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Regular
Posts: 59
Location: Bakersfield, CA | my 56 plymouth has the 277 w/a weiand 4bbl manifold, edelbrock carb, very mild cam. has a ford 8" rearend w/3.00 ring and pinion. i looked in my service manual it states that the car came w/3.73 gears. when i drive the car it just doesn't seem to drive that good. like it has no pull but not slipping. the engine runs great and the tranny seems to be working properly well about 90%. when i take off and get to the point that it should upshift i have to let off the gas and then it will shift. when i slow down it downshifts normal. was wondering if the throttle pressure linkage at the carb is not set properly and the fact that it has 3.00 gears (to tall) that could be my reason for the car not performing the way i feel it should. i have looked into some trans adapters or even a complete engine swap. (i have a 440 on a stand in my garage). i would like to keep the 277 but i just want the car to be more reponsive. any help would be great thanks SD |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
 
Location: STL, MO | With a 1.80 something first gear, 3.00 gear, 277 cubes and a medium weight car I bet it does feel lethargic, you need more cubes,gear, and one more shift. Anything I know about the Powerflite I know from this site and thats that it's durable as a anvil and just as fast, I have one in my 58 Ply 318 and leisurely would be a good way to describe it's performance, I am sure the poly's no ball of either, and my poly-powerflite combo's days are numbered. It sounds like your throttle valve could use a little tweaking but I dont think it's gonna be big difference at WOT as far as acceleration goes, maybe find a 355-391 8 3/4 that fits and see if that speeds it up if not try 318 poly since you have "the" manifold already, beyond that with out going to 5kdollar 400" 400 poly that wont fit your existing trans anyway, you do have the 440 already |
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Expert
Posts: 3037
Location: N.W. Fla. | The 392 Hemi adaptors will allow use of a s/b 727 behing your 277. You'll see an improvement in drivability. Like replacing a powerglide with a TH350. The 440 would give you a quantum leap in power vs a 277, milage wouldn't be anything to cheer about. |
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Expert
Posts: 3037
Location: N.W. Fla. | Handygun - 2009-09-27 8:32 AM
maybe find a 355-391 8 3/4 that fits and see if that speeds it up if not try 318 poly since you have "the" manifold already, beyond that with out going to 5kdollar 400" 400 poly that wont fit your existing trans anyway, you do have the 440 already With 3.55-3.91 gears he'd probably need the overdrive automatic. If he stroked & bored a 62 & up 318 to 400" he'd want to use the newer 727 anyway & it'd be a bolt up. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
Location: STL, MO | IT was early when I wrote that and I left a few words out like 400hp, ball of fire, but I agree w/Mopar1 you need 3 gears or more. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | I've been hit with that "Gas mileage" thing at local car shows...After the first 3, I just simply told 'em how I felt about it...If you have to ask about gas mileage, then you will never understand older cars. One doesn't buy these cars for gas mileage, one buys a Honda for that. Dump the 440 in it with a 727 and ditch the Hemi/T350 idea. You will see an improvement over the HP and Torque so much so, you won't have to worry bout getting into traffic ..With the two speed Powerflite, it is having to wind that little engine that could out so much tighter before it will shift..Afterall, you only get one shift before it's in high gear...With 3.73 gears, it shifted normally and didn't need to wind it out till 90 MPH before it went into high. You change one equasion with a two speed, you done...Your car is sufering from that symptom known as "Noballsitol", it's common to all poly's...
Edited by dukeboy 2009-09-27 10:01 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 444
Location: Victoria, AUSTRALIA | dukeboy - 2009-09-28 1:56 PM
I've been hit with that "Gas mileage" thing at local car shows...After the first 3, I just simply told 'em how I felt about it...If you have to ask about gas mileage, then you will never understand older cars. One doesn't buy these cars for gas mileage, one buys a Honda for that. Dump the 440 in it with a 727 and ditch the Hemi/T350 idea. You will see an improvement over the HP and Torque so much so, you won't have to worry bout getting into traffic ..With the two speed Powerflite, it is having to wind that little engine that could out so much tighter before it will shift..Afterall, you only get one shift before it's in high gear...With 3.73 gears, it shifted normally and didn't need to wind it out till 90 MPH before it went into high. You change one equasion with a two speed, you done...Your car is sufering from that symptom known as "Noballsitol", it's common to all poly's...
I like your symptom description Dukeboy, nice one!!
knighty |
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Expert
Posts: 3037
Location: N.W. Fla. | dukeboy - 2009-09-27 8:56 PM
I've been hit with that "Gas mileage" thing at local car shows...After the first 3, I just simply told 'em how I felt about it...If you have to ask about gas mileage, then you will never understand older cars. One doesn't buy these cars for gas mileage, one buys a Honda for that. Dump the 440 in it with a 727 and ditch the Hemi/T350 idea. You will see an improvement over the HP and Torque so much so, you won't have to worry bout getting into traffic ..With the two speed Powerflite, it is having to wind that little engine that could out so much tighter before it will shift..Afterall, you only get one shift before it's in high gear...With 3.73 gears, it shifted normally and didn't need to wind it out till 90 MPH before it went into high. You change one equasion with a two speed, you done...Your car is sufering from that symptom known as "Noballsitol", it's common to all poly's... Depends on what you plan on doing with it. 440 would be great for a run to the Cruse in on Saturday night, not so good if you want a daily driver with some class. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | IMO, Anybody who tries to make a daily driver out of these cars, deserves no power and poor gas mileage.... To me, these cars are far too expensive to maintain let alone drive in today's idiot traffic, but then again, it's only My opinion... |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 7810
Location: Williams California | I don't agree with you on that, Chaney.
I have driven '50's cars as daily transportation since the late seventies, any repairs that I have needed to make are simple to deal with, inexpensive [compared to the late model stuff] and the mileage isn't a deal-breaker either.
I do agree that if I was living in an area where road salt was used, I would not be driving a collector car in the wintertime.
---John |
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Expert
Posts: 2679
| I've only been hit once with the stupid Gas Mileage question....
I just told the genius "If I can afford the car, then I can afford to feed it" |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 461
Location: Brooklyn NY | Social D, my 58 suburban has the poly 318 and PowerFlite. Its stock rear has 3.31s. It's accelleration is amazing, I take out beemer M5s all day..........NOT! But it is ok for the old beast that it is. A little more gear should make you happy..........Ralph from Brooklyn |
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Regular
Posts: 59
Location: Bakersfield, CA | thanks for all the replies. it's not a daily driver and i'm not at all concerned about gas milage. never gave it a thought in the late 70's early 80's when i drove my 440 charger and cuda. i know gas was cheaper but so was my pay. i think i worked for 3 bucks an hour. i think i will try some lower gears first and if i'm not happy then i will either adapt over to a s/b torqueflite or go with the 440 & t/f. don't know much about the powerflites and the car just does not seem right. that was when i did some research and discovered the the reargear was a little tall. SD |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 444
Location: Victoria, AUSTRALIA | Hey Tim,
I had a 318 with p/flite. it had 3.31 gears and 185/65 R14 tyres, was pretty punchy for a 2 speed
the diff was very noisy so I replaced it with a 2.73 ( commerical van diff from a F**D )
it was much nicer as a cruiser and fuel economy was good. then I got new white walls 225/75 R14
these tyres are much bigger in diametre. Dropped the revs even more, I think to much now
with the tyres I have now a 3.00 rear would be perfect. it gets going but not a green light machine.
and fuel economy is good at 60Mph its doing about 2200RPM could be lower
knighty |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 444
Location: Victoria, AUSTRALIA | when I say had, I have a 440 with torqflite being built for it now
knighty |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9741
Location: So. Cal | I drive old cars as daily drivers too. I built a '63 nova wagon with a well tuned 6 cyl. It gets 23mpg at 70mph. It is my funnest car to drive at the moment and I drive it a lot. I also have a '69 Toyota Corona with an EFI 4cyl to commute with. Another really enjoyable car because it works perfectly for its intended use. You really need to determine what you want out of the car first. Don't put a blown 440 in it if you intend to drive it a lot.
A 277 has the potential to be a really fun cruising motor. Just give it another gear or two. As long as you are swapping out the trans, go ahead and put in an A518 with 3.73:1 gears and really enjoy off line performance and great mileage. We don't have the overdrive blues that big blocks and torsion bars suffer from. Just my 2 c. |
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Expert
Posts: 1590
Location: Scottsdale, AZ | Powerflite - 2009-10-02 2:54 PM I drive old cars as daily drivers too. I built a '63 nova wagon with a well tuned 6 cyl. It gets 23mpg at 70mph. It is my funnest car to drive at the moment and I drive it a lot. I also have a '69 Toyota Corona with an EFI 4cyl to commute with. Another really enjoyable car because it works perfectly for its intended use. You really need to determine what you want out of the car first. Don't put a blown 440 in it if you intend to drive it a lot. A 277 has the potential to be a really fun cruising motor. Just give it another gear or two. As long as you are swapping out the trans, go ahead and put in an A518 with 3.73:1 gears and really enjoy off line performance and great mileage. We don't have the overdrive blues that big blocks and torsion bars suffer from. Just my 2 c. I have to agree with you Nathan, and I plan to drive mine daily and for long trips. If you set it up right, you can have a nice cruise night ride, churn the tires a bit, and have a good mileage car. If I want a race car, I won't worry about mileage. But I think it's wrong to think that you have to a gas guzzling race motor in it just because it's an old classic. It's my car anyways and I can have it both ways, I've seen it done plenty of times, and I've done it before myself. I just have to respectfully disagree with the premise that old classic cars can't have a fun ride and economy. Anyway, I showed off enough in my youth, I don't need to prove anything anymore, my balls are still big enough. Big cubes do not equal enlarged anatomy. LOL
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Expert
Posts: 3408
Location: Chestertown, NY ( near Lake George) | My 55 New Yorker has seen 105 mph on the speedo, pretty peppy from 30 up and gets 15 mpg at 65 mph on unleaded regular, how far do we need to go, this is a dead stock drivetrain rebuilt of course. Yes a TF with 2.93's instead of 3.36 would be nicer. All of us have our own perspectives on what we want and that is the way it should be. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | I will NOT get into another debate on whether or not to "Dump a 440 in it" or not here, but I will say this...You guys seem to like the 15 MPG and fair excelleration and that's fine for you..However, for me, in the first post here, he was complaining about no balls....This is not nessesarily remedied by a 440, but I can surely tell you, IMO, I would like to be in front of that "Brand x" car at the local cruise nights when he inevidably challenges me to a "Stoplight dual"...Not everybody wants huge power and not everybody wants MPG....I have plenty of balls just like my ride....I get around 12 MPG and make around 450-500 HP with a 440...You get around 15 MPG and make around 100-150 and that's your choice...I just prefer to be in front while I'm doing it... |
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Expert
Posts: 3408
Location: Chestertown, NY ( near Lake George) | The 55 Hemi is a little better than 100-150 more like about 250. LOL |
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Expert
Posts: 1590
Location: Scottsdale, AZ | I hope you guys are using those Horses on the track ONLY, and not the "stoplights." That get's people killed. And doesn't end up making anyone look cool.
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 6203
Location: Big pimpin' | jsrail - 2009-10-04 3:03 PM
I hope you guys are using those Horses on the track ONLY, and not the "stoplights." That get's people killed. And doesn't end up making anyone look cool.
Well, at a car show just today, we had a woman at a stop light get rearended by another chick on a cell phone, text messaging..BOTH those cars combined don't equal one good 440 as far as "horses" go....Out law low performance driver's, not high performance cars.... |
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powerflite - -good/bad? little help!
