Shade-Tree tranny part 2

[CaliDude76]

Got my tranny back this evening, ended up costing me $600 for the re-build.

Gonna stab it in on Sunday.. wish me luck.

BTW... anyone have an idea what the torque spec is for the tightening of the flexplate to the engine crank shaft? (don't want to crack the new one) much appreciated....

 

[HotRodPC]

I can't find my book to look up the flywheel torque. I've never torqued flywheel bolts that I can recall. I've always just got them RFT (Real Fuggin Tight) with a 1/2 ratchet at minimum. I assume the $600 included the new/reman converter. Not a bad deal. You sure woudln't have gotten a 700r4 done that cheap.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

60-65 ft. lb. no oil, just loc-tite.

 

[CaliDude76]

WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!

Got my tranny in a runnin', had a little snag though. It wasn't shifting at all, and had to take it to the guy who re-built it. I could shift it manually, but that's why I have an automatic! LOL

He had to replace the governer I think. He pulled that vacuum doo-hickey off of the back and pulled out something and replaced it, and voila!!!! He showed me how to adjust the shif points with a little screw driver, and there you have it!!

BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!

 

[Swims350]

that's the vacuum modulator valve and it's got the adjustible mod valve to let you dial in some preload on the thing or take it out.

IMO though sounds a bit shady to have a newly rebuilt trans and have to change something right off. I don't like that one bit.

 

[HotRodPC]

that's the vacuum modulator valve and it's got the adjustible mod valve to let you dial in some preload on the thing or take it out.

IMO though sounds a bit shady to have a newly rebuilt trans and have to change something right off. I don't like that one bit.

Things happen, I bet he forgot to put the vac mod valve in, in the first place. He probably found it and realized it as soon the trans was gone so he knew exactly where to go. Governor is on the other side in the round dome.

 

[CaliDude76]

Things happen, I bet he forgot to put the vac mod valve in, in the first place. He probably found it and realized it as soon the trans was gone so he knew exactly where to go. Governor is on the other side in the round dome.

Yeah, he checked the "dome", popped it open tinkered with it, drove it around the corner, came back and said "nope, that's not it",

then he popped that vac pod off and pulled something out of it and grabbed another of whatever it was and put it in, and locked it back up, took it for a drive and came right back and said.. "your good to go". He was saying that it was shifting soft, and showed me how to adjust my shift points to how I wanted it to shift..

Screw in.. shift tighter,
Screw out.. shift looser. I screwed it in and drove it a few times, till I got it shifting like a clock.

I understand what Swims350 is saying about seeming suspicious, but who do you really trust these days?? it's tough to find someone that's worth a dang anymore. How am I suppose to know he gave me new parts?? You know? He coulda pieced it together with stuff he had at his shop already and showed me a box of someone else's used parts.. you never know..

I have to just have faith that it's honest work. I did ask around though, and he did have a good report from a few people.. so that's what I was riding on.

But It's not like he tried to cheat me on the modulator.. (which was the area of trouble), it seemed to have a brand new one there when I brought it home

 

[HotRodPC]

I'm certainly not knocking the guy. How this went down is totally normal. Vac modulator and detent throttle pressure cable always needs adjusting after install. He did a bench build as I understand it, and you installed it yourself right? If the guy is like me, he has parts to several transmissions at his disposal and they do sometimes get mixed in. Obviously he didn't forget the mod valve if you seen him take one out. Mod valves aren't something that usually wear out, but if the one he swapped had a burr on it, then it wouldn't move so he swapped it. You don't see things that can be wrong with most valves. Unless you use a micrometer on each and every valve, you'd never know. Experience comes in when you KNOW which valves will frequently wear and you measure those ones everytime or replace them everytime. Being this valve doesn't normally wear, he likley didn't measure it and I woudln't have either. With your above explanation, I think he did just fine and I'm sure he did a good job. I notice you got a reman conveter. Some shops just flush them out. New converter tells me, he likley did a thorough job, but as you said, you never know. This is whey when I build a transmission, I normally put all the replaced parts in a small box, even the soft parts along with the hard parts. When the customer comes to pick up the transmission, I'll go thru the parts with them and explain what I found, what was broke, what was wore, what was good etc. This way they see all the seals were replaced, clutches replaced, why the hard parts needed replaced that were replaced so the customer can be confident they got a good thorough job. If I'm putting my name on it, its going to be done right or I won't do it at all. I won't even do patch jobs when asked ot do so. The biggest part of a build is the labor. You're going thru the same motions to put good used parts in it as you would brand new parts. To save the $100 on using used parts for the same labor just isn't worth putting my name on. Granted, I have accumulated some good used parts from rebuilding transmissions in the past, and I will buy a reseal kit for $15 and build my own transmission out of used cluthes for a back up vehicle or a vehicle that I might be selling, but even then, I know how to tell when parts are reuseable and will still work for years and many thousands of miles or I woudln't even waste my own time. I think you did just fine Calidude!!!

 

[CaliDude76]

I'm certainly not knocking the guy. How this went down is totally normal. Vac modulator and detent throttle pressure cable always needs adjusting after install. He did a bench build as I understand it, and you installed it yourself right? If the guy is like me, he has parts to several transmissions at his disposal and they do sometimes get mixed in. Obviously he didn't forget the mod valve if you seen him take one out. Mod valves aren't something that usually wear out, but if the one he swapped had a burr on it, then it wouldn't move so he swapped it. You don't see things that can be wrong with most valves. Unless you use a micrometer on each and every valve, you'd never know. Experience comes in when you KNOW which valves will frequently wear and you measure those ones everytime or replace them everytime. Being this valve doesn't normally wear, he likley didn't measure it and I woudln't have either. With your above explanation, I think he did just fine and I'm sure he did a good job. I notice you got a reman conveter. Some shops just flush them out. New converter tells me, he likley did a thorough job, but as you said, you never know. This is whey when I build a transmission, I normally put all the replaced parts in a small box, even the soft parts along with the hard parts. When the customer comes to pick up the transmission, I'll go thru the parts with them and explain what I found, what was broke, what was wore, what was good etc. This way they see all the seals were replaced, clutches replaced, why the hard parts needed replaced that were replaced so the customer can be confident they got a good thorough job. If I'm putting my name on it, its going to be done right or I won't do it at all. I won't even do patch jobs when asked ot do so. The biggest part of a build is the labor. You're going thru the same motions to put good used parts in it as you would brand new parts. To save the $100 on using used parts for the same labor just isn't worth putting my name on. Granted, I have accumulated some good used parts from rebuilding transmissions in the past, and I will buy a reseal kit for $15 and build my own transmission out of used cluthes for a back up vehicle or a vehicle that I might be selling, but even then, I know how to tell when parts are reuseable and will still work for years and many thousands of miles or I woudln't even waste my own time. I think you did just fine Calidude!!!

Well.. thank ya!! I really do understand what your saying, and the guy seemed to know what he was doing, and yes it was a bench re-build, and the t-converter was new,as well as the flex plate. I was trying to be as economical as I could by pulling it out myself, (with plenty of help, of course)..

I really do enjoy working on my truck myself, or most cars for that matter (my girlfriends car.. mom's car..friends cars..etc), I just wish i knew how to re-build tranny's, or I would have tackled it myself for that matter.

However, I seriously doubt that I'm going to have anymore problems with it. I drove it around for about a good while at different speeds and such, A/C blowing cold, and Steely Dan in the JukeBox

She really hummed along with no hesitations with the tranny. I really do appreciate your input.. very much so!! I really do get a majority of my info from you guys here on this site. Talk about a treasure trove of info!

 

[Swims350]

you guys do what you want but for that kinda cash and me not doing it it better be new and be right. I trusted my trans guy too, until he gave me a junk case with a missing piece around the 1-2 acc. and it leaks. So never again, I'll build my own.

 

[HotRodPC]

you guys do what you want but for that kinda cash and me not doing it it better be new and be right. I trusted my trans guy too, until he gave me a junk case with a missing piece around the 1-2 acc. and it leaks. So never again, I'll build my own.

Yeah, you got a raw deal. I'd be pissed too. You know if want to, and your trans still works good, you could probably find you a new/used good case for cheap. Then just transfer all your hard parts to the new case. Get you a new rubber and paper seal kit for about $15 and transfer your drums and all. You shouldn't need any special tools since you're not going to be taking any drums apart. Only seals you'll be using the external case seals, and paper pump gasket.

 

[dhamp]

Does the 700r have a shift adjustment also? The tranny in mine was rebuilt around 50k (i think) because my pops was hauling huge loads of gravel for the church and burned it up. A guy rebuilt it (a little beefier I think) and added a cooler. When he did his test drive, he said it felt too soft/weak with the shifts. He said the guy reached back in there somewhere near the firewall and did something, then told him to drive it again. The thing shifted perfectly. I'm one that prefers a firm bump on my shifts, so I love it. Just wondering if that is the same adjustment that y'all are talking about. It's not really adjusting shift points though, just shift firmness. Correct?

 

[CaliDude76]

Does the 700r have a shift adjustment also? The tranny in mine was rebuilt around 50k (i think) because my pops was hauling huge loads of gravel for the church and burned it up. A guy rebuilt it (a little beefier I think) and added a cooler. When he did his test drive, he said it felt too soft/weak with the shifts. He said the guy reached back in there somewhere near the firewall and did something, then told him to drive it again. The thing shifted perfectly. I'm one that prefers a firm bump on my shifts, so I love it. Just wondering if that is the same adjustment that y'all are talking about. It's not really adjusting shift points though, just shift firmness. Correct?

HotRodPC, is gonna have to jump in on this one.. but what I do know about mine is that the vacuum modulator in the back has an adjustment screw that you can turn either in, or out to adjust your shift firmness and points. I kept turning mine in until it shifted solid, (when i got it back it was shifting real soft, like it was slipping) It runs tops now.

However, the modulator (at least mine is) is vacuum driven, and has a line that connects to a vacuum "T" type connector right behind the carb, on the manifold. Perhaps yours was unhooked, or had a split in it or something that was causing the problems you were having.

Just a guesstimation on my part...I could be wrong.

 

[towman]

Does the 700r have a shift adjustment also? The tranny in mine was rebuilt around 50k (i think) because my pops was hauling huge loads of gravel for the church and burned it up. A guy rebuilt it (a little beefier I think) and added a cooler. When he did his test drive, he said it felt too soft/weak with the shifts. He said the guy reached back in there somewhere near the firewall and did something, then told him to drive it again. The thing shifted perfectly. I'm one that prefers a firm bump on my shifts, so I love it. Just wondering if that is the same adjustment that y'all are talking about. It's not really adjusting shift points though, just shift firmness. Correct?

the 700r4 gets adjusted at the tv cable at the throttle body, cali has a 350 wich is at the midulaor valve

 

[HotRodPC]

Does the 700r have a shift adjustment also? The tranny in mine was rebuilt around 50k (i think) because my pops was hauling huge loads of gravel for the church and burned it up. A guy rebuilt it (a little beefier I think) and added a cooler. When he did his test drive, he said it felt too soft/weak with the shifts. He said the guy reached back in there somewhere near the firewall and did something, then told him to drive it again. The thing shifted perfectly. I'm one that prefers a firm bump on my shifts, so I love it. Just wondering if that is the same adjustment that y'all are talking about. It's not really adjusting shift points though, just shift firmness. Correct?

HotRodPC, is gonna have to jump in on this one.. but what I do know about mine is that the vacuum modulator in the back has an adjustment screw that you can turn either in, or out to adjust your shift firmness and points. I kept turning mine in until it shifted solid, (when i got it back it was shifting real soft, like it was slipping) It runs tops now.

However, the modulator (at least mine is) is vacuum driven, and has a line that connects to a vacuum "T" type connector right behind the carb, on the manifold. Perhaps yours was unhooked, or had a split in it or something that was causing the problems you were having.

Just a guesstimation on my part...I could be wrong.

As towman said, the 700r4 is adjusted at the TV (Throttle Valve) cable. Generally, changing the shift points to a little later will firm up the shift, but if you want an even firmer shift, then you can get a shift kit. Also on the 700r4, you can install the Corvette Servo for 1-2 shift, and that will just firm up the shift without changing the shift points.
On the Th350, you have both a detent cable that is equal to the TV cable of a 700r4, and a Vacuum Modulator, so you do have more room to play with on adjustment on the Th350. You can firm up the modulator to delay the shift a hair and firm up the shift, while you can also tighten up the detent cable that also does the kickdown, and change the shift points and really firm up the shift. Normally on a Th350, I tell people to set the vac modulator where you like the shift points at light and medium throttle, and then adjust the detent cable to where you like your full throttle shift points and down shift points.
Do keep in mind, a huge difference in the Th350 detent cable and the 700r4 TV cable, is that the 350 can operate just fine without the cable hooked up, let alone having the be adjusted correctly. Just that it won't kickdown and shifts may be early. On the 700r4, the TV cable MUST BE HOOKED UP, and needs to be adjusted within proper settings or you will fry the trans in very short order. Reason being, the 700r4 TV cable also regulates fluid pressure where the Th350 has its own seperate fluid pressure regulator within the vavle body. On the 700r4, if you don't have the TV cable hooked up to tell the transmission that you are going full or medium throttle, then the transmission doesn't know to increase the fluid pressure and hold the clutch packs tighter for the extra load, therefore, the trans thinks you are moving at light throttle with light fluid pressure so the clutches are now slipping and getting hot because they are not compressed tight enuogh. Hopefully that didn't confuse anyone. In short, Its OK to NOT hook up the cable on the Th350 although you probably won't like the shift points, but on a 700r4 the cable must be hooked up and adjusted properly or you'll fry the trans.