Trans rebuild questions...

Posted By: roe

Trans rebuild questions... - 01/27/11 11:44 PM

My trans needs to be rebuilt to go behind a mild 360 in my sig car. Nothing wild, just a shift kit probably and better internals to handle a 360 in a heavy car. I'll have a factory hi-stall converter. Daily driver but with spirited driving and heavy rims/tires. B&M or Transgo shiftkit, and which level of each? Where should I get my internals, and what matrerials? And what would you expect to pay for what I want? Any shop recommendations in the Killeen/Fort Hood/Austin TX areas?

thanks
roe

Edit: also, with me keeping my 2.76 rear gears, isn't there a way to have a low 1st gear set in the trans in order to help me get the car moving? what th e details on this?

Posted By: challengermike

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 01/28/11 12:23 AM

As for a shift kit i would go with a transgo TF2 with the street strip level.The B&M kits hit to hard at light throttle.As for internals you probably dont need nothing fancy.I have run 7.6s in the 1/8 with a stock trans and just a TF2 kit in a 69 coronet with a 499,pulling 1 wheel up.

Posted By: roe

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 01/28/11 12:41 AM

Quote:

As for a shift kit i would go with a transgo TF2 with the street strip level.The B&M kits hit to hard at light throttle.As for internals you probably dont need nothing fancy.I have run 7.6s in the 1/8 with a stock trans and just a TF2 kit in a 69 coronet with a 499,pulling 1 wheel up.

so you think that a 904 with a stock rebuild and a Transgo TF2 kit and factory high stall converter will be fine for me? A nice smooth shift is what I would prefer over a stiff/hard hitting race type shift, but a firm shift is fine with me. just don't want it to be harsh. And I've always heard that you need to beef up a trans when you have a large heavy wheels like the 22" wheels I have. Is that true?

Posted By: pishta

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 01/28/11 12:58 AM

wheel weight has little to do with reliability, Itll sure hurt your 60 foot times, but nothing else. A shift kit is the best thing for reliability as a faster shift is a longer lasting transmission. trans buddy told me a 904 can take small block power with just a kit and a cooler. TransGo makes their kits with 3 shift options, light spring heavy spring and solid rod for the accumulator which dampens the shifts. The light spring is quicker than the stock it replaces and the others are even quicker. the solid rod is just violent. And those windows will get you pulled over faster than baggies of rock flying out of your trunk here in CA!

Posted By: roe

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 01/28/11 01:08 AM

Quote:

wheel weight has little to do with reliability, Itll sure hurt your 60 foot times, but nothing else. A shift kit is the best thing for reliability as a faster shift is a longer lasting transmission. trans buddy told me a 904 can take small block power with just a kit and a cooler. TransGo makes their kits with 3 shift options, light spring heavy spring and solid rod for the accumulator which dampens the shifts. The light spring is quicker than the stock it replaces and the others are even quicker. the solid rod is just violent. And those windows will get you pulled over faster than baggies of rock flying out of your trunk here in CA!

Ok, thanks. I'll start looking around at different shops. What would you expect to pay for what I want dine then, stock rebuild with a shift kit?

I'm not sure about where you are, or Texas (where I am now), but I had the guy go as dark as legal in Fl, so we'll see.

Posted By: roe

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/08/11 10:42 PM

I just read in a different thread that an automatic trans build with a shift kit, or with a manual valve body allows you to not need a kickdowns linkage. Is that true for both cases? That's the first time I've ever heard that. So if I does a stock rebuild with the TF-2 shift kit, I wouldn't need to worry about running a kickdowns linkage?

roe

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/08/11 10:51 PM

You'd still need the kickdown linkage w the TF-2 & I'll defer to Kunkel (& others) for the final word on this but w your tall gears I think the low gear set covered in the other thread would be a very good plan for you

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/08/11 11:08 PM

you will need your throttle pressure linkage with the tranzgo 2 kit

the tranzgo3 makes it a forward shift full manual VB and no linkage,IIRC

or a forward/revers shift full manual vb to replace your stock VB for no linkage

I went with a forward shift full manual low band apply valve body with a billet low/revs servo from CRT in mine for no linkage on the 88-440 truck about 500bones for VB and servo

you are wanting the lower first gear stuff from an mid 80s a999 tranz for your older 904

might want to check with dusturbed340w5(woody) over in kissimmee Fl,he has the low gear sets out for sale and ready to go,I just got a few things from him and he said he has not relisted them yet..shoot him a PM..he a tranz builder also

my local guy i told you about charges a flat 800bones to rebuild a mopar tranz, thats with me bring just the tranz in over the counter and thats a fair price IMHO

what rear axle do you have in your car?

you could use a nice 3.23 or 3.55 for your cruzing in that heavy car with those 22" blings

Posted By: roe

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/09/11 03:07 AM

Quote:

you will need your throttle pressure linkage with the tranzgo 2 kit

the tranzgo3 makes it a forward shift full manual VB and no linkage,IIRC

or a forward/revers shift full manual vb to replace your stock VB for no linkage

I went with a forward shift full manual low band apply valve body with a billet low/revs servo from CRT in mine for no linkage on the 88-440 truck about 500bones for VB and servo

you are wanting the lower first gear stuff from an mid 80s a999 tranz for your older 904

might want to check with dusturbed340w5(woody) over in kissimmee Fl,he has the low gear sets out for sale and ready to go,I just got a few things from him and he said he has not relisted them yet..shoot him a PM..he a tranz builder also

my local guy i told you about charges a flat 800bones to rebuild a mopar tranz, thats with me bring just the tranz in over the counter and thats a fair price IMHO

what rear axle do you have in your car?

you could use a nice 3.23 or 3.55 for your cruzing in that heavy car with those 22" blings

I've pretty much decided already what I want to do, thanks to the help and advice of you guys here. I was just browsing the board and came across that and was curious, as I had never heard of any mods that allowed you to run an automatic without the kickdown linkage.

I stopped by to meet the guy that Im likely going to go with, so I could get a more detailed estimate and pick his brain. Im really comfortable with him. Like I said before, he is highly recommended, even by other transmission shops. And even better, he's a Mopar guy

. He has his 72 Charger sitting out front of his shop that he's putting together, and showed me a few mopar trans's that he just put together.

I gave him an idea of what I wanted and he started to tell me about some of the same mods that you guys have mentioned to me. What we have set right now is a full rebuild with Transgo TF2 shift kit, low gearset, 1800-2000 stall converter, and new trans mount. He was already aware of the differences b/w '71 and earlier vs '72 and later trans

Im just going to be dropping the car off to him and he will remove, rebuild, reinstall and setup kickdown linkage, etc... I talked to him about my kickdown linkage, and he pulled out his extra 4bbl kickdown linkage to his charger and told me it was mine, and included in the setup. Pretty nice guy.

I decided that I will get many of the parts through him as that was the only way that the parts will be warrantied by his shop. That makes it cost a little more than if I were to supply the parts, but I think its worth it to have him warranty the whole trans locally without me having to wait for a company to send me replacement parts if something were to fail, and then me have to pay for labor. With him removing, rebuilding, re-installing, testing, setting up, and supplying all the parts (except converter and TF2 kit) Im looking at about $1350. He quoted me $200 for the TF2 kit and $300 for a more performance oriented converter, so I would be looking at abut $1850 if I got those parts from him as well. Not sure how I want to do that part yet. Ive seen TF2 kits on ebay for $85 or so, and I can get a converter for $120 or so, but if those parts fail then I would still have to pay labor for them to be replaced. But if I get them through him, which would also give me a little higher quality converter than the parts stores near me, then they would be warrantied through him for parts and labor, no cost to me.

What do you think about this? Pay less by supplying my own parts and get no warranty, or pay a little more and be covered by the warranty?

roe

Posted By: RobX4406

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/09/11 03:47 AM

904/727's are the easiest auto transmissions to rebuild.

Buy a deluxe kit and TF2 from bulkpart, about $200. It really doesn't require much in special tools. And if it does, they are easy to hillbilly engineer.

Posted By: roe

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/09/11 04:09 AM

I just dont have the freedom of schedule to take that on right now. Im pretty detailed and if I took on a trans rebuild by myself for the first time, I would work very slowly to make sure I did it right. This would cause me to be without my car for a good while which I cant do right now.

Normally, I welcome the challenge of trying something new, like my first motor swap that I just did 1 1/2 months ago, but this time I cant. So I went looking for someone with a good track record and a strong reputation.

Posted By: RobX4406

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 02/09/11 04:12 AM

If the car still runs, grab a 904 core and go to town!

Posted By: roe

Re: Trans rebuild questions... - 03/13/11 01:29 AM

Quote:

If the car still runs, grab a 904 core and go to town!

I think I might try it. I'm trying to find a good used trans that I can drop in. Are there certain apps that I should look for or try to avoid? Maybe some that already have the low gear set? I'm looking for something that would be a direct bolt in. If I cant find a ready to run then I may try my hand at a rebuild.

Also, if I find something ready to run without the low gear set, is it possible to swap one in without doing a full rebuild?

thank
roe