I have the kit installed and I used the middle-of-the-road springs and weights. Weights 3&4, and green & yellow springs. Now, my question is: In WOT only, it doesn't want to shift until 2nd gear. It hits 5000 rpms and stays there (the cam won't make any more power after that). But in norlam driving, it shifts very nicely. Do you think this is jsut a matter of going to a heavier weight?? Or do I have another problem? I installed the trans-go kit to get more crisp shifts, but I'm having trouble testing that out when it doesn't want to shift into 2nd at WOT. Let me reiterate: This only is a problem at WOT! WTF mates? (as I'm waiting for the headers to cool before I stick my hands in there again.) Will I lose a bunch of tranny fluid when I open up the governor cover again?
Adam, I'm sure each trans/engine combo is different with the kit but FYI I ended up with 2/3 and yellow/green in mine so it shifted at 5700rpm. Don't know that that will help since you want 5000rpm. I think it's a matter of trial and error. You should lose only about a pint of fluid if I remember. You might want to have a gallon around for the hunt and peck you'll be doing with the governor. Your modulator is connected right?
Yep, the modulator is connected. That's the first thing I checked. If it wasn't I would imagine that the transmission wouldn't want to shift at all...no matter what RPM I was at.
Adam, The kit works best when you make small changes one at a time. Go back to completely stock. Then change only one weight. Road test the car, and go from there. You don't have to lose any trans fluid, if you use a clean container(like a tupperware container) jack the car up from the rear. You may drop a pint or two. Just pour it back in. Trial and error, there's no way around it. Took me 4 tries. Once you get the 1-2 shift where you want it, then use lighter springs, one at a time, to get the 1-2 and 2-3 shift closer in RPM.
Weights are easy to get a grasp on, they make your shift points later the lighter the weights are (combined). Remember both weights do not need to be the same, mix and match. Springs are a pain and harder to explain. Here's an example to help understand what the springs do: Let's say your original set-up gives you shifts at 4800 rpm for the 1-2 shift and 4750 for the 2-3 shift if you add heavier springs here's what happens: your 1-2 shift will happen earlier say ~4550 and your 2-3 will still be close to 4800 original shift point. A lighter spring makes your 1-2 shift later relative to the 2-3 shift. If you jack the car up on the drivers side you will not loose fluid. Hope this helps, it will take several trys to get it just right. You will get much better and quicker changing that governer set-up. If you grind your original weights, make small changes. I modified mine from a combined weight of 22g to 16g and shift points went from 4850 to 5950. Don't take this big of a step the first time! If you have a good scale it really helps. Have Fun, what gear do you have....don't get a ticket...
My arms are jello from jacking the car up 50 times. I'm almost there. The car is shifting at 4500, would like to get it to 5000. Also, will change the springs for a longer 2-3 shift. It seems to be a lot shorter than I'd like it to be.
My TH350 with trans-go kit (yellow springs) was shifting at 4800. I bought the kit and gave it a try today. My original weights were some where around a 2-3. I am on my fourth combo. It shifts 1-2 at 5500. I am only using an orange spring out of the kit. I will try to get some 2-3 shifts and let you know. Shifts much better (later) at part throttle. Does not take much. First tries I would let off at 5700. John
Yeah I was really surprised to see my tach hitting 5500:shock: The cars sounded wicked at that RPM range though! I've never heard that sound come from my car before:Brow: I've always shifted at the stock points ~ 4500 RPM....this is totally different.
Hey Adam.Keep going with it!! :TU: I have to do the same thing in a few months.I am watching your progress and going to print this off when your done.Good Luck!! Later,Tony.
Okay, Not to hijack this thread to much. 5500 sounds a whole lot different than 4800 I did not get to try it out to much. Friday traffic. Is there a difference between a WOT run from a dead stop compared to when rolling? Or will the shift be the same every time? I was able to do a few 3-2-3 shifts and my 2-3 was about 5200. Even had some third gear chirps. 1-2 is 5500, I would not mind bringing that down a bit. I wonder if 5500 isn't a little high for a 100K motor. My modulator is cranked in from before the gov mod. Should I try turning it out or swap another sping first? Or try a heavier weight? Sure would hate to buy the kit and only use one spring, but it is what it is. Oh yeah, the kick down is a little touchy. Not to bad, but what would loosing it do to both shifts? TIA John
Careful with the kickdown when you use the trans-go kit, as you have probably installed the valve that allows you to downshift to 1st gear from any speed:shock: That was interesting....not being used to it, and when I was cruising down the road at 45mph, I floored it and it slammed into 1st!! WOOO that was fun:grin: Try one more step in the heavier weight...
I'm watching this thread also.......I'm planning on going the easy route by drilling 4 1/4" holes in the weights and seeing what happens.......I have a spare gov in case I totally FUBAR the original one. :bglasses:
This is a freakin PITA! Third time tonight I've had the governor out. Here is a chronology of my attempts to throw a rod:grin: First time - weights 3 & 4, green & yellow springs (WAYYY too high of a shift point) Second - Stock & 1 (wayyyy too low) Third - 1 & 2 (seemed pretty good, but wanted a bit more) Fourth - 2 & 3 (too high again) Fifth - 1 & 3 (just a bit too high) Sixth - My current position, will try 1 & 2 again Now, my 2-3 shift was a little high, so I'm going to go to one heavier spring. You can spend HOURS doing this:spank:
Yeah, but you could be spending hours just trying to get a H*nd* (spit!) running... :rant: :rant: :rant:
Update: This sucks. Sixth Try continued - 1 & 2 weights with a BLUE & yellow spring this time (shifted at 4400rpm) Keep in mind that one little spring just made 400prm difference - note my "third" attempt above. So I will go back to the green and yellow springs this time and see what happens. If it's not right, I'm done for the night.ou:
I don't know, Adam.......better you than me.....since my car has the "X" frame, I have to remove the crossmember and lower the tranny in order to get the governor out. You actually have it easy! :laugh:
On my 72 Skylark 455/TH350, we used just the 3/4 springs for the baseline and it went from 4800 rpm(stock) shifts to 5600 rpm with the 3/4's. That's a little higher than I had planned though. I may swap the 4 for the 2 to try and decrease it a couple hundred. The TH350 is a real pain though! It's held in place with a spring clip, but there isn't enough clearance in the trans tunnel area to easily slip it out. We had loosen the trans mounts and pry the trans towards the passenger side to get enough room. It didn't take much, but you couldn't get it out otherwise. My setup is in combination with 2.56 gears. Once I change to a deeper gear (hopefully sooner rather than later), I'll likely have to go through the process all over again. As a side note, I went to a calculator and realized that even up to 108 mph, I'd likely run through 2nd gear with the 2.56's! That puts me at about 5450 rpm with the 2nd gear being a 1.52:1 ratio. I've got two more of the e-clips left, anybody know of a good source for those little buggers in case I end up needing a few more down the road???
mmmmmmmmmkay.. I got the green spring swapped back in with the yellow spring. I'm still not quite satisfied with the shift points: 4500 & 4000 respectively. I'm going to swap in one lighter spring (orange) and see what that does tomorrow. I imagine that will bring me up to where I want to be with both shift points....assuming it will do the exact opposite that the blue spring did for me, which was bring down my shift points by ~350 rpms
I think that a scale would be a huge plus. Then if you know what yours weigh compared to the kits weight, life would be a lot easier. Try ACE or NAPA for more clips. I think I will crank my modulator out before I do any thing else. I am lucky. I can swap my TH350 in less than five minutes. It just takes a while to let the pipes cool. A lift, dead blow hammer and a big pry bar help. JP
