[adantessr]

Originally Posted by turbolover

If you have more time than money get a electric grinder and some cartridge rolls. Do a rering on your engine and clean up all of the casting. I know a guy that cleaned up every little nook ad cranny. It won't make a huge difference but it helps and it gives you something to do. Anoyher thought is cosmetics, paint and upholstery. Another idea is to watch ebay or craigslist for some old hot rod parts you can restore and put on your ride- it always looks better when its rebuilt and not bought new.

I have a picture of my bucket on my profile . Haven't been able to post it anywhere else . Take a look and tell me what you think . The picture is in attachments .

[turbolover]

I can't find the pic.

[adantessr]

Originally Posted by turbolover

I can't find the pic.

Okay , I finally figured out how to get some pictures on here .

[OneMoreTime]

the trick to getting good mileage out of a 4bbl is to set it up so the secondarys only come in when you punch it..Set the carb up so you can run say at 60 on only the primaries..Worked out for me..

Sam

[T-bucket23]

Originally Posted by adantessr

Yeah , I also thought about the aerodynamics of the 20" tall windshield . But then I thought , Hmmm my '78 K-10 was pretty tall also considering the grill area (huge) and the windshield . Just about all of my cruising is done at 40 to 50 mph . That is the speed limits on McCorkle Ave which runs for about 30 mi just a half mi from my house .

The flat windshield is a killer, you can really feel the effects once you get up over 65 or so.

[turbolover]

windshield?! What happened to the old aviator goggles? In my mind roofs and windshields do not belong on T buckets. Nice car though, not my style, but still nice.

[adantessr]

Originally Posted by turbolover

windshield?! What happened to the old aviator goggles? In my mind roofs and windshields do not belong on T buckets. Nice car though, not my style, but still nice.

I took the top off after about two weeks of running with it despite resistance from the wife . I like it a lot better without it and have no plans to reinstall it . I think it has a permanent home in the storage building . As far as the windshield goes , it stays , I don't like all the wind in the face that you get without one . All that pressure in the face and chest is fatiguing . I learned that on long trips with a motorcycle . Arrived feeling much fresher after I started using a windshield .

[cobalt327]

Big, did you ever get to the bottom of why (or how) your TH350C was locking up the TC w/o the electrical connections being made?

Because if there's ANY chance the trans isn't locking, that can get you 1-2 mpg, possibly a little more, depending.

[adantessr]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

Big, did you ever get to the bottom of why (or how) your TH350C was locking up the TC w/o the electrical connections being made?

Because if there's ANY chance the trans isn't locking, that can get you 1-2 mpg, possibly a little more, depending.

Thanks for asking cobalt . I did determine that it is a T350C with the lockup converter . Someone must have gotten into it and done someting because it definitely goes into lockup . I can tell for sure just watching the tach as I cruise along and accelerate (not enough to cause a downshift) and decelerate , it acts just like it is a standard transmission. It does run GOOD and I may be getting better mileage than I think . It seems like I use a lot of gas because I have to fill up so often with the 8 gal tank . I will check the mileage over the next couple of fill-ups and let you know how it comes out .

[cobalt327]

Sounds as though yours is set up to work hydraulically. Will your trans 'unlock' when you accelerate in high gear, like the vacuum operated OEM set up did?

Mine (in an '80 Malibu w/the TH350C) has the fender well-mounted vacuum switch and it will disengage the torque converter lock up when the vacuum drops to about 2.5 in/Hg or so (in other words, you are stepping down on the pedal pretty hard). Step a little harder and it would downshift to second, i.e. "passing gear".

When I had bypassed the inline vacuum delay valve, the TC would lock up as soon as the trans shifted to high gear, but then the TC wouldn't unlock. I didn't care for that at all- you got no unlock until you hit passing gear, and at speeds above where the trans would downshift to second, the torque converter was still locked up. Not good.

[tjet]

Originally Posted by adantessr

....It does run GOOD and I may be getting better mileage than I think . It seems like I use a lot of gas because I have to fill up so often with the 8 gal tank . I will check the mileage over the next couple of fill-ups and let you know how it comes out .

Check this out. You may find it easier to track & record your MPG. I initially signed up to track my TDI mileage, but I also put my old thursty Vette on it too

http://www.fuelly.com/

[adantessr]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

Sounds as though yours is set up to work hydraulically. Will your trans 'unlock' when you accelerate in high gear, like the vacuum operated OEM set up did?

Mine (in an '80 Malibu w/the TH350C) has the fender well-mounted vacuum switch and it will disengage the torque converter lock up when the vacuum drops to about 2.5 in/Hg or so (in other words, you are stepping down on the pedal pretty hard). Step a little harder and it would downshift to second, i.e. "passing gear".

When I had bypassed the inline vacuum delay valve, the TC would lock up as soon as the trans shifted to high gear, but then the TC wouldn't unlock. I didn't care for that at all- you got no unlock until you hit passing gear, and at speeds above where the trans would downshift to second, the torque converter was still locked up. Not good.

Cobalt , It seems to be in lockup whenever it is in 3rd speed , but I have noticed that if I accelerate from a stop at just a little more throttle , like a 1/4 throttle, that the shift to 3rd is so smooth that I don't really feel it , so I am really not totally sure what is going on . If I am barely accelerating though , it seems to go to 3rd too soon and straight to lockup and then I have to give it a little more throttle and then it downshifts back to 2nd . Maybe you can tell me what I need to do to make this work better . Dec, Jan , Feb here are too cold to ride so I'm up for anything then .

[cobalt327]

That's just it- I don't know how the tranny is able to tell that you're accelerating enough to want the TC to unlock, but not so much acceleration as to cause the downshift to second. But what you describe seems perfectly normal, except the immediate lockup of the TC and it not unlocking at anything less than a passing gear downshift. You would like it to unlock at moderate acceleration, w/o the trans downshifting into second.

If yours is behaving like mine did when I bypassed the delay valve, it's going into lockup as soon as it goes into high, then won't unlock until second gear is selected- either by manually downshifting, matting the throttle to get passing gear, or slowing down to the point that the trans goes into second gear by the governor.

The way mine works (with vacuum/electric switch), the TC also unlocks when I hit the brakes. This is done w/the brake light switch. I doubt seriously if yours will do this, either.

Bottom line, it seems that you have full-time lockup in high gear, regardless of engine load or throttle position. In your lightweight T-roddy, I doubt that is much of an issue. In my wagon, it would be.

[adantessr]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

That's just it- I don't know how the tranny is able to tell that you're accelerating enough to want the TC to unlock, but not so much acceleration as to cause the downshift to second. But what you describe seems perfectly normal, except the immediate lockup of the TC and it not unlocking at anything less than a passing gear downshift. You would like it to unlock at moderate acceleration, w/o the trans downshifting into second.

If yours is behaving like mine did when I bypassed the delay valve, it's going into lockup as soon as it goes into high, then won't unlock until second gear is selected- either by manually downshifting, matting the throttle to get passing gear, or slowing down to the point that the trans goes into second gear by the governor.

The way mine works (with vacuum/electric switch), the TC also unlocks when I hit the brakes. This is done w/the brake light switch. I doubt seriously if yours will do this, either.

Bottom line, it seems that you have full-time lockup in high gear, regardless of engine load or throttle position. In your lightweight T-roddy, I doubt that is much of an issue. In my wagon, it would be.

Yup , You're right . It really isn't much of an issue considering I am only running about 7lbs per horsepower with my 300 lb carcass aboard .

[cobalt327]

What would be trick, is to have a switched valve that would allow non-lockup until you threw the switch. It probably wouldn't have been a hard to do addition, if you were to have had the chance to do it w/the trans apart.