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The 1/2" thick S&W adapter plate allows us to use a stock bolt pattern powerglide housing. This means we can upgrade to the Dedenbear or BTE aftermarket cases when the checkbook allows. The 1/2" 6061 aluminum plate is also a very stiff mid-plate. You can see the crank adapter and Meziere True Billet flexplate.
We removed the Milodon spacer above the oil pump and installed a stock length bronze-gear oil pump drive. You should always check the oil pump drive shaft to make sure it isn’t bottomed out in the pump. I just use some grease to check it. If it is bottomed out it can ruin the oil pump in a hurry. If yours is bottoming out you can just shorten it on a grinder or belt sander until you have at least .025” clearance.
We put the Meziere True Billet flexplate on and used Lock-tite on the crank bolts. After we torqued the bolts to 70 ft.-lbs I put a dial indicator on it to make sure it was running straight and true. I had less than .002” total run-out, which is the best I have ever seen.
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Our Midwest Performance Transmission powerglide. Their Top Dragster model has a BTE Pro-Brake, TCI 1.80 billet planetary, BTE Pro-Brake, 8 clutch high, 6-clutch rear with Kevlar band, full roller bearings and a special high pressure/high volume front pump. Like everything on the car it got the semi-glass black paint.
It was time to set the short block into the S&W chassis. We installed the front motor plates under the water pump and used the special tapered-seat Allen bolts to fasten the special adapter mid-plate to the block. While the block was hanging on the hoist we took a powerglide and made sure it bolted up okay. We did have a small interference problem with the starter and the Ultra-Bell but that is probably because we use a Chevy Ultra-Bell and not the normal Mopar-to-Powerglide Ultra-Bell. I do it this way because I like the Dedenbear Supercase, and when we get some extra cash we will upgrade the transmission to the much stronger case. With our S&W adapter plate the Chevy bolt pattern fits perfect. The adapter plate is ½” thick as we get a lot of comments about that. The kit comes with a crank spacer so a standard length converter is all that is needed.
Everything was checked one more time and then we slid it in the chassis for the first time. We finished up the wiring for the starter, the water temp sensor and the oil pressure cabling. I know it sounds strange to say I am installing wire for the temp sensor and oil pressure, but we are using the new DataMaxx LCD dash and data recorder. (A full story on this AWESOME piece of equipment will be in the October issue of DragRacingOnline.com.) Just as a little teaser on the DataMaxx, though: We have been out with it only twice and we have learned so much about the new chassis and engine it will pay for itself in saved test runs and wasted time trials alone. It features live EGT readings and you can replay a run with engine rpm, drive shaft rpm, battery voltage, oil pressure and water temp right on the dash after a run or you can pull the SD card and take it to your computer. No cabling required. If you don’t have time to download it you can carry a couple spare SD cards as they cost about $14.00 each.