I know that shift kits give you harder & firmer shifts in an automatic. The only shift kit i've ever had was for a Ford T-5 manual transmission. Does a auto shift kit for a th-350 make you faster off the line? Are there other benifits to having a shift kit in an automatic trans. On my th-350 before the rebuild i could just pump the pedal to make it shift a lil faster it seemed.. I guess i'll get to see when i get the car back.. I'm just curious if its going to make me run harder n faster or whathaveyou...
if you want faster off line change stall(convertor), shift kit wil produce firmer shifts,maybe even "chirp" tires on shift will help trans clutches last longer,there is also adjustments in vacuum modulator,and detent cable. to tune shifts alittle.
Yeah its allot faster off the line now when i do it manually winding out 1st then shift to 2nd..its almost instant. MAybe a fraction of a second off from the time i manually shift it to when it actually shifts. If i launch in D, I feel as if it shifts to early.. Will a 69 LArk 350-2 w/ limited slip chirp? Should i get a bigger intake and Manifold to help it do that? I feel that i'm going to have to start my center console project alot sooner than anticipated. I'm worried about accidently downshifting into 1st while moving fast.
intake would help at higher rpm. i installed a poston s divider intake on my 71 skylark and i did loose some bottom end but boy does it push you into the seat when you hit around 4,000rpm! it was well worth the swap! Headers will also help you out. Try replacing the exhaust manifolds with headers, that alone will drop you an easy 15lbs, another 35 lbs with an aluminum intake. When i had the stock manifold my car used to black smoke, my plugs would be fouled, not anymore, they are white and with very very little black soot on them. Jon
yah that was the first thing i did was get rid of the single exhaust and old manifolds... i have hooker super comps and 2.5 " flowmaster 40's. It took me a while to get it tuned properly because i had a bad vacum advance & my vacum lines were old and rotten. yah she's chirpin 2nd and 3rd at WOT. I'm gone in 7 seconds now even with that rochester double jet 500 She chirps when i WOT in the D [full automatic] selection. When i do it manually its a different story . I need some practice. She's defintely allot faster off the launch now.. Now i can say its a muscle car!! LOL It's Amazing how much difference a nice transmission w/ shift kit makes. He said he raised the stall to 2200 and beefed up the race , used some sort of bearings and raybestos bands. I lost my detent cable tho.. I have to downshift manually to get my passing gears. o No:
Tranny I've never had a shift kit, but I have a question..I have a T350 without a shift kit in it right now, and it has 96,000 on it.The tranny shift fine and seems to be in good shape..If I put a shift kit in it do you think it will run it into the ground cause of the high milage or acually make it last longer because of the quicker firmer shifts? later.
how often was the fluid changed if at all if has been changed regular go ahead and put one in if it hasnt go ahead and put one in anyways if its going to go out is going to go out fresh fluid would be what would wipe out the clutches if it wasnt maintained
Tranny Ya, I know what you mean..It's like a hit or miss with tranny fluid, and changing it if it's bad..I never understood what happens when you put new fluid in a tranny that was not maintained? Does it clean the clutches to the point of failure? I changed mine and the shifts seem to be stiffer now and not so mushy..It was just a little bit brown, but not black. I will probably do it again at the end of summer.. Does it help to use Lucas tranny conditioner or a product like that? I like the sounds of a kit..Thanks!
it was funny i got to test drive my car as soon as the tranny was installed. I hung out with them and they let me watch the installation. AT first my brand new tranny bogged down as it developed vacum after i stomped on it the first time. i kinda felt as if she was shifting to 2nd way too early but after a little warmup run she started chirping 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd @ WOT ... It wasn't doin it at first . It seemed to take a lil warming up and breaking in.. I'm dying to have someone pick a rubyrumble with me. Has yet to happen.
yes the new trans fluid cleans off the clutch matreial if they are not in good condition. cloner - try to get the detent fixed, you will be able to just stop it and get that chirp all the time then, when they bui;t my trans i had them take out the wave plates and put in regular steels. it will spin the tires on lite accel.but i have 3.42 gears too.trans is still working 16 years later,3 350 engines,2 430 engines later. :TU:
69cloner Couple of thoughts here: First, if you paid good money for a trans job, why the he!! didn't they hook up the detent cable? Are you still having early-shift issues in Drive? I'm not familiar with TH 350s, but with a TH400, if the kickdown (electric, not cable, but I assume it does the same thing) is not hooked up the tranny will short shift at full throtle in Drive.
the detent is how the trans knows how much throttle is opened get that fixed and adjusted and you will fix that problem you will be glad you did after a test drive
I'm not sure if that's what he said or not.... IS the detent cable on the driver's side of the tranny?? I know he said my throttle cable has/had an issue..several zip ties were used to keep my throttle cable in place.. I'm suppposed to be bringing it back to them in 500 miles for a checkup.. He said something about me not being able to stomp it to get my passing gears.. if im in drive and already goin 50 and want to stomp on it ... it will not auto shift into lower gears for passing.. itll stay in 3rd , i have to manually shift it into 2nd.. which after a week i DO NOT LIKE. I'm afraid im going to shift into 1st..@ too high a speed someday.. This issue will be addressed...Trust me.. Takin it back to them Monday to have issues addressed.
he says that the b&m stage 2 shift kit doesn't use a detent cable .... is this true?? I don't understand how a shift kit wouldnt use a detent cable... I did look on both sides ... There isn't any detent........there's a hole in my firewall whee one used to be...for my old tranny.. He said either i'd have to switch the valve body or get a floor shift with a lockout.. He said he'd switch out teh valve body no charge ... If i want a floor shift with a safty lockout he'd install it for 50 bux o No: Verbatum from mchanic.. You have a B&M Shift kit that doesn't utilise a detent cable.. You have a manual kickdown.. Full auto/full manual shift kit.. He said he can adjust shift points if needed.. o No: My car does do this... :3gears: I truly don't figure theese guys as being dishonest. They themselves have about half a million bucks invested in old classics.. The cars that were being worked on up there would fetch enough Loot to retire on.. Seems many old timers favor theese guys for thier up front pricing and vigor to work on old muslce..He said If i'm not happy with anyrthing to make notes of it and durring the 500 pre check he'll fix whtever needs to be adressed. They want me to bring it back the first 500 miles then again at 1000 miles.. The other place who rebuilt my regal transaxle wanted me to bring it in after 1000 miles and if you didn't your warranty is out the window.. Not theese guys.. Just neeeds proper hardware for the application.
A lot of this is not making sense, but maybe there is a communication issue. I've never played with TH350s, but I can not imagine a shift kit that would negate the kickdown cable's operation. Now, on the other hand, a replacement valve body might. Since he mentioned changing valve bodies, maybe your car does not have a shift kit, but rather an aftermarket valve body?
Just to clarify, a TV cable, like on a 200R4, tells the trans how much the throttle is open. This one cable does the same job that is done by two different systems on a TH350/400. A TH350/400 has a vacuum modulator to tell the trans how far the throttle is open, and a kickdown (cable on TH350, electrical on TH400) that simply tells the trans that WOT has been reached.
Ok here's the scoop on my detent cable... I have the 2barrel throttle cable and my linkage doesn't hold the detent [newer style] atleast from B&M my old detent cable will not work with the new tranny valve body... He will replace the detent cable when i get my 4 barrel setup or i get new linkage and bracket and or pedal.. Thats the deal.. Yes there was a communication issue.. I wasn't listening to him when he told me that part.. LOL the kit came[tranny kit not shift kit] with 2 different styles of detent for the tranny and niether of them will work without some modifications.. one hooks to the pedal just below the throttle cable and the other one hoooks to the throttle cable on the manifold... and the carb linkage.. both my carb linkage and pedal are old and the holes are too large to hold the cable knob.. So it's a deal with it later situation after i aquire the proper part.. He said since i plan on beefing up to a 4 barrel with intake to just wait till then so i wont have to purchase any xtra parts.. Even though i am perfectly capable of doing my intake and carb myself i'm planning on having them do that for me becuase theyre going to steam clean and remove all the old paint from the engine for me as well.. so its not costing me anything beyond the cleaning and tuning the carb.. which is pretty mush already tuned from factory..:bglasses:
So someone (I know, not you) put an aftermarket valve body in a trans behind a 350 TWO barrel motor? Are you planning on staying 350, or a 455 upgrade? If staying 350, get the correct transmission to throtle pedel Buick cable and get it hooked up. The planned swap to a 4bbl carb is not an issue--get the detent hooked to your pedal, like it belongs. Go to an original valve body in the trans. If a 455/TH400 swap is in your future, live with it as is, as the TH 400 will use an electric kickdown, not a cable.
was the original trans a 350,if so how was the old detent, the b&m trans kit shouldnt change the detent that much.
