The car is a 91 GTA w/ 350. The original died and I needed to throw a new one in rather quickly, so I got a junkyard version from a 92 TBI 305 Camaro with 57,000 miles for $300.

The trans is now in. I adjusted the TV cable, but the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are slow and soft, even at half throttle. Everything else seems fine. I used my original TV cable, because I figured the lengths would be different due to the different top ends.

Could this be a TV cable issue? Do I need to put the boneyard cable in?

Was the 305 tranny valved differently to make smoother shifts? Did it have different clutch packs?

Is the tranny gunked up inside causing slow shifts? If so, how do I fix it?

Do I need to put a shift kit in to keep it alive? If so, which one?

Thanks

 

ttt

 

It may be that the 305 trans is not just valved as sporty as you would like. More like sedate grocery getter.

You could try tightening up the TV cable a bit to see if it helps. Even though it is "adusted", it could be helpfull to run a bit more line presure.
This item would help if you run out of cable at full throttle.
http://www.freewaytransmissions.com/tvcable.php
http://www.powerglide.com/parts/parts/As1-01K-1.htm

The original TV cable is what you should use.

The trans really should have had a fluid and filter change when you installed it. New trans fluid is and excellent cleaner.

A shift kit would definately wake up that trans. Do some research here on which one to use, they each have thier pros-n-cons.

A corvette 2-4 servo would really firm up the 1-2 and 3-4 shifts. It would also help the 2-3 a bit as the 2-4 servo is also serves as the 3rd accumulator.

 

If the TV Cable is properly adjusted, then tightening the cable will do nothing after the first WOT run because the cable will self adjust back to where it was. But like Arrio said, you need to re-use your existing cable.

The corvette servo will firm up the 1-2 and some of the 2-3 shift, but won't do anything for the 3-4 shift. The actual "Vette servo" is merely the 2nd apply piston and housing. 4th uses a different piston in the servo assembly.

If the used tranny itself is working properly (no gears are slipping, etc...) then the TransGo reprogramming kit with vette servo and larger boost valves will make that "soft" tranny shift more firm and positive then the tranny it replaced.

 

Trans got front & rear seals, gasket, filter, and 2.5 gallons of new fluid.

In regular driving, the shifts are what I'm used to. It's at half-throttle or more that the shifts are way too soft, almost like the TV isn't doing it's job.

What would happen if the little pin at the end of the TV fell out of place?

 

What torque convertor are you using? If it's the 85, chances are it's a different stall speed due to the more radical roller cam in the later motors than the garbage bump stick in the carbed models.

The 700R4 was also revalved sometime after 86 I think ,as these applications have a different filter, and are stronger. I'm kinda fuzzy on the memory of it all, but I'm 99% sure that sometime inthe mid-late 80's the 700R4 was built differently.

 

Tranny is out of a 92 305 car. Converter is from the same car. Should have all the updates.

I'm just trying to figure out if I'm overly sensitive or if there is something wrong with the tranny. The car drives fine, but heavy throttle 2-3 and 3-4 shifts seem to take too long.