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Picking an Overdrive Automatic... ...And The Gearing To Go With It
Over the years, the trucks have certainly become more sophisticated. Take transmissions for example. At one time the only choices were “three-on-the-tree” or “four-on-the-floor” manual boxes. When automatics became more common, trucks could be equipped with transmissions like Ford’s Ford-O-Matic, GM’s Hydramatic, and Chrysler’s PowerFlite, but that was then and this is now. Today most of us want to put more modern transmission in our trucks, and that usually means an automatic transmission.
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Gear Up.... to a Gearstar Overdrive Transmission
What keeps people from enjoying their car on long distance drives? It’s no doubt the gas mileage generated from that old tired 3 speed auto trans.
We visited Gearstar Transmissions in Akron, Oh. Which is locally owned and operated but are a national recognized transmission of choice by many of the magazine project cars and the Street Rodder Tour car for the past 10 years.
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Automagic Transmissions - Computer Controls for Electronic Overdrives
When it comes to applying the latest technology to street rods some of us are more enthusiastic than others. If nuclear powerplants suddenly became available you can be sure Brennan would shoehorn a reactor under the hood of his highboy. Then there are those of us who are skeptics...
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Big-Block Party Part 3: Prepping our '69 for the Installation of a Modern, EFI Big-Block
So we switch to a Gearstar Level 4 electronically controlled 4L60E/four-speed automatic. It has an 11-inch, custom-stalled, full-billet, lock-up torque converter, and its build to handle up to 650 hp and 600 lb/ft of torque. Follow along now...
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Dropping in a 350/350 Combo
I looked to the folks at Gearstar Performance Transmissions in Akron, Ohio, for the TH350 I planned to mate to the Power Crate 350. It was a decision based on past experiences where I have learned many times over that Gearstar...
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She Really is Fine
A Gearstar 200-4R trans capable of hadnling 475 lb-ft of torque and 500 hp. The Gearstar 200-4R has a taller (33 percent) overdrive allowing you to pull numerically higher gear ratios or spin shorter profile tires while cruising down...
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How It Works
Just like a quick stroll through the cruise night parking lot will confirm the dominance of GM overdrive automatics on the street, walking down the staging lanes of any dragstrip will reveal an equally overwhelming number of...
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Gearstar Presents Goodguys 2010 Hot Rod of the Year!
Goodguys is proud to announce Gearstar Performance Transmissions as the presenting sponsor of the coveted Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year award. The Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year is presented annually at the Hot Rod Nationals...
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Building the Bombproof TH400
Knowing about my luck with transmissions, an ex-editor of Off-Road magazine turned me onto Gearstar Performance Transmissions of Akron, Ohio. It seemed a little far to go for a transmission build, but I'm always eager to learn...
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Goodguys 2011 Classic Instruments Street Rod of the Year
Installing a Gearstar 200-4R Overdrive Transmission
Through Gearstar, we sourced a 200-4R overdrive transmission outfitted with their Level III intervals and a 10-inch 2,800- to 3,600- stall converter — good for up to 500 hp and 475 lb-ft. It all came shipped complete to our door in a crate...
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Automatic Improvement
The professionals at Gearstar Performance Transmissions are known for the quality of their engineered transmission and torque converter assemblies, can provide a transmission to fit any of your needs, from mild to wild...
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Selecting Driveline Components for Dependability
For a bulletproof transmission we turned to Gearstar Performance Transmissions for their experience and reputation. Zack Farah, Gearstar’s owner, got his start over 25 years ago at Tristar International where they were manufacturing...
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Shifting Into Overdrive—Part II
When we began building the Hot Rod Hauler, our updated '73 Ford F-350, we had a number of objectives. One of the most ambitious was to increase fuel economy while maintaining towing capacity. The first modification toward that...
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Should've had a V-8
The Gearstar 700-R4 is a completely remanufactured and upgraded trans that comes with just about everything you need to install. A technician at Gearstar will ask a bunch of questions about rearend gears, horsepower of the engine...
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Should've had a V-8
Let me start this story by coming clean and letting you know we didn't finish the job. With that out of the way, let me explain what we were attempting to do. Our art director for this fine magazine owns this sweet '63 Nova wagon...
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Hot Rod Hauler
At the outset of our Hot Rod Hauler project, one of our major goals was to increase fuel economy while maintaining the towing capacity of our '73 Ford F-350. And while we will be building a new fuel-injected engine in the near...
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Mounting a Transmission Oil Cooler
The cooling system on any vehicle is vital for its survival. If you happen to have one that isn’t functioning properly, then it can incapacitate its ability to maintain a consistent and safe operating temperature for any of the components...
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Practicing What We Preach
At HOT ROD, we spend much of our lives ramrodding guys to get out there and really use their cars in glorious and punishing ways. We hock Power Tour®, Drag Week™, the Top Speed challenge. We needle in general...
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Weekend Wrenchin’ – Gearstar 4L60E Install
The AccuLink TPS is designed to easily mount directly to Edelbrock AFB, Holley and Rochester carburetors and connect through included stainless steel linkage. A cable-operated sensor is also available...
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Gearstar Performance Transmissions Shop Tour
Every once in a while a company flourishes when it is formed for all the right reasons, under the right circumstance, and by the right people. Gearstar Performance Transmission is one such company and Zack Farah is the man...
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The 2010 AMSOIL / Street Rodder Road Tour Shadow Rods XL27 roadster pickup
Approaching 375,000 miles would be an impressive milestone for any car but what about 15 cars? To say you built 15 cars and their cumulative miles are in excess of 300,000 says a great deal for the cars, along with the products...
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The 2010 AMSOIL / Street Rodder Road Tour Transmission
For this year’s car we chose Gearstar Performance Transmissions’ Ford AOD Level IV automatic overdrive transmission with a custom 10-inch, non-damper-style, billet converter with stall speed tailored to the engine’s specifications...
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For Starters
The advantage that is hot rodding is the ability each of us has to individualize our own car. We could all build Model T’s but in the end the real beauty of hot rodding is that they would all be different. I have seen many street rodders...
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1949 Chevrolet Gauge Cluster
Parts Department - March 2006 Classic Truck Parts
Bolt-On Chassis Components
Window Shopper
Lokar Shifter Installation
Bolt-On Stop ‘N’ Go
Simplicity. No matter where you look, it’s part of our everyday lives. From the way we communicate with one another to the manner in which we upgrade antiquated automobiles to better coexist with modern mobiles, simplicity...
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Cool Shift
Though I installed the Gearstar 200-4R transmission in my project ’49 Chevy months ago when the motor went in, I never fitted the trans cooler or shifter. With all the big fabrication jobs out of the way the time had come to do so...
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Ford Overdrive Overview
How It Works
A confused as Blue Oval and Mopar fanatics may be in their misguided hot rodding proclivities, at least they know a good automatic transmission when they see one. How else can you explain the overwhelming number of Outlaw...
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Amsoil / Street Rodder Road Tour 2010
Not since the heyday of he Flathead have Ford engines been as popular in street rods as they are today. Thanks to the performance reputation established by the muscle-bound powerplants, like the Smeding Performance 347 incher...
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Quality, Not Quota
Building high-performance transmissions is not a job for Zack Farah, it’s a way of life. The owner of Gearstar Performance Transmissions quite literally sleeps, eats and breathes his business, taking tech calls at all hours of the day and...
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Rod Shop: Top Gear
We have a Gearstar transmission in the Project '49 Chevy and for good reason. All Gearstar trannies are assembled one at a time by a single technician, built specifically for each vehicle's specifications and driving needs. The TH350...
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Amsoil / Street Rodder Road Tour 2010
When the Intercity truck showed up at Cotati Speed Shop, the Shadow Rods XL27 Road Tour car was well on its ways, but anyone who has built a street rod knows that there are a thousand details large and small that have to be...
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Parts Department: Shift to the Stars
This GearStar Street Performance Turbo 350 transmission and torque converter package is designed to work behind a small-block engine producing up to 400 hp with 360 lb-ft of torque in a street-driven truck. All GearStar Turbo 350...
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Gearstar Presents Goodguys 2010 Hot Rod of the Year!
Goodguys is proud to announce Gearstar Performance Transmissions as the presenting sponsor of the coveted Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year award. The Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year is presented annually at the Hot Rod Nationals...
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Building an Overdrive Automatic the Gearstar Way
How times have changed. When our Chevy was new there were two choices when it came to transmissions: a three-speed manual or a two-speed Powerglide automatic. Interestingly, when the automatic was ordered it came with a larger...
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The 2009 Amsoil / Street Rodder Road Tour Leg 6
The next stop was the Akron, Ohio, home of Gearstar Transmission. Gearstar has been the official automatic transmission supplier for the Road Tour cars for the last four years. We put about 20,000 miles on our Road Tour vehicles each...
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Parts Department - Maximum Overdrive Made Easy
The Gearstar Performance 700-R4 Street Performance transmission and torque converter package is designed to work behind a small-block engine producing up to 400 hp with 300 lb-ft of torque in a street-driven vehicle. This overdrive...
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Building an overdrive automatic the Gearstar way
How times have changed. When our Chevy was new, there were two choices when it came to transmissions: a three-speed manual or a two-speed Powerglide automatic. Interestingly, when the automatic was ordered it came with a larger...
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Power to the Ground
Today’s automatic overdrive transmissions offer gear ratio spreads that are perfect for a truck that will see more time on the highway than the dragstrip. Gearstar specializes in building hi-po versions of these trannys that will stand...
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Automatic for the People
For the longest time, if you ran a Ford small-block or Windsor engine and wanted to run an automatic, your transmission of choice would likely be a C4. For heavier duty applications you'd likely opt for a C6. As with everything...
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Street Rodder Road Tour Lunch Stop - Gearstar Transmissions
Zach and the crew laid out the welcome mat for the Road Tour travelers who welcomed a stop in the Rubber City and a chance to see the inner workings of what has become one of the most popular transmissions shops in America...
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Ramrodder: Part 3
When we decided to build a street gasser there were only a few things we knew for sure: The car would have a straight axle, a blown Hemi, and fenderwell headers. Granted that wasn't much of an initial plan, but after finding our '50...
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Into Overdrive - September 2009
You probably thought I'd forgotten all about the project '49 Chevy huh? Unfortunately a combination of work schedules, the start of the show season and the fact that I have been doing a few jobs on my '46 roadster pickup...
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No Recess!
Overcoming A Major Engine Setback With A Direct Sheetmetal Firewall. I can remember back when Total Cost Involved was about to drop the '58 Chevy 235 engine and Gear Star Turbo 350 trans in my '39 just as they finished up the...
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Trans Fusion
Like many street rods, our AMSOIL/STREET RODDER Road Tour '09 Chevy is equipped with an automatic transmission. But instead of the two-speed cast-iron Powerglide that was original equipment in '52 we're slipping in a...
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Maximum Overdrive
Muscle car guys can call it character if they please, But there's nothing fashionable about single-digit gas mileage, subjecting your ears to a NVH beat down, or sweating like an Illinois governor. Late-models are all about knocking...
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Shifting priorities
Gearstar's owner, Zack Farah, got his start over 25 years ago at Tristar International where they were manufacturing upwards of 100 transmissions each day and 300 converters. While bulk production was Tristar's bread and butter...
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Hitting the Sweet Spot
One of the most common components in today’s classic trucks is an overdrive automatic transmission, and one of the most popular of the breed is the General Motors 700-R4. Although the 700-R4 is a good transmission and can be...
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Dyno Tune Your Trans
Whether they're used as precision tuning instruments or as obligatory instruments of bragging, the purpose of a dyno is to triumph in numerical glory. Even real racers and bench racers can both agree on that one. Consequently...
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Chevy High Performance Insider
For once, maybe we should cut the Blue Oval loyalist some slack. Sure, many of them would rather swallow their pride and bolt a venerable GM automatic behind their motors instead of taking their chances with a junk C6 or AOD, but who...
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Swinging Iron
The highs and lows that accompany building a project car can seem never-ending. It's a virtual roller coaster ride of aggravating let downs and animated high-fives (with anyone within arms length). But even after a month of...
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Project Get Shorty
A few months back we took a trip up to Smeding Performance in Rancho Cordova, California, and followed along with Ben Smeding as he assembled their new 383 Hot Rod crate motor. When the build wrapped up we hit the dyno...
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Big Block Overdrive
Gearstar Performance Transmissions has a solution in the form of its 502 Big-Block Package for the GM 700-R4. It uses upgraded internals, like a hardened steel input shaft and hardened expanded capacity drums, Raybestos...
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Talk The Torque
If there was a vote for the most misunderstood automotive component, we’re willing to bet the automatic transmission would rank pretty high, and the torque converter itself possibly higher still. OK, so it’s kinda like a clutch for an...
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Y-Block AOD Upgrade
As time rapidly moves farther and farther away from the 20th century mark, more and more customized classic truck owners have discovered an increasing desire to restore their truck’s mid-century appeal with a hopped up early V-8 engine...
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Gear Star Performance Transmission
It’s been said that a man’s commitment to his art can be judged by how he has equipped his workshop to handle the task at hand. In the case of Gear Star Performance Transmission their commitment to the art of custom building...
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Overdrive Transmission Swap
The trappings of modern technology can spoil even hardcore authenticity buffs. Sample something new, and before you know it, you can't do without it. It happened to us. After years of driving late-model machines for most of our...
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Tested Diesel Tough
Before the advent of the Allison automatic transmission in diesel-equipped GM vehicles, the toughest transmission in GM's arsenal was the 4L80E. Used on the early Duramax trucks, the 4L80E was also bolted behind big-block gas motors...
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Switching Gears
Transmissions are pretty much the most ignored component on a vehicle in terms of maintenance. People take transmissions for granted: and don’t think the slightest bit about the amount of heat that goes through them or the amount...
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Picking the Right Automatic Transmission for Your Street Rod
There was a time when automatic transmission had all kinds of unique names- Cruise-O-Matic, Hydra-Matic, Ultramatic, and the list goes on. But while he names were different, the basic operation was about the same and they...
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How to Trick the 4L80E
Many drivers take components that work in unison, which allow them to pull the gear shifter of their vehicle into drive and reverse everyday, for granted. Transmissions keep our trucks moving, and when overworked and under-built...
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Classic Trucks
One of the most common components in today’s classic trucks is an overdrive automatic transmission, and one of the most popular of the breed is the General Motors 700-R4. Although the 700-R4 is a good transmission and can be...
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Stock Sucks
Three Times The Factory Power Equals One Tough Camaro SS. The Camaro has been through a lot in its 35-year existence, and this particular 2000 model represents the third year of the LS1 powerplant in an F-body and the...
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A New Transmission for the ‘ol Sedan Delivery
The ‘ol ’55 puts at least 10,000 miles on it every year and that old 350 auto trans. has been hauling magazines for the past 10 years, and well, you do the math, then add a bunch more from the previous owner- it was gettin ‘ tired! Needless...
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A Look Inside Gearstar Transmissions
Why is the last thing a car collector thinks about is the transmission? After all the money and time spent deciding paint, graphics, wheels and interior, the item that transfers power to the rear, usually gets a “Oh yea, my buddy has one...
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How Does This Shift Work?
Enthusiasts can be a funny bunch sometimes. We’re proud of our cars, usually rightly so, but every so often for the wrong reasons. We like to brag about how much power we have, how wide our tires are, how fast we run the...
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Adapting To The Times
There’s little question about what the hottest trend in rodding is right now: traditional styling. Old speed parts and vintage powerplants have grown from an underground counterculture to one of the most popular trends in the industry...
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Simple C-10 Solutions
Why is it always the little things? They seem to be able to make or break just about anything in life, from trucks, taxes, to the opposite sex, but let’s just stick to trucks here. Last month we showed what it takes to rebuild a GM 12 bolt...
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Custom Classic Trucks
This is the first in a series of tech features on the 79 Chevy C-10 Big 10 that I recently put over 5,000 test miles on in less than two weeks’ time while participating in Rod & Custom magazine’s 2007 edition of Americruise...
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Street Rodder
Gear Star has been remanufacturing performance automatic transmissions since 1984, but what separates the company from the rest is the fact that every one of its transmissions are built to the specification of the engine and its intended use.
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Installing a Gear Star 200R4
It’s not a stretch of the truth to say that one of the best parts of owning a classic truck is actually driving it, and one of the major components on he short list of making a classic truck a joy to drive is an overdrive automatic transmission...
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Replacing the old TH400 with Level 3 4L60
Some things have been commonplace for too long. Times are changing, an some of it is for the best. There probably aren't too many people out there faced with the question of having a three- or four-speed automatic in their truck who...
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Shift Into The Darkside
One of the most common components in today’s classic trucks is an overdrive automatic transmission, and one of the most popular of the breed is the General Motors 700-R4. Although the 700-R4 is a good transmission and can be...
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Transfixed
One of the most common components in a contemporary street rod is an overdrive automatic transmission, and one of the most popular of the breed is the General Motors 700-R4. Although the 700-R4 is a good transmission...
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Super Chevy
The GearStar 200-4R features a 30-spline, 300m hardened input shaft, a Billet Forward Drum, a Billet Overdrive Planet, Billet Overdrive Ring Gear, and a Kevlar Wide Band with Billet Anchor. This package can be used behind a LT1 or LS1...
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Street Rod Builder
Most of us spend money building high horsepower motors and back them up with mildly modified automatic transmissions. Builders add higher stall speed converters, deep tranny oil pans and shift linkage. These do little to increase...
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Classic Trucks
TRUST ME Yeah it’s rebuilt...trust me. How many times have you heard that? It’s easy to get bamboozled in the game of buying remanufactured parts. It seems like you can’t trust anybody these days. Gear Star Performance Transmissions...
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Chevy High Performance
Designed for three- and four-speed automatics with the lockup option, Gear Star is pleased to debut its all new 10-inch street and strip converter that allows stall speeds between 2,500 and 4,800 rpm. Each converter is rated up to 1,000 hp...
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The 200-4R Transfer of Power
It would make no sense to hook the RamJet 350 to a Powerglide when we have a selection of better GM transmissions. As fuel costs rise (especially in the summer, when we do much of our car event travelling), efficiency becomes...
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Low-Revvin' Highway Fun
When I'm not stuck under the hood of various magazine project vehicles in the Primedia Tech Center, I like to spend as much time as I can working on my '49 Chevy pickup. More than that, though, I really like to drive it, and not just...
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Building a 1934-35 Chevy
Overdrive transmissions might seem like the perfect solution for any vehicle, and indeed they are offered today in almost every machine from the smallest puddle-jumper to the largest SUV. However, you need sufficient beans in the engine to...
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