long story..
1990 Fomula 350. trans was rebuilt, tsill had problems. the shop then supposedly installed a tranny they had sitting on the shelf. still no good, was rebuilt again.
Right now, the car shifts at about 1800 RPM, maybe 2200 with the TV cable adjusted all the way in, and only at WOT. In addtion to shifting to early, it does not like to downshift when it should, and it shifts very soft.. to the point that the 1-2 upshift is only detected by watching the RPMs drop about 300.
Brought it to a new shop, and they said that there's not really anything wrong. It shifts fine.. doesn't slip. You can nail it in any gear and it goes... but is not slipping at all. They believe that the tranny came from a Caprice or something like that so it's set up totally wrong for a Firebird. Also said the govenor and servo were probably from a 6 cyl. I have no reason to doubt this shop because my best friend works there, so I don't think the guy would be trying to BS me.

So, is there anyway to know what vehicle that the tranny came from? I would like to go back to the original shop with some actual proof that the thing is wrong. They are refusing to work on it at this point. I am just looking to return the tranny and get some money back, so if I could go in and say this is a XXX model tranny and came from a X body car... I might be able to get somewhere.

Background info.. this is not even my car, just doing this for a friend. I would have gone to where my best friend worked in the first place if it was my car.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Member of The Connecticut F Body Association
1987 IROC 5.7 - 14.72 @ 92
1988 Formula
1986 Z28

 

1800-2200 RPM WOT shift? Either the TV Cable isn't hooked up. is broken or the Throttle Valve in VB is stuck in closed position (common problem and cause of failure). The TransGo Shift Kit's just flat fix this problem.

 

There is a sticker with a code on it located on the bellhousing, they are usually gone and I have no way of decoding the numbers and letters anyway.
My 700 has the internals out of a '91 2.8 trans with added clutch plates, everything but the case and input drum, a .471 boost valve and the largest stock servo (they were in the v-6 trans), a governor pulled at random out of my spare parts bucket and modified to perfect the shift points, select shift valve and pressure regulator springs, modified seperator plate, etc. In other words it really doesn't matter what it came out of as long as you know how to make it work for what it's going in. it sounds like your shop doesn't know.

 

The second shop that looked at the car only test drove it. They never took the tranny apart. They told me they could rebuild it but that it would be easier to start with a 700 that was set up for an F body.
I know about the codes etc, and I have a list of groupings for them, but nothing that states which went to what model vehicle.
I just basically am looking for a way to say that the trans was never built right for the Formula application. I know it's possible to rebuild this trans the way it should be, but the original shop charged $1400, and it was set up wrong 3 times. This place is going to charge $500 Just looking to get back some of the money to cover the new rebuild.

 

If you were done that wrong you may need to contact your local state attorneys office, in rare cases they may be able to get your money back or get them to fix it right but usually they will check the background of this shop and, if there are enough complaints, take legal action to take their bussiness license.
What I would do for your trans at this point is pull the pan, see if it has an auxillary valve body if it does it's an '87 or newer so it would be close enough to your original '90 then install a trans go shift kit and calibrate the governor. If it doesn't have the auxillary valve body they gave you an older trans,not neccessarily bad but I wouldn't want it to happen to me.
The shift kit and recalibration would give you the same end results as if you had a good rebuild and your original trans. This is assuming they did all the internal work correctly.
It almost sounds like it just has the wrong governor in it.

 

it's not even my car, just trying to help out a friend of mine. The whole tranny needs to be rebuilt again. It's slipping a little in each gear even if you manually shift it, and it's not smooth when going through the RPMs. I have 3 other vehicles with 700R trannys and none of them act like this.
She has been trying to get them to do it right for like 6 months, and they said at one point, you want your money back, give us the tranny back.. so I was thinking if she does that and was able to say.. here this tags says it was from such an such car... that they would just not want the hassle and give her something back.
I have an 87 that I can have rebulit for $500 like I said, and I trust this shop.
She has already contacted consumer protection, and filed complaints with the state's attorney. The whole thing is ridiculous.