VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions 1951 Chevy cast iron powerglide

Hi there Maybe someone can help me out I have a 1951 Chevy with a two speed cast iron powerglide that I need to rebuild but I found a Chevy 1953 cast-iron two speed powerglide with the same tail end and front will it work with My 235?

I don't know if it'll interchange but if you decide to rebuild and can't find a local shop I can provide you with the contact info for the shop that rebuilt mine. It would be pricey for shipping since it's in Wichita but the result for me was excellent.

It will fit and work except for the location of the transmission mount location. Also the newer unit has the automatic low gear feature and all linkage for its OPERATION IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ADAPT TO A 1951.

Dam okay I’m in cali up north and not to many places around here know how to rebuild this thing And thanks I almost bought that tranny for $1500 rebuilt from the 1953 Chevy Is there anything else I can look for in a tranny that will bolt up direct fit or can do ?

We’re is that place you
Rebuilt yours at

Do I really need to have the automatic low gear working or can I just take that off and adapt the tranny mount to be different

Fishers transmission in Wichita KS. https://fisherstransmissions.com/
Just pull it into low when you start out and nudge it into drive to shift into high.

Is there any thing else i can do

Interesting about the automatic low gear feature. I was not aware that only became available in 1953.

With respect to what alternatives to consider, I expect you are going to have about the same overall cost for buying, shipping, and adapting (if you can) the 1953 transmission compared to the shipping and getting yours rebuilt.

There are not a lot of unused early cast iron powerglide transmissions out there. Remember that they were in high demand for use in drag cars for many years.

You also are accepting some risk when you buy a used "working" transmission. Unless it was recently removed from driveable vehicle I expect that at a minimum the seals will be pretty dried up. Plus you will want to know how it was stored. For example was it out of the weather? Was the rear end sealed to keep out dirt and moisture?

Unless you can find a guaranteed used Powerglide I suggest that your best approach is to get yours rebuilt. Then you know what you have and there is some guarantee.

Also remember to flush the cooler and cooler lines and change the fluid in the converter before you start up the rebuilt transmission. You do not know what is floating around in all the fluid. It can kill a rebuilt transmission pretty quickly.

Of course you could also consider putting yourself through all the effort and agony of converting the car to a 1951 manual transmission. Not sure I would go there even if all the parts were free.

I was trying to keep everything all original and this damn cast-iron powerglide is giving me so much trouble on finding someone to rebuild it up north in California by me

What problem are you having? They are a very simple traamsmission but very heavy and a dog to remove from the car.

The Power Glide used for drag racing was not the old cast iron version but the later alumium one.

Thanks for the clarification Gene!

I agree that it is a pretty simple automatic transmission.

Woodstock1987: I know you are frustrated but lets keep things calm as we help you.

Would anyone know on some one in California that does rebuilding these ones

Lol And yes very frustrated took me a while to rebuild the 235 with the old dipper System and now the dam tranny Almost wanna sell the whole car but it’s all original and very clean

Someone did some swapping if it's a low presser 235 with a PG. The PG 235s were full pressure engines & don't have dippers. At least that's what I've been told over & over.

I may be wrong and I am sure Gene will enlighten us but I thought the first full pressure 235's were in the 53 PG cars.At least that's when they had insert rod bearings .

1950-1952 235 Power Glide engines had dippers.

Thanks for the clarification. The fat kid learned something today.

I realize it is a drive for you but the fellow I have used for some of our older trans work is Bills Tech Trans in Vancouver WA. He may be closed right now because of the virus. ph # 360-694-9101

Woodstock1987,

One idea to consider is to join VCCA so you have access to our Technical Advisors as well as members who live in northern California. They would welcome the opportunity to help you find reputable sources for parts and services.

In my 1951 cast iron two speed powerglide what year torque converter can be compatible with mine anybody know

1950-1951 or 1952. Torque converters seldom had a problem othe than the O ring on the torus cover leaking. What problem do you have?

I was just trying to rebuild them but having a hard time find some one near me but I think I found a guy but he doesn’t have the converter and was just checking is there another year converter that would work like 53 and up maybe

If he rebuilds transmissions he should have a source for converters. Take the link I posted above. I'm sure he'd send you a converter. It would cost a lot less to ship than the whole transmission.

I give up, on ths one.