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The Road Racing Belvedere strikes again...

65RoadRacer

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Just saw my car in an advertisement with Silver Sport Transmissions. They provided me with an A41 4-speed automatic for the Belvedere and love the fact that I track the car. So I was honored to see this in my feed. These guys have been awesome over the years and I've always felt I haven't done enough to deserve the accolades they give me for taking their transmission out to the track and beating the hell out of it.
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Can you tell us a bit more about the transmission, fitment, performance, reliability, etc. Working on '63 BB, and '65 Hemi build, still considering all options for the transmissions...Thanks
 
Can you tell us a bit more about the transmission, fitment, performance, reliability, etc. Working on '63 BB, and '65 Hemi build, still considering all options for the transmissions...Thanks
Sure...
THE A41
This is essentially a ~1997 4L60E 4-speed overdrive transmission. It is available in 3 stages, with stage 3 handling upwards of 700 HP and torque. It's a complete kit that will have mounts, transmission controller, harnesses, fluid, TC, flex plate and external transmission cooler, and also includes the driveshaft, not just the yoke. The 4L60e they use has a removable bellhousing, so a new bellhousing is included that mates up to your engine, small or big bock.

FITMENT
We did a little pioneering for this kit, and it was pretty simple and complete. They actually don't have kits specifically for the 62-65, so they sent me the 66-up kit. We modified the trans mount and crossmember, and everything else fit (with a little massaging of the trans tunnel since there's more girth.

PERFORMANCE
Since the transmission is electronically controlled by the TCI Auto EZ-TCU, you set it up and you set your parameters. You have a handheld controller (they are going to upgrade to a better controller soon with more options - I'll likely be doing that and writing an article about it). The trans can shift pretty hard, and you can adjust that to a softer shift, but I've gone with more of a performance shift.

RELIABILITY
Your run synthetic in the trans, and it's pricey, but necessary. I've put quite a few thousand miles on it and have not had any transmission issues - this includes pushing it at the track and manually shifting. I've gotten 17 mpg on the freeway with a dual quad EFI on a Poly 318, and it will spin the rear tires in second when I'm pushing it hard - the car actually got a little sideways a couple weekends ago at Willow Springs when I was heading out onto the track under full throttle. With several track days behind it, it's still shifting and performing like it should.

Anything else you'd like to know, feel free... I'll answer as best as I can.
You can see more about this transmission in the installation article.
If you call them, let them know I sent you!
 
Sure...
THE A41
This is essentially a ~1997 4L60E 4-speed overdrive transmission. It is available in 3 stages, with stage 3 handling upwards of 700 HP and torque. It's a complete kit that will have mounts, transmission controller, harnesses, fluid, TC, flex plate and external transmission cooler, and also includes the driveshaft, not just the yoke. The 4L60e they use has a removable bellhousing, so a new bellhousing is included that mates up to your engine, small or big bock.

FITMENT
We did a little pioneering for this kit, and it was pretty simple and complete. They actually don't have kits specifically for the 62-65, so they sent me the 66-up kit. We modified the trans mount and crossmember, and everything else fit (with a little massaging of the trans tunnel since there's more girth.

PERFORMANCE
Since the transmission is electronically controlled by the TCI Auto EZ-TCU, you set it up and you set your parameters. You have a handheld controller (they are going to upgrade to a better controller soon with more options - I'll likely be doing that and writing an article about it). The trans can shift pretty hard, and you can adjust that to a softer shift, but I've gone with more of a performance shift.

RELIABILITY
Your run synthetic in the trans, and it's pricey, but necessary. I've put quite a few thousand miles on it and have not had any transmission issues - this includes pushing it at the track and manually shifting. I've gotten 17 mpg on the freeway with a dual quad EFI on a Poly 318, and it will spin the rear tires in second when I'm pushing it hard - the car actually got a little sideways a couple weekends ago at Willow Springs when I was heading out onto the track under full throttle. With several track days behind it, it's still shifting and performing like it should.

Anything else you'd like to know, feel free... I'll answer as best as I can.
You can see more about this transmission in the installation article.
If you call them, let them know I sent you!
Just put up the link to the build thread!:rolleyes:
 
what are the gear ratios?
This was interesting for me to find out. I had a built 1970 727 with a low gear set, and that was a deficit at the track because it increased the space between 2nd and 3rd, meaning I was revving too high for 2nd gear and too low for 3rd coming out of turns at 90+ mph.
TF 727 stock gears:
1 - 2.45
2 - 1.45
3 - 1.00
TF 727 low gear set:
1 - 2.75
2 - 1.54
3 - 1.00
SST A41 gears:
1 - 3.06
2 - 1.63
3 - 1.00
4 - 0.70

As you can see, I've now got an even lower set than before, and 2nd gear is even further from 3rd than the 727 low gear set. This is great on the street because you can run freeway gears and taller tires for better MPGs (which was my original intent with the 727 low gear set) and still be pretty quick off the line.

Currently I'm getting about 17 MPG on the freeway with a 3.25:1 rear gears and 28-inch tires. It's not blazing off the line because of the horsepower and gearing, but that's my trade off for getting better freeway mileage. There is a planetary gear set for the 4L60e that's better suited for racing applications from Performance Automatic that I'm considering.

PA close ratio gears:
1 - 2.84
2 - 1.55
3 - 1.00
4 - 0.70

This planetary set brings me closer to the TF low gear set, is more durable, and still has a lower 1st for good launches.
 
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