decided it's time for me to install it...had it since x mas but now i have plenty of time on my hands. so is it possible to do in a few hours? or should i just have a shop do it and pay them the outragious price of 85 dollars? that's alot to put in somthing i can prob do. im using the B&M plate kit, just remove valve body and slip plates in place...anyone go through this and have any advice?

Opha

 

yeah, I did the exact same kit to mine.

besides dropping the valve body, the kit comes with the option of installing a few differet springs to put in place.
the options were a street/strip or a r/v firmer shift.
I did all the street/strip except I did not mess with the accumulator valve, like it said to.
I have heard bad things about damage bieng caused by messing with the accumulator, as well as a very severe part throttle 1-2 shift.
A couple points of advice, that i wish I had been given:

Keep everything very very clean. I somehow managed to get dirt into some of the valve...it wouldnt shift untill 5000rpm.
had to go to the trans shop and pay 100$$ for them to free the valves back up.
number 2, if you decide to replace the spring in the pressure regulator, make sure the retaining ring is fully seated!!!! the clip can seem like its all the way in place, but it wont be, give it a tap with a screwdriver and hammer to make sure it is in the right spot.
I did not get it seated, and when it got up to about 10mph, I heard a lound pop, which was the sound of the pressure regulator bieng blown out into the pan. then I had to push the car back to the garage, and take it all apart.

I would feel very confident about doing this again, I have learned from my mistakes.
All in all, take your time, be very clean, dont work on the vave body on the garage floor like I did.
should take you a few hours.
I am very happy with the way it shifts now.

 

I'm not to fond of B&M. I'm very biased towards TransGo. Not only does TransGo give you the option of "firming" up some shifts, but it corrects many of the problems wrong w/ the 700R-4. Case in point: Joshua's post. he said after the instal, it wouln't shif until 5,000 RPM. 90% of the time, its because the Throttle Valve got stuck. This is a very common problem w/ the 700. The TransGo has dual "helper" springs, and has several grooves machined into it to help "float" the valve. There are other problems that get fixed as well. I don't reccomend anything but the transgo.

 

i dont have to worry about that. i threw in a th350 after i blew the 200. so hopfully i wont have any problems.
Opha

 

no, I said it wouldnt shift till 5000rpm becuz I got dirt into the valve body, which is completley my own fault.

 

The machined grooves in the Trans-Go throttle valve are for keeping the valve clean. It is known as a self cleaning valve. Trans-Go used this on the early Ford C-4's in the pressure regulator assembly.

 

Chill out bro, I said 90% of the time! Usually after messing w/ the transmission and then it won't shift, its because the Throttle Valve is stuck wide open. Heck, sometimes it will get stuck on its own, you don't have to mess with it. But thats not always the case, so I left 10% for other causes. If you got dirt in it, OK then.


Dana, the reason I said that was because GM started putting grooves in there valves, like the TCC Regulated Apply valve for the 4L60-E. The valves were getting side loaded and stuck, so first they started "floating" the valve w/ grooves, then they went to a skirted design w/ grooves. Seems to be working rather well so far. "Floated" valves seem to be popping up more and more.

 

$85? Either run right down and have them do it before they change their minds or run the other way since I wouldn't trust someone who doesn't know what the job is worth. Or perhaps they DO know what THEIR work is worth?

 

I hold the record for the longest shift kit install: 7 days. First my kit was missing a spacer, then my handy assistant managed to get the piston cocked in the 1-2 accumulator, so I had to run all over town to find one. He also bent a roll pin without knowing it, which took me 3 days to figure out. Point being, it could take you anywhere between a few hours to a few days. And $85 does sound pretty darn cheap.

 

85 isnt cheap when it could be spent on other mods. and if u hold the worlds longest shift kit install... well i hold the worlds longest transmission install. did it by myself at school... took from the end of january to end of may. only had like 15 min a day to do stuff after the teacher got done yelling at everyone and finally came over to help. so yeah, im proud that i did it all myself (w/ guidnce) since before that i didnt know a thing about cars really. figure all the stuff i had to do and then go back and do somthing else so it would work out right. but dont feel like esplaining it all. so a few hours? guess i got something to do on sunday.
Opha