Thread: 700R4 Hard 1-2

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First of all, many thanks to Denny and Brian for the great help on my axle bolt circle problem question - all is well on that and I'm back on the road! With that 383 in front of a 700R4 with 3.08 gears in the third member, I just need to find somebody that needs a house moved! With gas near $3, thank heaven for OD!

Now I have another problem. The 700R4 (Monster Transmissions' type 2 rebuild) has a very hard 1-2 shift at light throttle. I have researched this and I'm confident it's a TV cable issue. But the more I read, the more confusing it gets. I have seen kits to correct the linkage geometry for Holleys and Edelbrocks, but this is a 1901 Q-jet. The guy who installed the tranny for me did an admirable job on the install, including some creative bracketry engineering, but I think it's really not quite right. I don't want to destroy this tranny. Formerly had a TH350.

The competition among these aftermarket performance tranny builders is just a little ridiculous. Bowtie Overdrives has a kit that looks like it would do the job on a Q-jet very well, but they say you MUST change the TV spring in the valve body or your tranny will basically self destruct. Why? I guess I'll call them, but there is so much conflicting information out there I don't know what to believe. The BO people seem reluctant to even sell you one of their wonderful trannys unless you burp it over your shoulder regularly. They actually require you to phone them with pressure test results or they won't warranty their trans. I think that's a little ridiculous, which is one reason I went with Monster Transmissions.

I understand that the linkage has to swing through the proper arc for the cable to move properly, but does anyone know of a good kit that will do this without having to take the pan off and make changes in the valve body? There has to be an easier way. Also, must I park the car in the mean time, or is it OK to drive? The cable is fully extended at WOT and does not run out of travel. The harsh 1-2 is annoying and nearly a slam, but my gut says it's not something that will cause immediate damage.

Any help or ideas are appreciated.