A few months ago I bought a bb trans that had been rebuilt. I have a shop that I use for transmission repairs so I took it to them and proceeded to explain the BB story. They never saw one but are really familiar with turbo 400's so wanted them to check it over before putting it in my car. From posts I've read the difference is in the valve body however when I watched them take it apart there where only 3 balls under the valve body. Does this sound correct? The internals looked fairly good and am happy with my purchase. Gord
I've never had a bb transfer apart, but even though most 400s come with 6, some 7 balls, I think only 2 or 3 are 100% required to make the transition work. I would have to look at me notes page........it's is possible who ever rebuilt it removed the other balls according to.the shift kit they added.
OK thanks, yes there are spots for 6 balls I believe 7 balls are for after 72? I'm going to be taking a second BB apart that hasn't been worked on yet from the looks of it and will pay close attention to the # of balls. Once I do that I'll report back, Gordon
Just spoke to Mark DeConti, our NE GS/GN club go to guy for transmissions. Mark told me you can get away with as little as 2 balls, but those 2 must be there. He also told me that you should make sure the BB valve body is still there. He said these cars are almost 50 years old, and lots of things get replaced, he said, I've seen it before. The only way to verify the BB valve body is to pull it apart and measure everything. http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/SPTrans.htm
The valve plate has identification on the edge, but I have never seen a listing of what is what. I always keep the plate with the valve body, the case is mostly generic. As for the balls, some say you don't need half of them. I figure the General put them in for a reason, so I put back the whole set. Bruce Roe
I didn't get time to look today but I'm pretty sure the 2 that have to be there are the lowest towards the output shafts in the Oval shaped passage, and the very top one in the center. I hope all your original bb parts are still there. As far as my opinion the biggest plus to a bb transfer is the ability to put extra clutch plates in. There are other ways to get that now. But I'm sure for a street car there are other benifical options
Gord, Someone most likely installed a older B&M shift kit it in, those old ones only used 3 check balls. Or a trans shop did that style shift kit mods to it... I recall putting those B&M kits in when I was a teenager. The separator plate in those kits was gold, and had B&M stamped on it, as I recall. They would make it bang, that's for sure. Later on B&M redesigned the kits to use 5 check balls, just like most of the professional kits do. JW
Thanks for all replies and info, I'm taking the other trans in this week so will pay close attention when it comes apart. It seems the simplest way to know if you have a real BB is the road test?
I found this interesting. It is a list of parts and chart of which clutch "stacks" were used in different Trans codes. The BB is there as well as the BA. http://www.ckperformance.com/Files/112573/VOLUME 1 CHAPTER 10D.pdf
