Thanks, I'm trying really hard not to screw this up. I talked to the machine shop yesterday, I may have the driveshaft this weekend. Fingers crossed.
They make plastic plugs that fit over the driveshaft output shaft and are tight to the seal. They are made to prevent a mess when you pull the engine and trans out at an angle. You could start and run it in with one of these as long as it is left in park. Most auto parts stores carry them. An old yolk will work too if you have one laying around. Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, yes I considered that. I can do the break in, but I still wont have a functioning car. "Patience is a virtue", right?
Well, I picked up my driveshaft yesterday. We've had some other family issues going on, otherwise, I would have put it in yesterday as well. It looks like tomorrow's the day. Once I get the driveline installed, I can fill the transmission, prime the oil pump, set the distributor and with a little luck, It'll be off and running. I've had some discussion on AACA about how rebuildable these CV joints are (or aren't). I was really impressed with the shop I used. They seemed very familiar with these units and talked pretty extensively about how they've dealt with this in the past. So I have high hopes.
They do not, Dan. You assume correctly. Variable pitch stator in either the small or larger converters is controlled by pressure, and that is actuated by the switch(es). (or Bruce's box) (and I did check to see if the large converter from and ST400 will fit on an ST300 and it will, but not sure why someone would go that direction)
It's alive! I still have to tweak the timing a little, it pings under load. Also, it seems like the torque converter is stuck in hi-stall. But the trans shifts and I was able to take a short cruise with my Son. Sorry guys no videos, I'm not that savvy. More details to come.
Well, the engine runs like a top. Now the transmission is another story. I thought it as stuck in high stall. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the switch pitch. But this isn't right. I have to rev it really high just to get under way. This is the case for all gears. I had a talk with the guy who rebuilt the transmission (me) and he's going to dig in to it. I'm hoping it's something stupid. I'm going to pressure test the transmission in the the next day or two, That tell me a little more about where to look next. It's also leaking from the torque converter cover. So, I have y suspicions that the TC is garbage. But I'll have to pressure test to be sure.
When you installed the converter, did it fully seat? It will partially slide in, but you're not done yet. You will then have to turn it while also pushing it in to engage the dogs on the pump, at which point it will slide in further. It can be a little tricky, but it's kinda like installing the distributor.... it won't install fully unless it properly engages the oil pump shaft. When you put the engine/trans together, was there clearance between the flex plate and converter (there should be), or was there an interference fit where they were tight against each other? When properly installed, there will be a gap between the two and converter must be slid out (maybe 1/2") to bolt to the flexplate. If this did happen, it can cause collateral damage to the trans pump or even the crankshaft thrust bearing. Another possibility is the filter o ring isn't sealing and the pump is sucking air. Some like to install two o rings for a tighter seal. Hope this is the case since it's an easy fix.
Yes, I confirmed that the TC was seated. There was a small gap between the flex plate and TC, maybe not a 1/2 but a gap. Maybe I'll check that the filter is seated before I pressure test. I recall that some people double o-ring the pickup tubes. I didn't do that. I do remember having to fight it a bit to get it to seat. We'll see.
I checked all of my pressures today and everything is in spec. It looks like my TC is bad. So, things will be on hold until I can either source another one or get this one rebuilt.
I just talked to the transmission shop. They sent the converter off to be checked out and it checked out fine. I found that kind of baffling given the symptoms. But I am not a transmission expert. I dropped that transmission off too. He found that there was what he would consider to be an excessive amount of shims in the pressure regulator. He's thinking that this may have kept the trans from actually filling the TC. He isn't really finding anything else wrong with the transmission so far. He's going to go the rest of the way though it just to be safe. They're going to reassemble the TC. It's been about a year since I rebuilt the transmission, I'll have to check my notes about why so many shims are in there. It could be that I put it together backwards too. Hopefully this is the issue though.
Progress report. I got the transmission back. He re-shimmed the pressure regulator. He also found that I had installed a 4L80E 2nd band. I recall when I bought this that it said 4L80e/TH400. Live and learn. These are the things that come with inexperience. I also am pretty sure I wouldn't have noticed any of these things had I taken the transmission apart myself. I didn't notice it the first time anyway. I'm still glad that I went through the transmission and rebuilt it myself. I learned a lot about how automatics work. It's always been kind of black magic to me. So, I got the transmission in this weekend. Everything works! The car runs awesome and shifts great. I spent some time modifying my shift linkage and it's all spot on. I think I have some fine tuning of the carb to do. I got it setup before the rebuild, but I think it's talking to a different engine now. Plenty of power, but I just want to tweak it to get the most out of it. I have to say with the Bruce Roe controller in there, the transmission is every bit as smooth as the Dynaflow was. I'm really glad I put this transmission in and it wasn't that hard of a swap. Now it just needs to stop raining I put about 30 miles on the engine this weekend. I need to take her for a long drive.
Quick update. The transmission works like a top. However, the new yoke that I bought on Ebay is leaking through the press in fitting at the back of the yoke. My floor is now fully rust proofed . I put the car in storage. So, that will be first on my list when I get her back out in the Spring. I did some work on the shift quadrant to get all of the "R's" and "D's" lined up. Obviously the Dynaflow and the ST400 have different shift patterns. Not perfect, but pretty good for hand painted. I think it will look better when it's on the car.
More updates. I got the car back out of storage. I had some unresolved issues when I put it up last Winter. It turns out ignoring them didn't make them go away The cheap ebay transmission yoke that I bought was leaking from the plug. So the driveline shop is going to weld that up. Also some bonehead (me) measured the driveshaft a little short. So I'm paying to add back the some of the length they originally took out. As far as the shift quadrant goes. I like what I made but it's little too "homemade" looking for me. So I came up with this. I found a shift quadrant from a 66 Riviera and modified that to fit. I'm pretty happy with it and I think it looks like it belongs there. The pointer lines up in all of the right places. I'm pretty happy. My power steering pump is giving me fits. I can't get the thing bled to save my life. The fluid bubbles up and spews out of the cap. I'm going to take another stab at it. I'm wondering if it's sucking air in from somewhere. I was able to put 400 miles on the engine before I put it up.
I got my driveshaft back and installed yesterday. Much better. Although my shift quadrant is still a little off. I Think I can tweak it a little and get it more righterer Also, While I was waiting, I dove deeper in to my power steering issues. It looks like the pump is leaking from the front o-ring. I ordered a rebuild kit. Hopefully I can get that sorted out in the next week or two. I also installed my new manifold with the addition of exhaust port block offs. Gas was evaporating out of the float bowl over night. It was really annoying last year when I was driving it (somewhat) daily. You had to crank it to death just to fill the float bowl. It looks like these block offs solved that issue.
