Thread: Th350 experts needed....help!!!

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Hey Don; When I was a kid and first started working On my big block Dodges.
I had installed a converter in a torque flight 727, Not knowing much I didn't seat the converter right. Well to make a long story short I mess it up good and when I started that big 440 magnum it tried to engage and broke the pump shaft. My father had a office in the front of our house and he was not happy to see the tranny fluid running down the drive, probably about 12qts. HE! HE! HE! Live and learn right!!!
I hope everything works out for you and Dan.
Kurt

Hehe, Parents seem to take a dim view of stuff like that, don't they, Kurt? Yep, I'm learning more about automatic transmissions than I wanted to know. Dan was saying he sees guys buy some 200,000 mile junkyard transmission, bolt it in, and it runs fine. He has one built, puts a B and M convertor and flexplate in front of it, and has problems.

I think the biggest problem is that he has just been building it for too many years with no end in sight. It is just time to wrap up this build so he can start doing some actual driving, instead of spending every minute and dollar on a car that just sits. I know how he feels, it gets old after a while.

Don

Well it won't be long now. You guys will be rolling down the highway together. Hope its somthing real simple.

Tell Dan not to forget to take the camera on his first ride. I like seeing the expresion
on peoples faces when a hot rod rolls up. And you guys are gonna turn alot of heads with that thing, once it's rolling. Roll by the beach will ya, I like the looks on the bikinis
best. HE! HE! HE!
Kurt

Yep Charlie, I think we are getting there.

Kurt, everytime I go to the beach I look for that same girl who modeled in my 23, but haven't seen her around. Maybe I shouldn't run into her, she may want a modeling fee this time.

Today we got Dan's rear center section removed and packed up to go back to the guy in Pennsylvania who built it. We installed the replacement unit he sent and got a bunch of other stuff done. At this point Dan's steering is completely done, his brakes only need two lines hooked up once the body is back on, and Monday I will take the trans to the shop to have it checked out. So it looks promising that we might still be on schedule to make Billetproof. One thing for sure, we are going to fire the engine and make sure all the gears engage BEFORE the body goes on this time.

Only picture I have today is of the new center section installed after Dan got it painted.

Don

I'm curious Pops, are you guys using flex or rigid to transition the plumbing from body to chassis?

Bob, if you are referring to the brake lines, he is using braided lines that flex. He found some company that makes up braided lines in black tubing and had them make up 6 lines for him.........2 for the front wheels, 2 for the rear, and 2 that go from the MC under the dash to fittings on the frame. The rest of the frame is plumbed with rigid stainless steel lines.

We also installed something I had never seen before, one man bleeders on the wheel cylinders. They are like regular bleeders, but with a check valve built in. To bleed the brakes you just crack them 1/4 turn and start pumping the pedal. No need to keep shutting off the bleeder each time you do one or two pedal pumps, like you normally do, and no need for a second guy......one on the pedal and one on the wheel.

Don

Those look like some realy tall nuts to fit around a 9" or isn't that a 9"

Yeah, it is a 9 inch and the bolts are the ones Curry supplied with the rear housing. They are those bolts that have no threads on the end, just a tapered section to help you guide the nuts and center section on. They clear all around, even on the bottom two where you need to use a box end wrench instead of a socket.

The center section was built buy a guy in Pa who only builds 8 and 9 inch rears. The first one was a 4:00 ratio and as soon as we put in gear lube it started to drip out of the seal behind the yoke. He figures the seal might have been damaged when he installed it. We pulled just the yoke end off and sent it USPO to him 2 weeks ago but it never arrived, so since we have a time crunch, we had him send us a whole new center section, but this time we decided to go with 4:11's (I think Dan wants as much advantage when we line up at the Billetproof Drags as possible ) .

I just got an email from the guy that the Post Office finally found the part we sent and now I have the rest of the center section boxed up to return to him too. Lesson learned.......NEVER use the post office to send stuff again. Glad I insured it.

Don

I just got an email from the guy that the Post Office finally found the part we sent and now I have the rest of the center section boxed up to return to him too. Lesson learned.......NEVER use the post office to send stuff again. Glad I insured it.

Don[/QUOTE]

I ordered a hat for a Ham fest a couple years ago the guy said he sent it USPS.. 3 mo. later the USPS said the found it . When I got it it looked like it was under a truck tire .. But I've gotten stuff from UPS busted too. I think FedEX is the only one with a 100 per cent record here. HAHAHA

Like I told you Don, I did the same thing with one of my Torque flight trany's.
And I like you took it to a second party to get it fixed because I was not sure if I had done something wrong at the time. The Guys at Cal Nevada Transmissions did a great job fixing it, then installed it for free and showed yours trulley how to make sure my coverter was seated right. then showed me how to set up my mechanical shift linkage.
I think they charged me $200 bucks of course that was 30 years ago now.
I hope all goes smooth this time with your install.

Great news, Don! Made my morning coffee a little better, reading that it was just the front pump, and that they treated you right. That's one of those shops that you remember for many years, and mention to others when they have problems and are looking for an honest place to take their car.

When installing my TC to the T400 I was told that when sliding in, and making sure the pump pins were aligned, I would hear a "clank" and the converter would be all the way against the bellhousing. Leave it that way and install on the engine. Then move it up and bolt to the flex plate. No problems.

Thanks guys. Yep Kurt, this shop only charged me under $ 200 too, which I thought was very fair, and they spent time showing me how to install the TC correctly.

Roger, I did some internet checking on several shops in the area and chose this one because they had 6 customers review them and all said good things. The one down the street was just the opposite, 2 people said stay away and one was suing them! I know feedback can be skewed, but in this case it steered me to the one I chose. There was another one in town that I used to recommend to all my friends but they screwed one over and that was the end for them.

sfort, that clicking was what they told me too. As you spin the convertor while pushing it in you will get 3 distinct clicks if it is seating correctly, and each time it drops in a little deeper. As I was intalling it this time I got exactly that and could tell it was all the way in. We used a bungee cord to keep it in place while we mated it to the engine so it wouldn't slide forward, and at the end we shimmed it with the washers to get the correct clearance. I think we are ok this time.

When Dan got home late from work last night he was too tired to go to the shop, so we decided to just go tonight when he gets home. He normally has Friday and Saturday off, but this week he is off Saturday and Sunday. Tonight we should be able to get the body back on and some stuff like the driveshaft in so that we can try starting the engine and shifting gears Saturday.

We talked it over and decided to not try the trans before the body goes on. It is too much of a hassle to jury rig some wiring as all the real wiring is inside the body. Plus, as Dan said, if there is still a problem it kills him going to Billetproof anyway, so it won't matter if the body is on or off. But I have a good feeling this time.

Might have a video of the first drive to post when we get home Saturday night (actually Sunday morning )

Don

Kool!!! Can't wait.