My 727 trans does not have a bolt-in sprag, I'm making an effort to make a few passes this year at the new Dragway42 so I'm thinking I really need to pull the trans and get a bolt-in sprag installed. With a stroked big block I'm scared to death of all these tranny explosions I've heard about lately.

My question is how do you guys support the motor when you pull the trans while using a motor plate? I could put a board on my jack and put it under the oil pan but it probably shouldn't sit like that for a couple weeks or so.

and last, does Lofgren still sell the 'shorty' blanket? My passenger side header is a 1/4" from the oil pan, there's no way a full size blanket is gonna fit with these headers. This is a big block A-body by the way. I just found Lofgren's number online, maybe I'll try to call tomorrow.

Bolt in sprag is really just a repair for a spun sprag. ( spun in the case)unless your talking about the ultimate 16 roller sprag

the worthless screw jack out of my 01 Dodge Ram is suited perfectly to that very task.

....and I'd be more concerned about the front drum than the sprag. Aluminum or the billet steel piece for sure.

you have to be careful those use 6 bolts and you have to drill the case for the 5th and 6th holes or just use 4 of the bolts in existing holes, also some cases have a slightly different casting and you will need a special fixture to drill the holes in those areas.

yep,I just finished my 727 and bought every thing from CRT including the super sprag and billet steel drum, also his billet transbrake VB

I've used a 2x4 on the drag link under the pan to support the motor while taking the trans out.
I dont think you can get the blankets from lofgren that are cut down. Not sfi rated at least

Thanks guys, the bolt-in sprag seems like kind of a pain in the butt. Maybe I'll call my trans guy and see what all it would take to get one in there.
The front drum is not gonna happen on my budget right now although I'd love to have one, I never even had one in my 9 second cars. On those cars I used a CSR carbon fiber shield on one of them, and an Ultrabell and Lofgren blanket on the other.
My trans guy is awesome, he builds a lot of transmissions for race cars at Norwalk and other tracks, he always talks me out of wasting money on an expensive front drum and his transmissions never blow up from what I've seen.
But I do know that they can, and a billet drum is a good investment if you like your legs.

My car will probably run low 11's, maybe high 10's, footbraking. It will definitely not be a weekly bracket car, I just want to make some passes and see what it runs and probably not race it anymore, but I'm leary of not having the bolt-in sprag or a blanket.

My drag link almost touches my oil pan so maybe it can just rest on that or I can put thin plywood in there? Maybe a block between the firewall and the back of the motor too. I don't want to scratch my paint but I may be able to get it in there if I'm careful.

I'm not worried about the sfi rating, just want to throw it on there for some safety for a few passes.

If you undo the trans mount you'll be able to adjust it slightly up get whatever you need to pack the distance.
Installing the sprag is very easy. You dont need all the 6 bolts. I ran the 4 that are easy to drill and the sprag broke the case when it rolled

That's what I figured with the blanket, just drop tailshaft down and put the blanket up in there. As far as the sprag goes I'm just trying to make myself pull this trans and get it to my guy.
Due to a mis-communication a couple years ago the bolt-in sprag didn't get installed but that was entirely my fault but I took it home anyways because I knew I wouldn't be racing this car. Now I want to race this car.

That will be a nice strong unit.

I have a couple bottle jacks but I'd need to find something tall to set it on as I have the car real high on jackstands.

That is what I use also, it will not leak down and it has a small footprint. I use the worthless Ford version because I'm not as cool as Jay

I use that same little screw jack from my 01 dakota for everything.

How tall do those screw jacks go?

The Coan super sprag is the one you want. 16 roller, about 200 bucks from Mancini. That's the first aftermarket part we add to a 727, other than a VB of course. The drum is nice too, but those are 600$, and if the sprag never fails, you shouldn't need one.

i always loosen the bolts at the motor plate at the frame just to give myself some wiggle room and not bend the plate.

please note the "if" and "shouldn't" in Billy's post.... Having had a close friend have the drum explode we've upgraded everything since then. Between the drive train and body damage incurred... a small price to pay... but, people been running stock stuff forever and you're not going to be hitting it time and time again, weekend after weekend. Odds are in your favor. The "other" factor in keeping the sprag happy is how good is your rear gear? The shock of breaking the rear often starts the lovely chain of events....


btw, the screw jack maxed out at 15 1/2". I do put on some blocks of wood when using it.

Thanks guys.
I don't run a speedometer Cable, it looks like it's leaking a tiny amount of tranny fluid where the speedo Cable would attach. Is there a cap or something available to cap that off?