding...

With ProTrans 904 internals in 727 cases for big block 383/440, and Hemi Mopars, C-4s in FE and 429/460 Fords that never ever had them, and 904's in 340 Mopars that never had them, it looks like the Powerglide cars are the red-headed stepchildren who never got a break... Heck, even the stick shift cars got Jerico's in everything imaginable...

While I am not usually in favor of relaxing ANY of the rules that make a Stocker a "Stocker," I think that in view of the foregoing examples of benefits being enjoyed by virtually everyone else, maybe it's TIME the Powerglide cars got a break... but, I am not a (class) racer right now, and that's just my opinion...

"Where doe it end"????

Right here, because now, EVERYONE will have a 3-speed automatic.... The 4-speed automatic cars are already allowed them, and now the two-speed cars will have them, too.

Nobody can complain anymore; they're ALL EQUAL!.

Transmission choice will cease to be an issue. Won't that be nice????????? :)

Bill

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Could it be that NHRA is greasing the skids for combining Sticks and Autos in 09?

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

probably..110% correct!

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I believe that is exactly where this is going.Run a 2-speed,three speed,four speed ,five speed,direct drive,etc.
Everybody will be in ONE class.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

The last time (2 years ago at Indy I believe) there was talk about Glides and 3 speeds it was the opposite of what is posted on this thread. Tech Officals were proposing the use of a Power Glide (with a weight reduction) in 3 speed combinations. Why? To save the racer $ by using the less expensive Glide (verses the cost of a 3 speed). Don't remember the amount of weight they were talking about but I think it was flat amount across the board which would probably help some and hurt others depending on weight and power of the car.

Only time will tell what if anything happens.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Mr. Dedman wrote:
"I guess it died many years ago when they started allowing 3-speed Turbo 350s to replace the 4-speed 700R-4's and 200-4R's in G.M. late model cars. The rulebook states that you can't use a lockup converter, but these transmissions CAME with lockup converters... another can of "legal" worms."

My copy of the 2007 rulebook says: "Lockup converter permitted if OEM-equipped with lockup converter and OEM transmission is used. Otherwise, lockup converters prohibited."

If a lockup converter weren't allowed in any stocker, then a bone stock late model car that was in the classification guide wouldn't be legal to run stock in pure stock form. How screwed up would THAT be???

Wouldn't it have been nice if the NHRA used that same wording where they say "Electronic shifting of automatic transmission permitted in computer controlled electronic-fuel-injected vehicles." Wouldn't it have made more sense to write that rule like the lockup converter statement, something like: "Electronic shifting of automatic transmission permitted if OEM-equipped with electronically shifted transmission and OEM transmission is used. Otherwise electronic shifting prohibited." The poor wording of the rule lead to this crap about using solenoid shifters on TH200's/TH350/TH400 in EFI cars even though none of them are electronically operated transmissions. Now, rather than recind a rule that was not written clearly, the word on the street is that electronic shifting will be allowed on all stockers. Let's hope the NHRA doesn't make that mistake.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

i didnt ask for one but ill take a 3 speed... gotta run againts the caddy next year

as for as same number of forwards speeds thats been bull**** all along or the 1955-1961 chevy's would get 6 speed maunals... they came with as 3 speed with overdrive IN TRANS CASE and can move forward in 6 different ratios... i have the original trans but NHRA only lets late model cars count overdrive...
Randall Klien with a 6 speed... now thats neat !!!!!!!!!

captain jack

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Bill Harris wrote:
"If a lockup converter weren't allowed in any stocker, then a bone stock late model car that was in the classification guide wouldn't be legal to run stock in pure stock form. How screwed up would THAT be???"

No moreso than allowing a 3-speed transmission in a car that came with a 4-speed automatic, just because the ratio in 4th is overdriven. That makes NO sense to me... The rulebook is deliberately ambiguous, I think.

They write things into the rulebook deliberately obtuse, in an effort to obfuscate and confuse... That way, they can "interpret" rules to satisfy their own requirements of the moment, any time there's an issue.

The language you quoted in the 2007 rulebook was not in the 1995 rulebiook (I don't have '96 or '97), but is in the 1998. so it's been in there a long time.

However, there were many years that went by that lockup converters were OEM "standard issue" on many, many cars, before that language got put into the rulebook. So, it follows that Bill Harris's contention >>> "a bone stock late model car that was in the classification guide wouldn't be legal to run stock in pure stock form. How screwed up would THAT be???" was, in fact, the case.

Don't think it can't happen, Bill... it apparently DID.

Maybe that's how this "new" language (10 years old) that I wasn't aware of, got into the 1996 or '97 rulebook.

It would seem that nobody with any technical savvy even (proof) READS the new rulebook before it goes to press, because within two or three months after it's distributed, National DRAGSTER has half a page of corrections for the mistakes in it (like the 14-inch-wide tires in the picture of the "Stocker" on the front page of the Stocker section a couple of years ago.)

Guess I can't complain, though, having missed the lockup converter language that's been in there for at least ten years... :(

My apologies.

Bill

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I understand trying to GIVE everyone the same advantage (if you will) by allowing a 3-speed trans in everyone's car...Maybe I'll keep the 'glide and ask for a weight break.....hmmmm.....100 lbs. sounds good....no, I'll ask for 250!!!!! What the heck!

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

I would bet there is more than one transmission supplier wanting the change to 3 speeds to be adopted.
Here we go with the money issue again.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Rule book seems pretty clear to me that if the vehicle was available with a lock-up converter, it's legal.....that opens up TH-350C's and TH-200C's for a variety of the early 80's stuff.

Why are NHRA accepted adapter plates allowed?

What about aftermarket "Glide cases? The rules would indicate no.....

What a can of worms......:rolleyes:

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Why are Lock-Up Converters prohibited in Competition Eliminator?

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

Because John was way to fast with one.

Re: Powerglides get 3 speeds.
 

How does the tech department determine if a Lock-Up Converter is being used if they are prohibited?