Jeff's 727 rebuild thread
Without wanting to unnesessarily get your hopes up, in the shop this evening I tore into a 727 VB to see if I could find a reason for your no Breakaway 1st gear in D. I studied the 1-2 shift valve in particular. Now it is possible to fit this valve the wrong way in the valve body. I am not saying this is your case & I also dont know how it would affect the shift characteristics, but it can be fitted the wrong way round & the end plate will fit without issue. In the TF-2 installation instructions there are no illustrations of the shift valves, but the middle picture on page 113 of Carl Monroe's Book shows the correct orientation. Maybe it's as simple as that.