I have a 86 firebird which had a 2.8 v-6 engine.I swaped it and put in of corse a 350 4 bolt 30 over. [ALL new insides]. The 2.8 trans of corse will not bolt up to the new v-8 engine. So i got a trans out of a doner 84 firebird which i could not test. I pullrd it,painted it,installed a b&m shift kit in it then installed the engine and trans. Then drove it pulled it in to 1st gear went to shift in to 2nd no 2nd gear went to third went in to third i have not drove it fast enough yet to know if overdrive works yet. When i installed the shift kit 5 ball bearings came out all the same size it did not have the bigger ball bearing in it. The b&m shift kit book showed it to have 6 ball bearings with a diagram where they went. I installed them in there place and this is where i m at today ANYONE know what steps i should take to correct this problem sketter

 

today i was told the servo would cause 2nd gear not to engage i found a tranny out of a 86 caprice 700r-4 so i m going to get it even if i can fix the one in it due to the fact i now have three gen three firebirds my wife has a 89 mine is a 86 and i have a 84 i m going to build for my son next is anyone out there that can tell me if the servo is my problem?

 

The most common causes of no second gear is
-the servo o-rings failed
-the band failed
-the reverse drum under the band is warped(band can no longer clamp)
-the govoner is sticking
the gov and servo can be accessed under the car, the band and drum require pulling the trans.