TRANSMISSION TROUBLES! How a Powerglide Works 

Man I love older guys like this man lol. A dude that's been doing it so long it's a fun side gig and he is stocked with everything lol, those guys will always get you right!

A wealth of knowledge that needs to be passed down to the younger generation I hope more people take the time to listen to him and learn the trade

He knows his Poweglides! Been making his racing money doing a lot of rebuilds many years.

Jay Bradford is the man when it comes to glides

Some of the hardest bracket races to win in the 70's and 80's with a big block B-Body heavy car (due to the 3rd gear shift delay 1/4 mile racing, were against Chevy guys with a PGlide fully lightened on their internals (and they did a lot of gun drilling and shaving on drums, clutch tricks like you guys found on that old trans, and you could not even hear or see any difference in that 1-2 shift rpm wise or see any difference in big end closing distance due to it, but the TF sort of has a big drop and sits down for a fast slower speed build up as she storm the big end and you attempt to take the stripe by only an inch...sometimes chasing you would never know who got there first until you either caught a glimpse of their win light out of the corner of your eye while staring at their front spindle through the shoe polish cross on the inside of my driver's window, or you saw the "W" on your time slip.

Broke a front yoke on my driveshaft in my Polara in the water box at O.C.I.R. in Irvine, CA after about a thousand passes, and it bent the tailshaft and split the tailshaft housing as it split a u-joint cap and spit an ear off the front yoke at the water box guy missing him by less than an inch of breaking his shin (tore a hole in his blue jeans cuff though), with a huge bang on the hook up of those Firestones to concrete. Of course it was going to be a big project from flexplate to 8-3/4" 4:56 Rear Pinion (Trans repairs plus new bullet proof thicker drive shaft with larger Spicer joints and yokes complete), and a buddy of mine Puerto Rican Abbey from Gardena (owned and raced a beautiful B-Body Mopar Forrest GTX since it rolled off the factory line), knew everything there was to know about Mopar 727-A and 727-B Torqueflites like that fella knows glides, and he said hell Gary, no biggie, just go by Pick-a-part, find a 727-B or 2 and snatch the tailshaft out of 1, and the tailshaft housing out of another out of the Trans pile (just roll the shaft on a flat back window of a Ford in the boneyard if you can find one, and make sure there are no cracks in the tailshaft housing, and bring it to my house on the trailer, I have all the parts we need to do the complete rebuild, and we will have a driveline service right down the street here make your new driveshaft up while I teach you everything there is to know about rebuilding and tweaking both TF-a & b's as I need to also do another friends a at the same time. Then he called me back 20 mins later, said to give him the measurement center to center on the old drive shaft only, as they were going to start cutting my tube and it would be finished by the time I arrived with the used parts I needed to pick up from the boneyard. Saturday was sweet warm SoCal day and in 2 hrs I had what I came for in hand after disassembling a few 727's in the grease packed dirt of the Anaheim Pick-a part lot and just 35 bucks lighter in my wallet as I walked out the gate, drove straight to Abbey's in Gardena with a change or 2 of clothes. Bonus was I already had learned the disassembly process in the scrapyard 3 X over, now to learn the re-build and reassembly proper, and the right parts to inspect and replace to make sure it was stronger and faster once we completed the job. When I arrived my new much stronger bulletproof drive shaft with much bigger Spicer u-joints was already sitting there and freshly painted and ready to install on the floor at a very decent price. Bonus, they even gave me a discount if we returned the broken core. By Sunday evening (a bunch of hard work, and a ton of learning and a couple of great meals later, a shower and little sleep), both Trans rebuilds were completed perfectly, the difficult puzzle of mysterious Torqueflite internal surgery was solved, and that man taught me a ton, asxhe was a TF expert and he had all the right tools, knowledge, and books to do the job (in the early 1980's, we did not have the internet to research it kids, and there were no youtube vids to learn from the successes and failures of others, we had books and shop manuals, and racing family/friends and old coot experts to rely on, or your wallet was a lot lighter which really cut into the race winnings and budget. That car ran a 10th quicker that next Wensday evening and I won the Heavy Bracket win check again making up for the second round (water box breakage loss), the prior Saturday. Now it had a bullet proof driveline in it finally. Well....Until it found the next weak link, the following Saturday on the very first time trial. Sheared 3 teeth off the 4:56 Pinion, and 4 teeth off the ring gear. Now, I was in Irvine, Abbey was in Gardena that is a drive out and back on a Saturday mid morning, and First round is at 7:00 pm, but a phone call and I knew he had a fresh 4:30 ratio Strange geared 8-3/4" sitting on his garage floor he would sell me, and offered to meet me at the halfway point of the drive andxcut my drivetime in half, to trade broken for new. So, I pulled it out and left the track in my tow vehicle, with my pit space, racecar, trailer, tools in good hands with great racing family friends and pit space partners, and we met up. I stopped at a NAPA to pick up new rear gear oil, and new axle seals along the way back. When I returned with a new center section bullet there was only about an hr left before the dinner break and eliminations started, didn't think I would get another time trial that day, and the rear ratio change was going to make dial in a guessing game as it was a long time ago I had a 4:30 ratio in the rear so data was older than dirt. But, to my huge surprise, a couple of great friends had sent 1 of their wives into town to also get new rear axle seals, and gear oil, they had already disassembled the brakes, backing plates, replaced the seals, checked and repacked the rear axle bearings, replaced and reassembled the rear brakes on both sides, had the axles back in leaving just enough room to insert the new center section punk, and propped them both up all ready to help me button everything back up upon my return....and that was all done between their time trial passes working together. Great friends are hard to find that you also compete with and against, but we were all like 1 huge family, lived separately, but raced together, partied together, worked together, and 🎉 celebrated together no matter who won! About a half hour thrash later I was 3rd from last in line to actually get a time trial before the dinner break! Breakfast at Denny's was on me that night for the whole gang after I picked up another bracket win check. But, blowing the whole win check on great friends (and competitors), who would do that work (mind you 1 of them I raced against and barely beat that night by a very slim margin), without you even asking...that was a very precious commodity. I really miss those days, and cannot wait to get back to it this season after a quarter century layoff while raising a family. That old man does know his Poweglides, and you were lucky to find him Matt! Learn all you can from him Matt, and ask him if he needs a hand occasionally, that kind of technical skill can be used to help a racer race more often. So far, I have only needed to rebuild a few more both TF 727-A and Bs for good friends and not myself again, but can do it like I do it every day (even though when I have it was years apart over time), thanks to an expert at it taking his time (going really nice and slow, explaining everything perfectly) and giving me a real education on just those transmissions. TY Abbey! Mopar or no car.

That man was cool and so damn smart and he would make a killing doing his own RU-vid channel as well … lol 😂 hope he gets you taken care of and fixed up … be safe with the travels and have fun at sick week can’t wait to see what you have planned…

By far Top 5 Videos you made .. Love how informative he is

At 25:10 look at the shelf behind Matt. 2 high rise dual quads with nitrous. This older gentlemen doesn't play around when he's racing.

You can tell this Ole timer loves the work he's doing, he's not doing it for the money, he's doing it for the passion. You know you're going to get a quality product from someone that's doing it the work cause it's their passion rather than doing it for the money 💰 🤑. Battle one of the best videos I've seen bro. That guy was remarkable in his knowledge

And now you always have this video to go back on if need be as a tutorial. Proud of yea Matt. Keep on keeping on. Ol feller seems to know exactly what he's doin!

This guy is cool! Love talking with the older car guys! Awesome video!

Great video Bud 👍 Brandon has added some much more to the channel keep it up 👍 from Alabama 🇺🇸👍

Yo Matt when you go back to Jay's check out his badass corvette he has in the shop its got a cover over it.

That guy has been threw a few trannys. You could learn alot from him. It's awesome for him to let us in the shop.

The knowledge this gentleman has is great. I’de feel very comfortable having him do my transmission

That was a master class.

I could listen to this old man talk all day and soak in all his great knowledge.

Lot of work in that trans that I saw in the early 80’s before low gear sets were affordable. The lightening is impressive.

I hope this older gentleman gives you a better outcome than the old couple at the machine shop who haven't even touched you're engine lol. Love the content buddy, you're attitude and personality we'd get along fantastic. Best of luck at Sick Week..

I ran 1.82 gear sets for years 600hp small block with transbrake . Worked fine

This is one damn good video one of your best yet keep up the good work keep working hard. Guy's like this are cool they've been around doing the stuff for a long time.

No idea who you guys are. Just a guy aspiring to rebuild powerglides for a hobby. Would love to sit under the learning tree with this guy. Great video. Earned a subscriber.

Very good content!! Great job put together well !

I'm rolling 😂🤣 You just made my day 😬 Thank you!

Never gets old for me Matt , that gentleman knows a thing or two about a thing or two. He reminded me of my mentor patience and soft spoken. The upgrade's he was talking about is right on the money. Sure wish I was closer I would really like to meet him . Here in western N.C not as many of those guys left I am glad you're using one of his builds I bet it will be a tough tranny. Best of luck Matt Keep on trashing 👍

A NAPA man knows his chit! "she got the big bumper.."lmao

School is in guys. DNR has a new team member, he'll of a trans guy and he races bonus points. Looking forward to seeing more. God bless all.

Thats a Gravy job there. 😮

Awesome. At least you know what you have when it's done instead of it being a surprise.

This is the type of guy youd pay extra for. What a guy

Thanks brother

Ha ha Matty boy, a lot of guys commented about your machinists shop (a few even went as far as to leave comments that they would have walked elsewhere due to the look of the place), but mine has been locked in Machine Shop Jail for what seems like forever, and yours is already back and on the stand getting completed. So, the last laugh is yours bro, you are finding some real gold out there on the small shop, low budget rebuild tour bro. Most of my delay is not directly caused by the shop (though they are really busy in their repair bays, backed up by parts availability, and the fact that my class rules are super strict, and I have a 1 off 1 yr. Model (numbers matching combo), that they cannot even make 1 tiny mistake on, so they are doing it right the 1 time they have to do each task (and making the overbored/honed block fit the new Forged custom replacement pistons, and not the pistons fit the block). It is what it is.. but, you are close it appears to getting the patina'd Nova "Fools Gold" back out where she belongs. Racin' again brotha!

I wish I could find a 727 expert like that. (:

Jay Bradford Bad Habit Racing ftw

Cool video that fella will set your power glide up for success it'll run so good it will scare you have fun in Florida Matt

The old guys know there stuff when it comes to transmission and engines my grandpa showed me have to build sbc and I have built a few others along the way.

Who does the 4l80 and 6l80 transmissions with this level of knowledge and reasonable pricing for the services???

This is automatic that has a back pump that alows push starting. and about 64 no more push offs. To start.

Love all the info !!! I have never rebuilt a transmission before... but thinking it is possible by myself now

Have him to tap the vent for a 6 an fitting. You'll need a vent tank.

Good informational video...

Who here watches precision transmission from Amarillo TX. Represent.

What a cool guy

Dam I need this guy to do 2 power glides for me there both from v8 1969s 2 speed and a 3 speed

Jesus this guy is one Cool Cat 😎 Love to work for a guy like that 💯

Oh by the way , very interesting and informative , thanks man

I'm still watching but this old man is the first good feeling other than lucore

Were those holes to lighten up the drum?

Man is a pro😮

Good one matt

Great video

Jus listening to that triple og talk I learned something lol I would love to help him for free 😂😂 I jus want too learn an make new an better friends 🙄🤣

What’s the og channel Or name where I can watch his personal videos

I got a powerglide that needs build send me some info

Would this apply to a single speed powerglide?

lot of people say the old dude he in the way 🕶 NO NO the older generation you can get one that has a couple trades will be OK but if he has a whole BUNCH of trades I would NOT use him a mann that has just ONE trade that is all he does and that is all he knows that is the one you have build things for you The clutches look like the same size that are in my Harley Just as many too I have 4 clutches in it and 3 steel bands Just listen and learn MATT and what is good about all of this Normally shops say drop it off and pick it up NO I want to watch them just like you are doing Matt That way you learn that some idiot did not know how to build a transmission 🕶

Who is the trans builder? Where is he located in md

Matt , what year powerglide can i use for my small block ? I have a 1962 and a 1966 powerglide trans

OMG NOOOOO MATT im laughing my ass off just remember someone doing that forgetting they didn't have the button any more well he went backwards throw the burnout box strait into the next car waiting didnt do much damage but shit it was funny so plz watch out buddy

I'm interested in taking my trans to this guy. What is his business contact info?

BAD HABIT RACING

How can I get ahold of this fellow? I like that he broke everything down infront of you. The shops around here over charge an dont inform you about what you have.

He needs a taller bench so he doesn't have to hunch over so much

It would be nice without the useless music

Do away with the music... the old guy is music to my ears!

ok sooooooooooooooooooooooooo your in the recommended but not the bell so only 1/2 a BOW CHICKA WOW WOW ADVENTURE whoop whoop got my superman lunch box and incredible hulk drink bottle lol LETS GO ooo and a nice joint to smoke lol anyway thanks buddy ps. sorry JERRY that's a bit of red-neck engineering there my friend just on that more fluid flow less wear ? just imagine if it could talk while ya there put more adds its not a problem to put adds in the middle of a 20 min vlog more adsense just saying lol