Anyone with a Cope VB have a 3rd gear flare up

I had one of his vb' maybe 10yrs ago with same issue. He said he fixed the issue causing that, but i bought an A&A trans break from him in exchange. I now have another of his vb's with the same flare up issue. Anyone else have this issue with there John Cope vb?

I had that problem, turned out to be worn/slipping clutch pack in the rear.
It started first at the top of second gear.

Ok. No issues in any other gear. Just a slit second flare up when pulled into 3rd.

Might not be the VB, servo/front clutch configuration plays a big part in flare up.

Ok. Using billet servos front and rear. Just raybestos clutches with steels in a full metal jacket drum. Followed 727specialists with assembly.

A friend bought a complete trans built from specs of the car, did everything how Cope told him. Was no good from the first day. Hi gear is smoked now less than 20 runs in the 11's with a light car. Had better days.

High gear clutch questions. Could have a torn clutch seal. The outer seal can be tricky. How many frictions? What clearance? How many springs? Is the feed orifice restricted? How many springs in the KD servo? How do the rings look on the stator support? How do the ring lands look in the stator support? How do the pump gears. pump bore, stator support look? A lot of reasons to smoke a clutch. When its right they will go a long time. I personally have over 400 passes on the clutches in my 9.0 @ 3340lb car.
Doug

Hey Dave we had a very good transmission in my black Duster from John that was in the car when I bought it. When I switched to a powerglide we put it in my sons Duster and although we have freshens it a couple of times is still going good. It had a crazy issue that we caught while running it on the jack stands once. The wheels would stop when shifted into third gear. I called my buddy and we took that fancy ratio (I think 1.5 or something) shifter lever and switched it back to stock and all is well. I think it’s still on my junk stand if you need a picture of what I am talking about. Let me know

Was the shifter adjusted correctly ?

If not that will smoke one .

I use a 4.2 lever. Is that what you mean? Im not sure what bands are or are not applied in 3rd gear. A 5.0 lever is what ya dont want. That lever controls 2nd gear i know.

I will check that adjustment as well.

Ya that’s probably it. I haven’t touched a Mopar transmission in over 20 years except helping him install it. I know we took the trick one out and installed the stock one and all is well. Just something I happened to think about

Yes shifter was adjusted correctly. Cape admitted to a VB problem when asked.

Hi gear has the front and rear clutch applied. No bands for hi gear.

Try to loosen the band a 1/2 turn

I see. Looks like could be alot of things. The front drum was bought from 727specialists as a complete fullmetaljacket built unit, so i'm sure every thing is correct and the billet servos were bought new from the sales section of this site and i believe the kick down servo had 1 spring. what ever comes with it. I do know that the last time i had this issue the Cope vb was the cause. I'll check the easy stuff first. Oh, one other thing, it only flares up at WOT high RPM. Thanks guys

If I remember correctly(and i'm getting kind of old) Cope wants 15 springs in the clutch pack, 2 servo springs and a 4.2 lever. All three of these along with clutch pack clearance and band adjustment affect the timing of releasing 2nd gear and applying 3rd. The loaded drum and servo spring that you bought from other sources may be a mismatch with your vb. Not all valve bodies work the same. You may need to change or add springs to get the overlap correct. You really should call Cope and ask.

Call his shop, let him know what it is doing and ask him what to look for. We had an issue and called him after spending a good bit of time checking everything. He walked us through what he wanted us to look at and sent us what we needed on his dime to make it right.

I just have to look up all the specs first so i can answer his questions accurately. Gonna call 727 specialist first since most of his parts are in this trans.

This is the right answer. When I was running 3 speeds, we would tune the springs to get the right shift at 7000RPM WOT. The type of band construction also has an effect. It's trial and error. More spring pressure = slower apply & faster release. When it's right, it will have noticeable overlap at low RPM on the stands.

First thing I would have done...

Have you ever talked to John Cope? You better hope you catch him on a good day.

Many times. Must be I have never caught him on a "Bad" day. He always answers the phone and answers my questions. Never had a negative conversation with the man personally.

I am running his VB and it is one of the best purchases I have made for my car.

Hope you get your issue figured out. Make sure you post and let us know what the problem was.

Same for me. We run his parts in both our cars. Never had an issue speaking to him.

I think first thing i will do is double check my shift cable adjustment. Readjust bands just so i know where there set. Next step will be getting a new vb to eliminate this one as the issue. Let you know how it goes.

I've bought three transmissions from John, he is short and to the point but always helps me with my questions and everything always works as it should for the most part too

I have one of his valvebodys in my dart no issues. I would say if it slipped more then once going into high gear it needs to come out and come apart.

I've heard Hemi Super Stock cars with just a touch of flare on the gear change. I would expect they are wanting to stay away from overlap which can slow the car down. Flare and slip are not the same thing although flare is hard on the high gear clutch pack. Flare can also be tuned out.

Put the trans in neutral and the shifter in neutral. Adjust cable until it drops into the shift lever. I know it sounds elementary, but a couple of friends have struggled with this...

Ditto , the tranny in my car has all of his parts and his transbrake VB and it works flawless and has from day 1, altho John did not do the assembly ( I did ) I set it up to his spec's,, I suspect it is in the adjustment's as the second gear release and the high gear apply happens in milliseconds and is not usually the VB that causes that but a mis adjusted shifter,intermediate band or clutch clearance,, now as far as mechanical then the item list is a lot greater and I could go on and on.

Actually he wants 12 springs with 1 spring in the servo. Just what i have.

Well my trans builder has put together a couple trannys for me using turbo action, A&A and Cope valve bodies. Only time i had any issues was when they had a Cope vb. The first time i had this issue i removed the Cope vb and installed an A&A vb. Problem solved just by switching out vb's. Now i have another of Copes vb's and i have that same issue again.

My next trans brake will be A&A.

Trying to find a griner. Anyone out there have a clean one for sale? An A&A is my second choice. 727 rmvb.

I have a Cope Manual Reverse Valve Body (MRVB), no trans brake version in my 727. Bought it around 2010, so however they were built back then?
Haven't had any problems with it. Running 4.2:1 band lever, and the billet oversized front servo with the extra seals. No restrictor in the case. Modified front support max lug pump, and billet steel drum. Alto red clutches and Kolene steels. I think the bands are the Mopar Performance kevler, they are not the red lined ones many prefer.

Few years back Cope used A&A vakve bodies on his transmissions
My 904 is a Cope super pro unit, among other tbings it has an A&A brake valve body in it.
Was built in late 2014.
Just installed the tranny, shifts ultra nicely. Dont intend to use it other than footbraking.
I have a 727 i just took out that has a rvmb in it i havent taken pan off of to see what it was. In the car when i bought it

Still looking for a Griner. Looks like i will most likely end up with an A&A since they seem to be the best thing going next to the Griner vb. Will be adjusting front band and checking shift cable today. Will be ordering something monday.

Call joe at transzact in Indy build a nice bullit brake heard he used to work for grinner

Pro Trans also builds brakes in house. I’m currently running one of there clean N trans brakes.

Keep looking for a good used Griner much quicker off the brake than the A&A

Not looking for a brake, just a good Griner RMVB.

I did have a valve body issue with 1 out of 10 with a flair up. 10 years ago dave did have a issue. I took his valve body and installed it in my race car and it did have a flair up in 3rd. I grab a vb off the shelf and install it in my car. No flair up. Same vb. Same cnc program. So the issue was not in all the vbs but still there.

I did update the vb ( 10 years ago ) and if any one with my vb that bought the vb from me. I will up date the vb for free. If you bought the vb second hand or used from some one, the update is 30 bucks. This update is for a slight flair up into 3rd. And that's it.

A100 is my internet stalker.

Ok, I readjusted the front band which did seem like it was way out(alot of turns). Readjusted the the shift cable which was out of adjustment a bit(may not of been pushing lever enough for for 3rd). Went for a ride today. Run it up to 7000 wot and shifted into 3rd and NO FLARE UP. Did this 2 times and no flare ups. So i will leave this Cope vb in for now and see how it goes. No flare up into 3rd but it does seem soft going it.

That was a fun ride I bet.

Fun for sure but little crazy around here. not too far out of the city and wot into 3rd is around 80 or 90mph. A bit over the limit anyway.

If it's soft now it my have hurt itself from being misadjusted.

I think this is where a trans temp gauge will help slippage is heat

I use a trans temp gauge. its never been over 185* with this trans.