Luke Bogacki Is On The Road Again

BTE-sponsored Luke Bogacki had a great 2013. The NHRA Super Comp champion from last year welcomed a son with his wife Jessica (a racer in her own right) in additional to great professional success. In a recent update, Bogacki announced the backing of new sponsors including Racing RVs and K&N Engineering. 

Bogacki’s first NHRA appearance of the season goes down this weekend at the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event in Indianapolis, with more on the way including the NHRA LODRS events in both Indianapolis and Atlanta, a stop in Bristol, TN for the K&N Spring Fling and the NHRA Kansas Nationals in Topeka. His wife, Jessica, will be driving a new American Race Cars dragster in bracket competition throughout the year. 

Good luck to both from BTE!

New Product Release: Two Piece Powerglide Case and Bellhousing

After 24 months of development and design, BTE is proud to announce the official release of a Two Piece Powerglide Case and Bellhousing (SKU BTE240001). The brand new case, suitable for all racing applications up to and above 3000 HP, is is updated from previous designs to feature a lower total mass and higher quality casting and machined surfaces. 

It includes a high quality IKO roller bearing in the tailshaft area—as does every BTE-designed case—and is certified for all SFI specs, with no need for a blanket or shield. Each housing is double checked on a CMM to ensure accuracy and quality. Additional options include custom powder coating.

Orders will begin shipping this summer. 

BTE Racing/Memphis Performance Names a New President

MOUNT PLEASANT, MS—BTE Racing/Memphis Performance is ushering in a new era of leadership. Brandon Barrentine is stepping into the role of company president as of April 4, 2014. Brandon, son of Memphis Performance co-founders Paul and Jane Barrentine, has been with the company for 16 years, most recently acting as general manager after the passing of his father, Paul, in 2012. Brandon's role as president ushers in the third generation of this tight-knit family business as the torch is officially passed down from his grandfather Bill Taylor, founder of BTE and previously TCI Automotive.

Brandon was born into the industry and began racing in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League, eventually graduating from Collierville High School and earned both a management degree and MBA from Christian Brothers University in Memphis.  Brandon also helped to build and drive bracket racing cars that were test vehicles for BTE torque converter and transmissions.

He puts both the academic and field experience to good use on a daily basis helping carry BTE into its third generation with new product development, general management and even ensuring customers have an open line of communication to the company 24 hours a day. (This isn't just marketing speak here, he is literally the person that takes the time to answer all the online chat questions at any hour of the day or night.)

"BTE/Memphis Performance will remain very much a family business. It is a huge privilege to lead a company of family and so many longtime friends," said Brandon about his new position.

BTE Racing/Memphis Performance has been serving the drag racing industry for almost a quarter century. Based in Mount Pleasant, MS - just outside of Memphis, TN - the family-owned and operated business ships high performance drag racing transmissions, torque converters and other racing parts all over the world.

BTE Powerglide planetary gear sets

BTE is the industry leader in powerglide gear set design and manufacturing.  Made in the USA, BTE has gear sets available in multiple lengths and ratios.  See this new video on how we manufacture all of our powerglide gear sets.

http://www.bteracing.com/Transmissions/Transmission-Components/Powerglide-Components/BTE-1-80-Straight-Cut-9310-Powerglide-Gear-Set.html

Brandon's quick tour of BTE / Memphis Performance

Earlier this week, Brandon grabbed his mobile phone and shot a quick walkthrough video tour of our manufacturing facility in Mt. Pleasant, MS. We're often asked what do we make or how we make something, so we're producing a series of great videos that show more about us. Check back soon for some very cool technical guides and product review videos.

Material grades and designs for powerglide input shafts - What do they mean?

Powerglide input shafts are available in a number of different designs and material grades.  We'll break these down so they are a little easier to understand.

Design and Material Guidelines

In OEM applications, a powerglide input shaft has a 17 count spline that engages the torque converter and two sealing rings midway down the shaft to complete the cooling circuit.  The shaft also has a number of oiling holes throughout to complete the lubrication and hydraulics.  Unfortunately, the OEM input shaft is one of the first areas to fail in a performance application.  The low grade material, the shaft diameter, and overall design were not intended for anything beyond low horsepower, street driven passenger cars.  The shafts will often twist or break at the converter side.  Material upgrades increase the strength to a point.

• We recommend the powerglide spline (17) input shafts made from quality steel at power levels under 700 horsepower and 600 ft lbs of torque. 

The first input shaft design upgrades changed this 17 spline design to the 30 spline count.  Also known as a turbo spline, this is the same spline used in the Turbo Hydromatic transmissions (TH350 and TH400).  The larger diameter shaft paired with an upgrade in material quality gives this new input shaft a lot more backbone.

• We recommend the turbo spline (30) input shafts made from quality 4340 steel at power levels under 1000 horsepower and 800 foot lbs of torque in vehicles under 3000 lbs.

As power levels increased over the years, the next weak link in the shaft was revealed to be the sealing ring lands for the cooler circuit.  The sharp edges of the 2 ring lands created a place where the shaft would break clean in high horsepower and torque setups.  To address this, the rings were deleted and the shafts were made solid.  However, this ring elimination comes with a cost - no proper cooling circuit.  Hot transmission oil exiting the torque converter flows directly past the cooler exits and into the planetary gear set.  This setup is only suitable in race cars that are towed to and from the starting and finish lines or in transmissions that do not have a special upgraded pump.

Today's high performance powerglide "ringless" input shafts have solved this cooler circuit problem by using a special pump design.  BTE's new high volume powerglide pump features an internal bushing system that mates with our new ringless input shaft.   In this pairing, we have a completely solid VascoMax 300 steel input shaft that also retains proper cooling flow.

• BTE recommends the ringless VascoMax turbo spline (30) input shafts in applications between 1000 and 2700 horsepower and 800 and 2000 ft lbs of torque in vehicles under 2800 lbs.  

Beyond these power levels, BTE offers a special 48 spline shaft made from Aermet grade material.  If your application is making more than 2700 horsepower, we offer this shaft as a total conversion kit.  The OD is increased to 1.125 inches and requires a special pump, planetary center gear, washers, clutch hub, and torque converter turbine spline.  Call us at 1-800-626-1828 for more information on this custom transmission.

Have you ever wanted to try racing a Super Comp dragster or getting your competition license?

Have you ever wanted to try racing a Super Comp dragster or getting your competition license? 

The legendary Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School has a great program available for drivers of all experience levels. BTE is a proud partner with the driving school supplying all of their racing transmission and torque converter needs. Visit frankhawley.com for more information.