It's Wednesday, tried to get the tranny done in time for tonight. I should have taken the day off. Way too many little things to take care of, sooner or later, in the case sooner, going to miss something.

Finished up the tranny, the exhaust, driveshaft. Decided to take care of the kickdown at a later date. Went to take it off the jack stands and noticed a leak. Finally nailed it down to the kick down cable connection at the tranny. It's a 10mm bolt, tightened up. Ran it again, seemed OK. Started heading down to the track.

Thats when I noticed it was not shifting right. Think now think.....OH SHIT the vacuum modulator is not hooked up. What the freak?!! Pull into the nearest auto parts store to get some vacuum lines and connectors. On the way in the store I told Robbie, it ain't happening tonight. Not because of the vacuum modulator but because of the FREAKING LEAK that I can see walking into the store. WTF!

So we brought it back home, back up on the rhino ramps and we are now waiting for it to cool down. We have to drop the exhaust, the cross member, lower the tranny and get at that connection. I think there is suppose to be an o-ring, what are the odds that it ain't in there!! I'm more pissed about missing a night of racing than I am about my stupid mistakes.

OK, who said it, there are no mistakes, just learning experiences???

Its to the point now where I usually tell people to 'put one in the chamber and spin it'

But with the luck you have ...I would NEVER say that to you!!!


Kinda like putting the rebuilt motor in my bros Caprice a few weeks ago only to find the guy never put the flywheel on....pulled it out....put that on...drop it back in....they put the motor mounts on backwards....pull it out fix that...put it back in...hook it all up....and they never put the remote oil cooler o-rings in...oil running all over the floor.....BUT HEY...it wasnt a rear main seal at least!!

Crapola, man! Slap some RTV on there and call it good enough. What does the kickdown cable have on the end of it?
At least the freakin' thing's moving again right? Did you get it to highway speed?

Remind me never to let you guys work on my car

Damn Rob !!!!!

I've been there before.

It's nice when things go 100% correct the first time.

Once you get all the little bugs worked out.

Keep us updated,
On what you think of the old 350 Turbo 3 speed Tranny in our cars.

Thanks for the kind words Paul.

Jeremiah, yeah just like you said. It was around 3300 rpm at 65-70, I'll be in the market for a trailer. I really didn't have it out for that long and the torque converter was taken some time to get use to. I did hit it once, manually shifting it, what a blast!! I either have to go with an overdrive unit or trailer. I could not drive to some of the long hauls unless I drove at 55-60 MPH.

Damn Rob, that sucks. I know all about the little things holding up the works though...

Hopefully you'll get it straightened out soon...

??????????????????????????????????????????????????
you didn't notice the big round thingy on the back of the motor was missing??
d'oh!!!



scary stuff eh?
good way to smoke a t350 is to run it with the cable unhooked,.i think you oughta read what that cable does,

nick.

It was hanging on the engine hoist and in the engine bay when I got to it...And yes I did notice it as I looked over on the parts bench...You gotta love when the 'expert' does 'all the work' ...and you have to go behind and correct the simple crap!

Hey, I resemble that remark!!

Man, you "experts" are just full of smart ass jabs, now aren't ya??!!

Dang Rob, goin' for the trailer? I don't remember seeing the oil wells in the back yard, but I guess they were there

Yeah Mike, no oil wells and no BANKS either!! Gots to do something. Overdrive is out of the question right now. Taller tires might help some but I think 28" is about the tallest I can go.

OR maybe I could find a gasoline sponsor??? Yeah right!

Rob, I was going to bust your chops about your black thumb when it comes to transmissions, but I realized I can't talk because I've gotta go back into mine and move the 3-4 accumulator spring that I installed wrong because TransGo's instructions differ from the FSM and I didn't bother to spend a few minutes figuring out why. Don't worry, this was the only tranny I messed that up on.

LOL, I was waiting for the tranny expert to chime in.

It may seem foolish to post the problems I have had but I figure that by posting the problems or mistakes I have made that MAYBE someone else can avoid the same thing. But of course, you open up yourself up to all the "experts" chiming in. But hey, thats what forums are all about.

aw, c'mon Rob.

we could have just snickered, laughed, and called ya a dumb ass in private.
at least by posting and busting your chops, it shows we give a crap enough to say something.

Now if you had a battery problem........................

OK,lol, you are right, at least in part.....

I did have a battery problem, I think it had something to do with reverse polarity! The damn ford died the other day, battery too low to start. Got it jumped and then the wife tells me int interior light was on all day. Hey, go figure.....

So today she gets in the truck, turns the key to on and everything started to flash, the interior lights, exterior lights, blinkers, radio, everything. Now if that doesn't have something to do with reverse polarity then I don't know what does!!


That POS is going soon, even if I have to go upside down!!

I hear GM is having some sort of sale right now....

Isn't that what friends are for?

-dW

It may seem foolish to post the problems I have had but I figure that by posting the problems or mistakes I have made that MAYBE someone else can avoid the same thing. But of course, you open up yourself up to all the "experts" chiming in. But hey, thats what forums are all about.

Rob - Thats what its all about.
Putting it out on the table (Forum)

Helping the other guy out.

I've been making a scene for years
Way before forums
Even before the Internet.
In the Muscle Car scene.

"OH THE LOVE" from all the guys.

I can still remember being scolded in private
From one of our founding fathers.

Wutz - Your a loose cannon on the UNYISSO Yahoo Yack forum.
A bad influence on the younger guys

Straighten your act up -- or where throwing you out of the club

Well -I'm still around from 97.

Only the strong survive

Posted by Slow type Wutzer:



I thought you posted to get your daily fix of emoticons

Now who's showing their sensitive/vulnerable side!!?

I just made that statement because I offered to do the work for my brother...but he opted to strike a deal with someone else(the expert) who 'knew what they were doing'...and it ended up being mostly my dad and I 'doing' the job to bail him out.

Man, when you're right you're right! LOL!!

What thread was that anyways?

Well, the tranny is done!! Everything works great, no leaks, good shifts, passing gear works, I'M happy!!!

I gotta thank Jeremiah, I stopped over to see him when I was putting on some miles. I showed him what I did. He said it would not take much to fabricate a new bracket for the kick down cable. I thought he was joking. Well, 2 hours later and he made a new cable bracket that looks original!! Real nice and works like a champ! Thanks Jeremiah, it's a big relief not having to worry about that think the whole weekend. I owe ya!!

Going to meet up with DW and drive down to Maryland tomorrow. Jeremiah, those tires were 27 or maybe a hair taller. I won't be using them, they will be at the house if you need them or I'll get them to you on Monday.

Thanks again dude....

Hey Rob, good to hear that she's working. Looking nice is one thing but if it gets the job done is the important part I was happy with how it turned out as well, bet it'll look good painted.
Too bad those tires didn't work out. Guess looks can be deceiving.

Just an update; the tranny is working great! I love the way this thing shifts! I have to shift it manually at the track as it short shifts pretty bad.

Does anyone know how to adjust the vacuum regulator to make it shift better?? I know there is a screw in the vacuum port on the regulator but I'm not sure which way to adjust it.

The only thing I don't like about this tranny is the lower first gear the holeshots are not as good as the 4l60e. I miss that. I have to change to 4.10 gears to get that back.

Here's my uninformed opinion on adjusting the shift points-- Turn the screw 1/4 turn in, see what happens. If it isn't what you want, crank it back the other way
Considering what your car likes to do to transmissions I understand your hesitation to just play with it though, but I can't see it doing anything harmful
Maybe someone here knows the 'correct' way to adjust. Have you talked to the people you bought the kit from?
Only 4.10?

No, I haven't talked to Competition Transmission, still pondering the 4l60e.

yeah only 4.10's, I need some room at the end of the track....

Damn

Years of Rust.
Clogged Oil return holes.
Muddy Antifreeze passage ways
Has clogged my memory on how to do this.

I do know
I was able to install a shift kit in my Turbo 400 Tranny
To help my 68 Chevelle shift quicker.

Here ya go Rob:


Are there any adjustments that can be made to the modulator?

Answer: Stock factory modulators are pre-set and most are sealed. TCI? StreetFighter? modulator-type transmissions are all equipped with adjustable modulators. By turning the adjusting screw (found in the vacuum nipple) counterclockwise, you will lower the spring pre-load. This will cause earlier shifts. By turning the adjusting screw clockwise and raising the spring pre-load, the shift points will go up. The range of adjustability is only a few mph either way.

here is the URL to the page TCI Web Page

WTF, I was right (direction)? Odd that it says only a few mph, be interesting to see what you can get out of it.

Thanks Dave, thats what I figured and what Jeremiah thought. I'll give it a shot when I get the front end back together.

What're you up to now?? Had to replace the idler, so figured you'd rebuild the whole front end? "Extra" metal removal? Intercooler?

Did you start on that yet?

-dW

Yes I did! Muth....@#$$%^^*&&((&&^$$@#!@##$#$%$TR&*W@EW#EREWREWWQQW@#@#$#$%$@%@#^@#%!@%!%

so it's going well then?

What's all this front-end talk? Are you at libery to discuss? Are you using your busted 4L60E case as a RAISS?

Joel - At our LISST drag day.
Rob won

The fierce bidding on the new style super duty front end rebuild Kit from Zack Kanter.

Forged upper and lower Balljoints

Hey -- After 10 years of pounding on the original steering and suspension stuff from Arlington, Texas.

Time for the upgrade

Ahh, the secret's out! Rebuild in my future pretty soon as well. Looks like an all-expenses paid trip to Asspain, Colorado! I have a nice wrecking bar if you just want to beat up the old junk after it's out
Do you have a decent oxyacetylene torch? If not I'll bring mine over, heating the snot out of things can work wonders... Or cutting it off!

Suspension rebuild? Well, having been there done that, you're going to love the way your car feels afterwards. Having said that, duct-tape the rest of your family's ears or duct-tape your mouth, then start working on things. Based on my experience, it helps to lube everything BEFORE you put the suspension together and don't lose the instructions. BTW, Autozone has a ball joint press that comes in might mighty handy.

John........

Jeremiah, everything is coming apart fairly well. No winters always help that.

I'm having a hell of a time getting the upper control arm off, but I really haven't spent that much time on it. Can't clear the bolts, air conditioning lines are in the way I think. Driver side pretty much back together.

Use a large socket and push the bolts out using a C-clamp. Don't try to turn the bolt in the frame, you mess up the hole and the bolts will alway get loose.

Rob.
-- Gary is one of the experts in rebuilding our entire suspension and steering system.

He taught me a few tricks when I got in a jam.
I do know one thing
Brenda would have hit me over the head

With my profanity during the rebuild of Big Bad Blue.

You can bend the Air conditioning lines a little bit to get them out of the way.

Rob,

If it takes you more than 8 hours to rebuild the entire front end...you're taking the long way around the barn. Just kidding, I know the first front end takes a little while to do...the next one goes much quicker/easier due to some experience.

Just don't take like 3 weeks or so as some other guys have done You need to get back to racing agian.

Gary

Gary, only have had about 3-4 hours in it so far. Oh, I've been racing, truck does 16.6 1/4 mile at about 83 MPH. Got my baseline now.

That didn't take long! Now just get the torque management reduced and see what it does