I went to Patriot Steel today and got some metal to build a wood pellet rack for burning pellets in my fireplace. I thought I'd show you my simple fixture for securing metal in my bed. Sure, I could use a shaved down wood 2x2, but I cut some 2" square tubing down and re-welded it. It won't break. 20210222_163550_HDR.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 23, 2021 at 8:50 AM
I got the original transmission about 75% torn down today. The case is completely covered in crud, but other than wear on the clutches and band, and the gaskets being brittle, it's absolutely beautiful. There's no smoking gun for the hammering 1-2 shift. The accumulators look great and fit their pins snugly. The oil pump doesn't look to have any serious wear, but I'll put a feeler gauge on it tomorrow. 20210227_121849_HDR.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 27, 2021 at 11:15 PM 20210227_121827_HDR.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 27, 2021 at 11:15 PM 20210227_121710_HDR.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 27, 2021 at 11:15 PM 20210227_110913_HDR.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 27, 2021 at 11:15 PM
I think I made pretty good progress today. The transmission is torn down as far as it needs to be and the case is ready to be cleaned. 20210228_203820.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 28, 2021 at 9:58 PM I don't have the tools for compressing the spring assemblies to get the housing assemblies apart, but I grabbed some plate off the scrap pile, cut it into 1" wide strips, and bent it to use in my press. I got the forward drum clutch spring out fine, but I bent the crap out of the overrun clutch spring assembly. Fortunately that's only a $10 mistake. After reading someone else's experience, I'm pretty sure I don't want the Super Hold 2nd Gear Servo. I feel like a dirtbag because I can't remember who recommended against it, but thanks! I'm still considering the Corvette Servo, but RockAuto is fresh out. I'm already going to have boosted line pressure, high-friction clutches, and the extra-wide kevlar band, so I'm thinking it's not critical. I did blow $250 on a 5-gear reaction carrier after seeing Schurkey's pic. The closest thing I've found to a 'culprit' is some scoring on the accumulator and housing. 20210228_205705.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 28, 2021 at 9:58 PM Most of the clutches look nice, if thin, but the 3-4 clutches and steels are fairly rough. 20210228_203726.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 28, 2021 at 10:03 PM 20210228_124043.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 28, 2021 at 9:58 PM One final note, Summit finally shipped my Christmas present, some 2 1/2" outlet ram horn manifolds for the original engine. It's either going in my Cadillac, or in the Sunbeam. The only problem with putting that motor in the Sunbeam is that it's probably a little too powerful for the short wheelbase, and the distributor will only be removable when the engine's out. Now I just need to find some nice, vintage looking valve covers and a v-belt pulley setup. 20210228_203905.resized by Erik the Awful posted Feb 28, 2021 at 9:58 PM
OK, the reason I asked is my 700R4 won't shift from 2nd into 3rd gear at WOT. When I'm at part to almost full throttle it shifts hard into 3rd. 1st to 2nd is firm but not as hard as 2nd to 3rd. I have the governor weights set so it shifts 1st to 2nd @ ~5,000 WOT.
I didn't get out in the shop until after 5 pm, but I did start cleaning the case. I rolled it out of the shop onto the lawn and began brushing the 1/4" of mud and grease off the case. As pretty as the transmission is on the inside, the outside was incredibly dirty. When most of that was done I sprayed it with PB Blaster and took a small wire brush to the corners. When the sun started setting I wheeled it back in the shop and parked it over a pan. This afternoon I'll tackle it with rubbing alcohol and a 2" paint brush.
I've now spent as much time cleaning the case as I spent tearing the transmission down. It's not clean, but it's clean enough to build. Ugh, what a nasty mess. I'm waiting on the new overrun clutch spring assembly, and then I'll start putting everything back together. I already have a loose bearing that I can't remember where it goes. Neither the SA Design build book nor the GM manual have an illustrated breakdown of every component, but fortunately I still have my old textbook from college. Page 559 has a complete chart of the order of assembly! It also has all the major automatic transmissions an old-school hot rodder needs to know. https://www.abebooks.com/Automatic-...kobw6BauZgbhvdPxYJO95gkcc0rOZZjgaArOREALw_wcB I troubleshot the lights this afternoon. The driver's headlight socket is crumbling, but doesn't explain all the lights being out, so I put the voltmeter on it and found 12v. All the lights are out and I have 12v at the socket? That's a grounding problem. I started tracing wires and found a bad splice on the passenger side parking light where a previous owner had wrapped fog light wires around the existing wire and then taped over it. I put heat shrink butt connectors on that, knowing it wasn't the problem, and continued troubleshooting. I traced the ground wire back past the battery to a bolt in the fender. As I pulled the wire I saw the connector under the bolt move. I played with it and got the lights to come on. I grabbed a 10mm socket and tried to tighten it, but the bolt wouldn't tighten. I pulled it out and it wasn't a bolt, but a big screw. I pitched it in my random hardware bucket and put the ring terminal directly on the battery. The headlights work now. I still need to align them, but it was an easy fix.
