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trans rebuild

4K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  adtkart 
#1 ·
With a little time and a lot of cleaning plus a book on how to rebuild them, I fell any "good " mechanic can rebuild a tranny. I bought a book by Ron Sessions it covers rebuild.modifications,install remove basically everything you need to know. The hardest part is cleaning the crap out of everyhing. My local tran shop lets me use thier parts washer and bushing drivers when i do mine. (I traded some electrical work as I'm an electrician) the cost of the parts if purchased from them is always under $200 including a converter.
 
#2 ·
I bought the same book on Ebay, just waiting for it to arrive. I hear the TM350 is one of the easist to rebuild, we'll see about that......



C
 
#3 ·
Just because you own the tools doesn't make you able to fix everything on your car.Transmission's are alot different than a spark plug if they where easy to repair auto shop would also do transmission repair.... they send that type of repair work to the experts.Dont take this in the wrong way, I dont feel I should just grab the light pole and get my power by hooking up a wire just because I can cut the wire.Transmission rebuilding and repair is an art and not everyone has the talent to be one . But you only know if you try it good luck with your craft and we will be here to help you.
 
#4 ·
My experience has been different than airworld2's. I am not a particularly "good" mechanic, just an inquisitive amature who wold rather do the work myself, even if I need to re-do it twice or three times. It is my replacement for a shrink I guess. Anyway I have rebuilt several TH350s, a TH200, a TH400, a couple PowerGlides, a TH7004R, a TH200R4, my old 4-speed B&M hydro a couple of times and am batting 100% in success rate. Just make sure to get a comprehensive instruction manual, follow the directions and the ease of rebuilding an auto tranny is one of the best kept secrets around!
 
#5 ·
[email]willys36@aol.com[/email] said:
Just make sure to get a comprehensive instruction manual, follow the directions and the ease of rebuilding an auto tranny is one of the best kept secrets around!
I would also suggest one of the available videos as well. Knowing and seeing the techniques of dissassembly, inspection and reassembly will save you busted knuckles and a lot of time. Well worth the $25 bucks or so they cost.

Centerline
http://www.hotrodsandhemis.com
 
#7 ·
You just need to keep in mind that because you can replace parts in a transmission and it still works, doesn't mean that they are easy to work on. Like I have said before. I have spent alot of time repairing what others thought they could handle. Most mechanics don't do automatic transmission work because it is more than just changing parts. Years ago, when I quit doing transmissions, there were few mechanics in the area, including at the trans shops, that knew how they worked. They could put kits in them and most of the times they would work. When they didn't work, it was a mystery as to why. Until you know what every piece inside does, you don't really know if it is good or not. I went to work at one shop, (the owner chased me down to work for him), to find that most of the units on the shelves didn't work and no one knew why. A book and even a video may show you how to assemble the things, but they won't tell you the real secrets, as why, and how they work, or don't.

I don't claim to know everything about trans, but I do know that alot of people get themselves in trouble messing with them because they don't know what they are doing.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I get a chuckle out of these lines of discussions.

Some folks can rebuild most things on a car with a quality book to help them and they will actually work.

I like to point out there is a difference between :" replacing parts in an automatic and rebuilding it correctly". This would involve correctly setting clearances in things like pumps. Most folks do not own micrometers for this job.

When a tranny does not function quite right, then they come looking for some one like airworld or myself for help to diagnose the problem.

probably 10-12 years I was looking for a used truck of the S-10 variety(2.8 with 700R4) for a shop truck. I was looking over one and the guy starts telling me about the "fresh " tranny in it and "how anyone can rebuild an automatic for about $45.00"

While test driving the truck I noticed it bound up in second gear slightly and had a goofy 2-3 shift. I mentioned this to the guy. He basically told me I was full of S***T....... so, from a stop i wound the truck up and manually shifted the tranny because I knew the problem would be worse at a harder throttle.

The truck bound up enough it felt like I had the brakes on. When we got back to his house I handed him my card and said if he wanted the tranny fixed correctly to call me. He never called. :)

Even at my work place occasionally one of the guys that build racing powerglides will start shooting off his mouth about how good his trannies work after a dyno run. I always congratulate him on a fine 2 speed full manual tranny job. Then I ask if he can help me build a 4R100 or 4T65E or what ever . It shuts him up every time since ALL he has been trained to build is powerglides that way Hughes Performance wants them built. I enjoy it , but I am a simple minded middleaged guy.

I still answer tranny questions the best I can and will continue to do so even when some folks point out how easy it is to rebuild an automatic.

========== just for giggles I will point out that there is a guy on this board and he visits several more...... he had a problem with a 700. He was quoting the "book " to me. I told him i know what the books says, but do it "this way"........... he seems happy with my advice

Tony
 
#9 · (Edited)
You guys make it sound like its VOODOO or a black art? A trans is just and assembly of pieces and parts, No different than say an engine. As long as each part is in tolerance and does it's job there should be no problems, or do i need magic spells to go with my micrometers, torque wrenches? If i do fall on my face the first time through, I have 8 years experence as a product designer at Hydra-Matic Ypsilanti (now GM Powertrain) and friends like engineers, prototype mechanics and fellow designers brains to pick.

I've spent enough time designing them to know it's not rocket science, I dont mean to sound like a dick, but i hate to have a stranger tell me i cant do someting right!!!!



Chris
 
#10 ·
Fat50 and Croz are both right. You do need to know the basics of what the parts in a tranny do to put one together right. However, once that basic knowledge is there, and you have a good instruction manual for the unit you are working on, any amateur mechanic who can build a reliable V-8 engine should be able to assemble a 100,000mi tranny. Granted, it will take three days instead of the few hours experts like Croz take, but it also takes a couple of weeks for us amateurs to do a V-8 that takes John Force's crew half an hour to assemble. Both end up being reliable end products.
 
#11 ·
yep, calling on friends for info is good....I regularly call other tranny guys on something I have run into or forgotten. We often call some tranny contacts at the GM proving grounds here in AZ. A nice group of people out there.

I had the clutch come through the floor of my 68 SS 396 Chevelle in 1974. I installed a T-400 that i rebuilt. It worked for a while. I got some help from some friends in the tranny biz, then it worked for a long time......

I owned my first tranny shop in 1979 or 80 as I recall. A lesson learned, no business partners is better.

VOODOO? nope. Although I fixed a 700 for a guy about 2 years ago. He had miss assembled several parts. He gave me his tranny book on 700's as he planned on never building another.

of course there are other things too. like the dry nitrogen assisted trans-brake T-125 transaxle we are engineering for some sport compact drag race useage.......... should be interesting. :)
 
#12 ·
Croz - I have a machine shop friend who makes all kinds of exotic equipment on the side of his business. Mostly for racing cars. He took his business out of Kalifornia to Texas where there is still a little freedom and business tolerant climate so I have lost track of a couple of his more intriguing projects. The one I really wanted to follow was an infinitely variable ratio tranny for multi-thousand hp racing engines. He was going to computer control it so it kept the engine at absolute peak torque rpm throughout the vehicle speed rage. I got to see a lot of the mechanical parts B4 he left. Really a talented guy.
 
#13 ·
The point I was trying to make was that just taking a trans apart and replacing the parts that come in a kit does not mean that it will work. When the clutches burn up, the clutches may be why the car doesn't move, but they are not the problem. There is a reason that they burned up. Quite often it is because of another part failure. Watching a video or getting a rebuild manual will not necessarilly tell why it had that problem. I have known a few Good mechanics that won't mess with transmissions because of bad experiences. I also know a few that aren't worth a thing as far as doing anything else to a car, but are real good with trans.

Sure, Trans work isn't brain surgery , but then I think I could do that with the right help. Any volunteers! :evil:
 
#14 ·
Welp, i got the TH350 for free, The book was $10.05 on eBay, a rebuild kit is under $100, If my first rebuild make it to the end of the driveway = priceless :mwink:

I by no means would try doing this for a living, I'm just interested in one model trans, one time rebuild. I't going in the '50 that my wife will also drive. so, not manual valve body, or reverse VB would really mess her up:eek: The car won't be seeing the track except maybe once to get a time on it.

The first work order i got at Hydra-Matic was on the worm trail of the case on a 4L80-E, I thought I was going to cry, close up my briefcase and go home, Luckly i had the guy who originally designed sitting behind me, best "help desk" you could ask for!!




C
 
#15 ·
One of the most important things to know before trying to rebuild is what it was doing before, and why. There are several experts on this board that can help, if the right questions are ask. If you are just freshing one up because you want everything fresh, and it was working fine before, checking for obvious wear and a kit may be fine. Just follow instructions. Where most people have problems is when there was a problem and they do not know what they are looking at. Like the people that you see trying to start their car, it won't crank, just clicks, so they pump the gas. They don't know that what they are doing is doing no good, but they are doing something, must be right. I know we have all seen them!

I would rather see questions from someone that is trying to rebuild one and trying to findout what is wrong with it before putting it together. The worst question is "I put a rebuild kit in my trans, and now it don't work, Why?"

At home it can be a real pain in the back to have to take a trans back out because it don't work, after putting a kit in it.
 
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