I know this has been gone over. I did a search for all powerglide threads, and really didn't get the answer I was looking for. I am building a stockish 71 chevelle with a 450hp 454. I was planning on running about 3:56 gears because I have a friend that runs a similar car with similar HP and he thinks the gears work very well. I don't plan on running this on the track, with the exception of a few trial runs just for fun at our local speedway. The car is going to be a cruiser, not a more than 60 miler. I'm not too concerned about mileage. I am looking at the powerglide option because I see a lot of drag cars are running them very successfully, and I may get into the drag scene in the future. I have the opportunity to get a strip built PG for a very reasonable amount of money. It has a 3000 stall. My cam comes on about there also. Would this be a bear to drive around town? Or should I just go with a reasonably built th400 with some shift improvements done to it? Thanks. What gear ratio in the 12 bolt would you run with either the 400 or powerglide? thanks.

The PG's work great in high stall/high hp/low geared drag cars but would give up a lot of performance in a street setup like yours.

go with a three speed trans. That pg works good in high hp cars that are lighter. You just have a solid street car and that better first gear of a three speed will be benificial.

The PG's work great in high stall/high hp/low geared drag cars but would give up a lot of performance in a street setup like yours.

Ditto. A 3 speed auto or even a 4 speed auto is much better on a street driven car as it will get the car off the line better without as much gear and stall as a powerglide would need.

Powerglides are good when you plan to run an otherwise unstreetable stall and unstreetable low rear end gear 1/8 of a mile at a time.