I always had read about how strong the A727s were in the 1960s, then "Hot Rod" had an article of how to upgrade the A904s for drag race activities. That after about 25 hard runs, they "needed attention". It detailed which clutches to replace and with what brands, plus the better band. The upgraded frictions and a few other tweaks and then they'd last a well as a 727, PLUS they took less power to run, which led some B/RB racers to adapt them to their big block cars for "more power to the pavement". As the Gen I Hemi and the LA-block have the same bellhousing bolt pattern (as I understand it) it might make a good upgrade for the '50s V-8s, too? When appropriate durability upgrades have been done.
ONE thing I might mention is that aside from the several books on Chrysler automatics which have been written, the old Chrysler Direct Connection race manuals (later Mopar Performance) were "factory information" on what mods to make to Chrysler automatics. Back then, the "full race" orientation included the "Manual Reverse Pattern Valve Body". This was in an era before automatic trans floor shifters with ratchet mechanisms. The orientation was that "D" was where "!" used to be in the shift quadrant, so no possibility of inadvertently going to "N" rather than "D"/3rd in a race. You shifted away from "N" rather than toward it. These valve bodies were also "full manual" rather than automatic. Don't know why they couldn't also be automatic, but these earlier ones were not.
What became the Direct Connection Race Manual (over 1000pages!) was a compilation of the old Drag Race Clinics which Mopar racers did in the later 1960s at dealerships. The older ones looked a little clunky, being copies of type-written race bulletins, but they had THE FACTORY information of how to get the best performance out of Chrysler powertrains, plus chassis set-ups, at the time. Ford and GM never did that, relying on the car magazines to do it for them, over time. If you were going to drag race, doing things as the Race Manual specified would get you to about 90% of potential. The other 10% being execution and driving ability, by observation. It wasn't a "trick of the week" orientation, but backed by Chrysler engineers who raced and designed these things for a living.
In the later 1990s, they upgraded and separated the ONE manual into specialty-area manuals, plus expanding them into other areas, too. The one major upgrade was they were now type-set and had color pictures. Same information and possibly updated information. NOT the same stuff you'll see in a normal car magazine!
My machine shop operative used to joke that he could tell a "real Mopar Nut" as when they'd come into the machine shop, they'd have "The Mopar Bible" in their hand. And that it was!
The Race Manuals would not duplicate the "build" things the factory service manual covered, but tell you what and how to do things past that. PLUS things you'd not find anywhere else (like using epoxied popsicle sticks to equalize mixture distribution in particular intake manifolds). ALL "factory" information, NOT what some magazine writer might say.
To be sure, there are some good non-factory books out there, but this is variable, by observation. I started out with HPBooks and then the S-A Designs books came out, so I started looking at the publishing house rather than the author.
As for automatic transmissions, by observation, each major trans builder (person or company, local or otherwise) has their own orientations of what they feel works best in a particular situation. And THAT's what's in the books they write, understandably so. Nothing wrong with that. BUT that doesn't mean it'll work "as you desire", per se. So as with other advice, you need more than one source for best results. Still, the way some authors indicate how to do things, in the field, can be helpful and sometimes bypass certain measuring situations that might be necessary in a factory-assembly situation with unknown components, especially if you've never done this before.
IF you might happen onto one of these older Race Manuals at a swap meet, get it! Then spend many hours in the recliner reading and deciphering what's in it, cover to cover. You'll learn a LOT about Chrysler powertrains and other aspects of the products.
Then, for a break in the action, head over to MyMopar.com or the OnlineImperialClub website and go through the Chrysler Service Tech library, earliest to latest, 1950s to about 1976, for "factory training" filmstrips/videos.
Then for a break from that . . . check out the multitude of Mopar-related product videos on YouTube. How a '64 Imperial was better than a similar Cadillac, for example. Or the "On The Test Track with the 1957 Chryslers" series of performance trials! Or the many other "sales training" videos for Chrysler Products archived in there. The links to other videos seem to be endless!! Best to have an unlimited Internet rate plan!
While you're here, also look for the books on cylinder heads and intake manifolds by David Vizard. It might not be Chrylser-specific information, but the theories he mentions work the same on Chevy heads as for other brands of engines. LOTS of interesting information in there, too!
The winter season is fast approaching, so reading and watching can be good diversions and "keep you out of trouble", so to speak, as you also learn a lot about Mopar design, engineering, and heritage.
ENJOY!!
CBODY67
