[86regal]

i might be asking in the wrong forum but is it possible to use a power glide for an inboard boat?

[red65mustang]

the basic reason boats don't have a geared tranny is the prop is a "slipping torque convertor"
a car has to have gears because of no slip at the tires

when you mulitple the available engine torque with a low first gear in the tranny it just makes the prop slip/spin more "out of the hole" working against the boat water drag

if you use a prop big enough and enough pitch for the low gear TQ.... the 1/1 ratio top gear puts to much load on the motor so speed per rpms suffers due to the water drag resistance

yes you "can" put a tranny in the boat.....

what are you trying to do???

[Mike H]

You use a coupler instead of a torque converter. I had a 20 foot flat bottom with a BBC and a PG you could prop it to get out of the water fast and then shift it into high to run some serious MPH.

[Big Don]

Holy cow! Its been about 20 years since someone asked this one. The answer is yes, but with reservations.

If the boat is wooden and the size is not too great you have a good chance of making it work. It requires some tricky little things to make it last very long however.... I'll spell them out to you at another time. If you wish. One item you will have to fabricate is a massive fluid cooler, either a thru hull water cooled exchanger or an old AC evaporator modified to cool fluid, lotsa fluid with a car fan or electric fan to cool it. The radiator can be mounted anywhere where you have enough room and some fresh air coming into the engine room. I have seen coolers made from a length of copper tubing run along the sides of the keel, in the water and then looped back to the trans.

If the boat is fiberglass it won't work (period). Hull displacement and weight along with material desity and poor distribution of weight restrict the application of this. The fiberglass boat builders learned this right away and began to reformatt their drive designs. The began to support the design of I/O drives in many pleasure craft. See Ray comes to mind. Borg-Warner velvet drive is the way to go in inboard engine design for fiberglass. Or maybe a Paragon. Both these were made for the heavy pulling conditions of watercraft and were only 2 gears, one forward and one reverse.

The single biggest problem with what you are talking about is heat and load conditions. A boat application for any automotive trans is usually hopeless, however some folks have made it work...... but a Powerglide? Many applications I have seen and operated used the more durable Chrysler/AMC transmissions. Torque Flites. I have even seen some older Ford FMX's. But never a Powerglide.

Here's one for you.... In the late 60's I worked on a small habor tugboat that was powered by a 160cu in Falcon motor with a Ford 2spd auto. It was called the 'Toot', it was funny, but it did work for many years for what it was designed to do. Haaa! Haaa!Haaa! Thanks for remiding me of this thing, jeepers what a fun time it was working around the harbor and the 'Dock-Rats.'

[Crosley]

I do not know about the boat parts... one fellow said the prop was double nutted and safety wired so it did not back off.

Most automotive type trans I've built for boats have no parking parts in the trans.

Some have reverse blocked out too.

They did not use a converter.. a direct drive part between the engine and trans was used as mentioned in earlier post.

These folks used a heat exchanger with water flowing through for trans cooling.

To my knowledge early Ford Falcons had 144 and 170 cid 6 cylinder engines. later the 200 - 250 I-6 engines were used ... then there was the Sprint v-8 car.

[Blazin72]

What kind of boat do you have? I'm curious as to why you want an automotive type transmission in it?

[boatbob2]

Hi,i guess its possible to use a power glide for an inboard boat,but i dont think its going to float too good,better take a wet suit and scuba tanks with you. HAHAHA

[86regal]

the boat is a 23ft hull that i got for free. its an older fiberglass boat. its also an inboard but didn't have the motor or the drive with it. i also don't know what brand the boat is. and if anyone is wondering came with no papers but I've looked into getting them

[boatbob2]

hi,just register the boat as a homebuilt boat...

[86regal]

in new york from what ive researched its very easy to get a new HIN for a boat

[RPM]

Years ago a friend of mine had a Hydro with a shorty glide in it. It was set up with a V-Drive. It would leave like a bullet with amazing top end speed. It worked very well.

[matt167]

Originally Posted by 86regal

in new york from what ive researched its very easy to get a new HIN for a boat

it's pretty easy, just go to the DMV and tell them your dilemia, they'll point you to the paperwork you need to fill out.

[red65mustang]

RPM,
a Hydroplane has next to no water drag at top speed so a auto tranny can work...
(that's why I asked him what is he trying to do)

86regal,
just comment:
food for thought...
it is a fun project to build up a boat from just a hull....
but it is a expensive project!!!!
it's tough enough on the wallet just to get a powered/complete used boat into reliable and good running performance....