CaliC4

I have a 358 with about 550 Hp I am swapping into my 89 with an auto 4. Am I going to gernande this diff? Will the tranny handle the power?

64Scout

Some will say yes, and some will say no. I'm going to say it depends on you.

And by that I mean it's really up to you, are you going to drag race with full throttle launches, are you just going to lean on it from time to time, do you have sticky tires or some crusty dried out tires?

CaliC4

Currently only have street tires . We will be putting in a flex plate .

billschroeder5842

Well, if you drive your high perf engine sane you will have no issues. However, it will be difficult to drive your 550hp engine.... sane.

You best figure that you need to beef up your drive train.

exitwound

Awesome!!

Personally, something has to give, so I'd rather have a bit of wheelspin than a collection of broken driveline parts and disembowelled diffs, so pick your tyres carefully..

rlane5

Converter, tires and launches will be the factors, but a SBC 358 with 550 HP driving around is another factor, unless it's FI.

Randy

CaliC4

ctmccloskey

Power is fun!
Power is not practical.
Learning how to use Power "Properly" is not easy.
Power breaks a lot of parts.....
Power gets you into trouble.
Power tends to hurt the reliability of the vehicle.
Power attracts attention, usually the "Un-wanted" kind.

"We get Old too soon and Smart too late"!

There IS a point when you have "too much" power, trust me on this one..

Good Luck and stay safe!

383tpimachine

550hp at the crank will only be around 450-475 at the tire. D44 will live no problem as long as you don't get tire hop. A D36 would be a ticking time bomb waiting for that first good traction bite to quit.

CaliC4

Update

I am having the transmission rebuilt with a few upgrades to help take the power . It is still the 700 r4 but should be like new with a few upgraded parts . Only thing stock now is the rear ended which I’m hoping not to gernande . I will upgrade to a Dana 44 and some good tires sometime this year . Won’t to stay away from drag tires until I upgrade the rear end

Purple92

Do a bit of searching here on the Forum - and I think you'll find that many of the people that have had their D36 fail have subjected them to sticky tires and dragstrip type launches (read that as higher RPM clutch dumps).

There is no question that a D44 would be a better choice in your application - but if you are running street rubber - you'll probably be "OK" with the D36 for a while.

rlane5

What stall is the converter. To have a 550 hp engine I'm guess al least 3200 stall. If the stall is not too high the rear have a better chance of survival. With that kind of horsepower you going to need a high stall to sit at a traffic light in gear.

mtwoolford

I understand the lower end, stroker part, but what kind of cam are you running, and will it even be compatible with your auto trans and stall converter combo?

cv67

^^^
what grind or specs is on the cam, any #s on the heads, port size? This will help. At this point wouldnt even worry about a hp # it could be anything; is your trans guy doing the converter does he have all the info he needs? Measure 2x cut once.