Guys,
I totally agree with you on the Torqueflite over the Powerflite if you are
talking gas mileage and highway driving and keeping the RPM down.
However forget that trophy winning on the drag strip if you come
up against a Powerflite with a 3.73 or 3.91 rear end, with the
same horsepower as your car, because he will not only jump you off the starting
line but he will also wind his engine up to 5,000 to 5500 RPM's before he shifts
into drive gear --------------which will be a smooth power up shift 50 feet
before the end of the quarter mile. Myself and other 56 Fury owners which
all came standard with 3.73 rear end gears would have no trouble being quicker
then most 57 & 58 Furys with two fours or Belvederes with single 4 bbl carb
when it came to the starting line in a 1/4 mile drag race, because
they had either 3.31 or 3.36 standard rear gears stock from the
factory. Also none of the 58 Fury's or Belvedere with the
350 Golden Commando would run faster than 318 cars with one four or with two
fours if it had a Powerflite and 3.73 or 3.91 or 4.10 rear gears. (
however 90% of the Mopars at the drag strip back in the 50's did not change the
rear end gear ratio and roughly 60 % of the Chevy and Ford guy at the
drag strip did change their rear end gears)
The extra
shift in the middle of quarter mile slowed the three speed cars down WHEN
THEY SHIFTED INTO SECOND the performance dropped with the drop in
RPM.
Not to change the subject but the Chevy Powerglide 2 speed were
faster than the 3 speed automating cars also for the same reason.
One of my best friends has a 57 Fury V 800 and he could never get close to my 56
in the quarter mile. So he got pissed off and took the 2/4 bbl carbs off and put
on a single 4 bbl carb and changed the rear end to a 4.10 ratio.
With
more experience on the drag strip I could jump him a little off the starting
line and beat him but he would run right along side of me most of the time and
if I was just a little slow coming of the starting line he would beat me in the
quarter mile. Wow, it is really fun when two cars run that close in a drag
race.
The downside of the 56 Fury's or any Mopar
with Powerflite and a 373 rear end is at 60 MPH your tachometer is reading
almost 3000 RPM's going down the highway.
Ron Swartley
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