Well Thursday I took a trip to drop a friend off and it felt as if I had lost lockup in the torque converter. Cruising at 65Mph was 2500rpm, and normally it’s less then 2k. S it got me worried but I kept going, thought no biggie (my first mistake). So I kept going and treaded home the rest of the 15 miles and at the only stop light that turned red, the car almost refused to go from a dead stop. But I kept treading.

The next day I wake up and think, hmmm maybe it was a fluke(my third mistake) and took a test drive, she shifted firm, everything seemed fine, until one mile later, there was no drive at all, then 4 minutes later I had a little drive. Pushed her the 1 mile home. Yeah my scrawny little but pushed my 3300lbs car a mile, 6AM in the morning too.

SO that day I get started I jacked the car up, and started removing the transmission. Used my Hanes manual, but a little of user experience helped a little bit. I got it out a total of 11 hours later at 8PM.

Noticed the filter was clogged beyond belief, and metal was everywhere.

Called my good buddy Brian, hooked me up with Steve’s transmissions, they said bring the tranny and torque converter here, we'll take it apart in front of you and show you what’s wrong.

So I packed it up, and drove to Steve’s shop.

Right off the back they saw the torque converter took a dump, I showed them the filter they said lets look inside, it smelled burn, they said, "that’s the smell of burnt clutch packs"

All in the entire tranny went down really hard.

Earlier that day I had called them for an estimate on a rebuild and they quoted me $1200. So I hung up and kept calling. When I told them brian brought me over here and so on, they said $700 for a complete rebuild, and we'll install it, warrantee it for 12 months 12k miles as well.

So I got to talking to him, said what can we do to make it shift firmer and a stall converter. He said he'd throw in a 2000rpm stall (a wimpy one he added but still better then stock), and we'll put stiffer springs in the 1-2, and 2-3 accumulators. That'll make it shift harder then I could believe he said. He only asked for $800 after we got done talking.

So Wednesday afternoon, I give him $800; he gives me one heck of a hard shifting, better then brand new tranny.

Is this a good deal or what guys?

Thanks

PS: the car is a 86 Trans Am WS6 305 TPI with 137k miles on it, are there anythings i should worry about with the tranny shifting harder, anymore stress on the BW 9 bolt?

 

That sounds VERY fair.

 

Hmmm...I'm up your creek as well (**** creek that is), so I hope I can find a similar deal.

 

Yeah Steve’s son, who also works there, explained to me, that when I felt that lockup wasn't happening, I should have stopped immediately. That was the torque converter’s first sign of trouble. IT shredded parts into the whole tranny. When that happened, it clogged my filter, and the pump was starved of fluid and so forth. With the fluid not pumping as efficiently as it should there was little to no lubrication in the pump, on the bands, and in the clutch packs. With the added part of metal in there it made it works. Things started grinding into each other and before you know it everything went wrong.

He said if I’d of stopped when the torque converter messed up, I could of just gotten a new converter and been on my way, but I finished driving home and screwed it all up really badly. Price you pay for ignorance I guess right?

It'll be all better soon though...

 

Update:

Just got back from steve's shop. I dropped off the car and everything so that he could flush the cooling system out and what not.

Then he broguth me back and showed me the tranny all taken apart. showed me what he had done so far. Then he started talking about how my shift kit was a little overboard for street use. That it shoulda been barking the tires like nothing. And that if i wanted, after i get it rebuilt with the top of the line "steels" or as i call them clutch packs, he can adjust it for me if i'd like. I forgot the name of the clutches he was getting but he did say the company bought out another company and we may know them better. But i still had no clue.

He showed me my new pump, instead of our gay stock 8 vane pumps, he was adding a 12 vane pump, so now i'll have way more available pressure, uses hard seals instead of soft, lots of stuff i have no clue about.

But assured me the transmission would be so stout it'd be ready for my 383 and then some. But that motor is still a dream.

 

Update:
Last night I got the car back, shifts like a beaut, they even told me a few other things they fixed while they were at it as well not related to my tranny.

But after driving it I noticed it didn't shift as hard as it used to. This morning I called up Steve and he explained to me, that once it was built, they had their pressure meter hooked up and the pressure I had for firm shifts was too great for break in. They lowered it so break in on the transmission would be easier. He said to come back in 3 weeks or 300 miles, and they up the ante just the way I wanted it. He just wanted the tranny to last longer and a harsh break in is good he explained.

As soon as I get 300 more miles I’ll be getting it upped.

So glad I got this good of a deal, the tranny works great though, I love the feel of having a higher stall as well, 2000 stall is great, but from light to light feels just about the same.

 

Sounds like you made out well!

 

too bad on thursday a school bus ran my car over, totalling it.

i was at work and people came in telling me a bus ran my car over.

 

You've got to be kidding me. That's about the funniest thing I have ever read, thought it's so sad for you.



Can I have your tranny?

 

you can buy it from me, its only got 123 miles on a performance racing rebuild.

 

YAAAH shane is back ....LOL...

Hey dood whats up ...

 

that really really sux