Читать книгу Chrysler TorqueFlite A-904 and A-727 Transmissions - Tom Hand - Страница 6

PREFACE

I grew up in a family with three brothers and three sisters, a mom who was always home, and a dad who taught us how to work on things. I had a Kenner’s Girder and Panel building set, a Gilbert Erector set, slot cars, model cars, model rockets, and progressed to bicycles, lawnmowers/go-karts, and cars. Dad was always a Pontiac guy, but in the late 1960s, he bought a 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 automatic. I too bought a 340 Swinger, but mine was a 4-speed. His was quicker, but mine was faster. Of course, it was the TorqueFlite making his ET lower. Mark Poole and I took an automatic transmission class to learn about TorqueFlites.

Previously, I wrote three articles on the TorqueFlite for the Mopar Muscle Club International and the Walter P Chrysler Club. Around 1984, Kyle and his father, Dick Drake and I started the High Performance Auto Club for Chrysler products, which provided a source of Midwestern-based TorqueFlites for rebuilding and/or modifying. I was very fortunate to be able to rebuild some of the rarest ones ever made. In 1984, a trip to the Kokomo plant let me see how TorqueFlites were manufactured. And, a trip to Detroit provided time with Chrysler transmission engineers and one of the designers of the TorqueFlite, Mr. Bert Cartwright. Marriage in 1985 and family commitments took precedence, and time to wrench on transmissions diminished.

Fast forward to 2016. I was asked to consider putting together a book about the TorqueFlite and because I had some extra time, a wealth of publications, historical documents, training manuals, access to parts, and good friends to help, I agreed. I learned a lot (more) about this tremendous transmission and I hope you find this book to be interesting, educational, and beneficial.