I pulled a C-4 from a 67 Stang to use in a Ranger swap and it lasted a total of four months. This was one that sat up for long periods between use. Every transmission guy I talked to said the same thing------seals dried up and deteriorated.
Well, I guess it could happen but what about the guys that put their cars in storage for nine months out of the year and then drive them for the summer on good days? I know several people who do that and have no trouble. I would be asking what engine was in the Mustang and how many miles it had on it before the swap. What engine was in the Ranger. Did you pull the tranny down? Were the seals hard from heat or just worn out? Heat will harden the seals in a transmission very quickly and a long life will wear them out. I am not arguing (in spite of the way it might sound) but I am curious if there was any evidence that pointed to what the other tranny guys said. I am just one tranny guy with a bit more than 35 years experience and I have never seen seals dry out. I have seen friction surfaces glaze from sitting on a bench for six months before being installed. I have customers bring their trannies back before they installed them when it has been sitting for four months before they installed them. The only seals that I have seen that were hard (dried out) was from excessive heat. Like I said I am just one guy with a limited amount of experience. If someone else's experience is different then that's OK. I sure can't claim to know it all - even about the C4.
I have no idea how many miles were on it when I pulled it for the swap. The 302 it was behind was a mild build with a 4 bbl and RV cam. The 302 I had it behind was a stock 88 Crown Vic 5.0 only mod was to replace the EFI with a 4 bbl. That and added headers. You could be right too. My one and only feeilng towards C-4's are they're too fragile. Only reason I have one now behind the 331 in my Comet is it was there already. If I had a clutch pedal and hanger, that would change in a New York Minute to a Toploader 4 speed.
Too bad you are in La. If you were close I would change your mind about the C4 being fragile. I have put them behind big blocks and high output small blocks. It is easy to make the C4 handle 600 HP and live a long life. I Have built C4s for 800+ HP engines and have seen them working well behind 1000 HP blower motors. They replaced many a broken case C6 and live a productive life. It is a small tranny but it is tough as nails.
That may be true, but every one I've ever run left me sitting on the side of the road eventually. The Toploader 4 speed in my Ranger is going strong after 38 years and no rebuild..
The Ford Top Loader 4 speed is one of the strongest trannies ever built. I have one in my Mustang behind a 351W. If I was drag racing with it I would have built a C4 for it but the Mustang is a "fun" car. It has had almost 300 pounds removed and the suspension is set up for hill climing. I like to take it on the really twisting roads and see if I can challenge the car. I drives like it is on rails, taking corners flat and quickly. I could do most of what I do with a C4 but it is my only manual tranny car. Sometimes I just want to get out and row through the gears and exercise my left leg. Here in Seattle it is not easy to drive a car with a manual tranny in it because every place you go it seems that you have to stop on a hill. Seattle is not only a very wetclimate but we have seven major hills that the city is built on. They are so steep that they used to have to back model T's up the hills. Their fuel tank was gravity fed to the carb and on the steep hills it would lose fuel unless you were backing up. Starting on a hill with a car pulled up real close can be a challenge when you have 400 ft lbs of torque and a car that weighs in at 2400 lbs. Traction can be questionable with a layer of wet leaves between the tires and the pavement. I tend to take it out only on special days. My other cars all have C4's in them and that makes it easy to drive on the hills of Seattle.
Seattle------been there- done that. In an 18 wheeler. Many times. Stevens Pass is fun in January. With no tire chains and an empty tanker trailer.
1000 hp c-4? i know who i am taking my powerglide too. do you take checks? food stamps? =) actually, i am looking to get a glide for behind my turbo 6. are they hard to setup? i heard they can be one of the toughest trannies and numerous cars are running mid 6's in the 1/4 with glides in em. turbo 6 4.1l stroker (4.4L) with a 3000 stall, 1.98 first gear glide and gear vendors splitter. itll give me a 4 speed OD with 2nd and 4th gear being an electric shift. this shouldnt be too bad with a 3.55 or 3.73 rear gear should it? i found some grand nat stage II alimunim heads and intake on ebay and i am thinking of sticking them on the 4.1 for aide in cooling. instead of the 4.1, i might buy the TA Performance aluminum 6 bolt block so it wont over heat like the GM siamese case cylinders of the SBC 400 or 4.1L buick. whatcha know on this subject pauls? think it should do ok? should i take a diff route? i was thinking manual valve body...i like to shift, but without the clutch. of course itll have good cam and whatnot, i am just wonderin about the motor/tranny setup. anyone else have thought?
The PG's that are running in those 6 second cars have only the same name as the one in your chebby. Even the cases are custom made. To answer your question, Yes I can build a Power Slide for the street or for street and strip. No I don't build Power Glides for 6 second cars. I might attempt a C4 for a 6 second car - if sombody had more money than they could spend. I might have to replace the mill I just sold.
Glides are easy. Cheap they are not. Best thing about them is that they have a much higher numerically low gear than a C4, so on a really torquey and light car, they work great. It's basically the same as 2nd gear in a C4, more or less (actually a Glide is 1.76, 1.80, or 1.82 first gear as compared to the 1.46 second gear in a C4 but close enough). The high first gear lets the converter do the work, which is why converter choice in a powerglide equipped car is SOO crucial! Miss it a little either way and they're no better than a C4, or T350/400, or any other 3 speed for that matter. But with a good converter, they ARE better in high torque light cars. How many dragsters do you see with C4's? Not many...and not only because of packaging concerns. But a glide DOES have it's downfalls. Above about 700HP, the planetaries start to get "weak" (stock planets). The stock case cracks. The stock bellhousing always cracks. And sometimes the case cracks back by the reverse piston, but thats usually more common on pro tree transbrakes due to high pressures and fast release time which shocks the case pretty hard. But an easy fix is to drop in a 1.80 straight cut gear set. That will let a stock case glide do a great job up to about 900 HP more or less. Of course there's more to it than that, but it gives you the idea. Once you get to this power level, even a C4 isn't going to be cheap so you have to choose which one will work best with your car. But then again, I'm ain't no expert
http://www.nealtrans.com/racing-transmissions.html i am thinking of getting the 800 hp glide from these guys with a 3000 stall. thatll spool up my turbo on the line and since it has a line locked, itll get me moving quickly. i also found a pair of stage III aluminum heads and am thinking about the aluminum block from TA Performance. stroked and bored, that should give me about 500-600 ponies on 20 lbs of boost i am thinking. ill need an intercooler i know and new injectors and MAP sensor etc., but the idea is pretty sound. do you suggest a 200r4 over the glide? they came originally with the 200, but i know a glide in a light car are reputed to be FAST!!
