i have a '69 chevelle V8 with an automatic
350 trans. It is my daily driver. And i drive about 5 miles to work every day. Every now
and then i'll come to a stop light and when i
try to excelerate; it doesn't go anywhere. I
then have to throw it in park and then back into drive. Has anyone out there had a similar problem? And if so, what did you do about it? Thanx in advance.

V8's the only life for me.

That sounds lije you have misadjusted linkage. Or the valve body sprung a leak somewhere. Also take a look at the vacuum modulator.

rat69;

Have you looked at the linkage to make sure it isn't moving when you stop due to mis-adjusted or worn parts?

Have you checked the oil for burning or other bad signs?

If it's not the linkage, then it's probably bad news. There is probably a seal providing pressure to one of the pistons that is failing and it allows enough leakage that the clutch won't engage with the low RPMs which equates into a lower transmission oil pressure and volume. When you shift to neutral, the pressure and flow come up enough to get it to engage when you go back to drive.

The only way to know is to just pull it for a rebuild or take it to a shop and get them to look at it to see if it can be fixed without removing it. To me, most problems to be internal and require removal to fix. This is due to the clutches getting burnt during any problem and seals that are between a fixed hub and a moving drum which are prime candidates for a failure.

Peter

When your're in the "won't go" mode, instead of shifting up to part and than back down, have you tryed shifting to second or first gears ? If it is still bad down in those gears, I doubt that it's the linkage.