In June I installed a 430 HP/452 ft lb of torque 383 SBC in my 1986 IROC Z, I knew that the stock 700r4 in the car would require upgrading in the near future, but it took less than three months for it to give out on me. It started with what I thought was a bad input shaft seal leak, so I pulled the transmission, changed the seal and reinstalled the transmission only to have the same exact leak.

Being that the car had sat up for several years before I bought it, I was kicking myself for not changing the pump O ring seal while I had it out and so i removed it again and changed out the pump O ring seal, which looked a little dry but didn't appear to be cracked. Much to my dismay I reinstalled the transmission only to have the same leak again.

At this point I figure, that even though the transmission shifts good, something must have let go inside and cracked the pump housing case, so I pulled the trigger on a new 700r4 Level 3 Raptor Transmission from PATC. I should be able to get it installed and back on the road this weekend, fingers crossed that this is the last transmission I'll ever need to put in this car, as they are not cheap these days.