I bought this car as a project, 88 Trans Am. Engine was knocking. Someone had already swapped in A TH350 trans. I drove the car about 1/2 mile before pulling engine and trans. I built a 355 and am just about ready to put it in. I figured I would put a kit in the tranny while it's out, so I ordered B&M Transpak. I have used their shift improver kit in the past with good results. I pulled the trans pan off, and I can see the "Transgo" logo on the seperator plate under the valve body, so someone has already been in there. I am tempted to leave everything alone and just run it, but now is the best time to but in the B&M kit, while the tranny is on an engine stand. Is the Transgo kit just as good, or better, than the B&M one? If I just proceed in installing the B&M kit like it was a stocker will I run into trouble from any mods that the 1st kit did? Installing a kit by following the directions is not over my head at all, but I am not a transmission guy and don't really understand what goes on inside an automatic.

 

The TransGo kit is FAR better than the B&M.

Yes you will likely run into trouble if you mix & match different mfrs' parts in your valve body.

Leave it as is, and see how it does.

If you don't like it, and you think the inferior kit would be more appropriate, get another VB from the junkyard, and start over with that; or get a new TransGo kit and re-try that in your new junk VB.

Keep in mind there are several variations in those kits, any one or a combo of which could have been installed in there; towing, heavy-duty, racing, show-off, etc. And there are other parts which may or may not have been modified to accompany the kit, which can produce bizarre results if mixed & matched, such as accumulators, wavy steels in the clutch packs, and various other things.

 

Sounds like a plan. If I had it to do over again I would have driven it farther and payed attention to how it shifted. Just switching another valve body in will reverse all changes? If I remember correctly there were some ***** that were removed when installing the B&M shift improver kit.

 

Not necessarily; but it'd be a great first step. It specifically will not reverse changes including but not limited to

 

you will need to make sure to put the stock separator plate in the trans once again if you are removing the shift kit as the separator plate in the B&M has to be drilled.

TH-350's are a dime a dozen you should be able to find a suitable donor to put your transgo kit into it. Although The B&M kits usually work just fine. What are your intentions for the car? If your just looking for a more positive shift I would see how that trans you has works out for you.

 

I'm just going to run it and see. I would much rather work on it on the engine stand, but if I have to pull the tranny back out it's not the end of the world. It just makes me a little bit uncomfortable not knowing what someone else already did or didn't do to it.

 

Since the TransGo Shift kit is in there already, I would leave it alone and see how it works. What was the condition of the fluid? Did you find any residue on the bottom of the pan? Is there a magnet in the pan? If not add one. Use the TH350C dacron filter, as it does a better job than the screen type. The down shift cable should be adjusted so that it is at about 2/3-3/4 throttle before it downshifts. It should not downshift to easily, unless there is a big cam in the motor (no low end torque). As far as fluid, use a good quality Dexron III.

 

The fluid was very nice, very little residue. I will add a magnet. Is it a bad idea to not use the kickdown cableon a TH350? I know it must be used on 700R, but I planned to leave it unhooked on this one, and do all downshifts manually.