I have a turbo 350 in my 80 sport coupe and it has worked good for the past year and a half but in the last week it started acting up. Before it would slip a little when taking off from a light but lately I have to rev it to 2-3000 to get the pump to build enough pressure to engage and move the car. Once it get into gear though it drives and shifts ok and I can stop and start normally if I dont shift it out of drive. As soon as I shift from reverse to drive or vice versa I have to rev the engine again to engage the tranny. There is a rattling nose when idling in park or neutral that slowly goes away if i pick up the revs and hold it for a few secs. The fluid and filter were replaced about 4 months ago what happened to it? is this terminal? I have a 2 speed Power glide I can use instead will it fit my drive shaft and cross member? Sorry my post is so long but I need help!
You have a number of issues there. If you have to rev it up to get the tranny to engage, there is a pressure problem. After time the forward clutches will be junk doing this. Tear down will tell you what the rattle is. I can tell you that a powerglide and T350 share the same yoke. I use to swap powerglides for T-350's on the older muslcecars. I could reuse the shaft and crossmember. I have not done this on an 1980 car, so I would be guessing. Maybe you should consider a 2004R?
I thiught that it was terminal but just wanted some info. It is a junk yard special tranny anyways. I have a 305 installed in my car so belhousings are no problem. If the deal with the powerglide doent go through I will have to fix the tranny that was in the car ( front seal leak) Thanks for the imput though I will take the pan off and see what is in there before I scrapp it.