Had to pull the valve body in order to get the rear piston out. Didn't have a #40 bit, so I used a 3/32, which is about .004 smaller. The Trans-Go spring and the little spacers were in place.

Then, as I got ready to put the valve body back in....surprise.... I notice that the valve body is stamped "68". What the ?!?!?
So I go to the stash and pull out one stamped "73'. Tomorrow, I'll swap the shift kit into the "73" valve body. That may deal with the 1-2 delay and I get part throttle kick down to boot.

John, I'll double check that shift valve while I am in there. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your hard earned knowledge.