Can the governor weight be replaced without removing the tail shaft assembly? I want to tune my shift points.
904 Governor Replacement
- Thread starter 340inabbody
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junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
no you have to yank the tailshaft ***'y.
Yes.
You must only remove the Tailshaft housing
OttawaCharger
Active Member
Shift points are "tuned" best by changing the length of the kickdown rod. You did not tell us if this is a street car, but if so, you will want to adjust the kickdown rod. The governor controls the maximum RPM where an upshift will occur, primarily in a racing (or hot street) application. The guys at A&A transmission sell governors to get you to the level you want, so assume you know that.
4mulas
Fixem'up
Yes, but if you increase the rod length to much you risk limiting full throttle on the carburetor. It’s fine line. The only perfect shifting Mopar trans I’ve had thus far is one with a manual valve body.
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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is the one I took the tail off three times to get the governor right. lol.
Op
The KD can only do so much, even if you crank up the line pressure.
If you're gonna keep the auto upshift feature, then the governor is gonna need fine tuning. and if you swapped out your rear gears, for say 15>20% more, then, there's no way around it. Which is why most guys just throw in the towel, and go to a full-manual. (no slur on on you, 4mulas, nor anyone else) , that's just how it is.
But I gotta tell ya, a well tuned governor in a semi-auto, with a working PT downshift, and a higher than factory stall convertor, all together, is a dream come true. So, so, much fun.
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
buncha fuggin' pedantics around here i tells ya.
also, the proper terminology is "zip wheel". please refer to the style guide that was attached to the weekly email. i swear, sometimes i don't even know why i bother sending it out...
That's yankee terminology.
junkyardhero
Well-Known Member
You learnt it from a displaced yankee.
Duster346
Chris Andrews
It's called an extension housing and it has to be removed to change the governor weights. The thing that the governor housing is attached to is called the output shaft.
Thanks @AJ/FormS I got a lot sorted out engine wise and am now working performance. My trans was set up from the factory with a 318 and a 273 peg leg rear. I now have a 340 with 355ish sure grip. It obviously shifts way to soon but when I manually shift at 2800 it’s great. Been thinking about a 4speed manual conversion but dam I might be dead before I could finish that project given all that I would have to do.
So I was thinking of something quick like a heavier, governor weight. But quite frankly, I know nothing about 904 and automatic transmissions.
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bcschief
Well-Known Member
Exactly why I like manual transmissions, the driver determines the shift point.
Wait @AJ/FormS when you say “full manual” are you talking 4 speed 833 type or a manual shift on the 904 trans like a drag set up?
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Thanks Bewy l haven’t done this before and am trying to learn from you guys. This type of tuning isn’t in the FSM. I need to learn from everyone here’s collective experience. Sure wish I had local friends to learn and wrench with. It’s hard being alone doing everything on the car but Ive come very far and still learning which a guy at my age is meaningful.
A&A transmissions (and others, I'm sure) sells governors specific to a max rpm automatic upshift. The actual full throttle upshift rpm can vary from A&A's rating for various reasons, and often the 2-3 full throttle automatic upshift will occur at a lower rpm than the 1-2. Might have to go into the valve body to address that.
A higher speed governor will also raise the part throttle shift points. Nice if you want the car to hold each gear a bit longer at part throttle, especially if you're lacking in low speed torque.
For at least a couple of years in the late sixties, you could not get a Torqueflite trans to shift into low gear above 30 mph no matter how hard you tried - whether just stabbing the throttle or trying to manual shift into low. That was the case with my Dad's (now my) 67 Hemi Charger. Once you were in it, low gear was a 55 mph gear, but if you were in Drive going 31 mph, low gear was just not available. Got smoked a couple of times from a low 30's roll because it would only kickdown into second where the rpm's were maybe somewhere around two grand. No internet then, or any Mopar clubs, or any Mopar-knowledgeable friends, but I did have my car magazines and their ads. I fixed the problem with a B&M manual/automatic kit for the original valve body. Now you could manually shift into low gear at any speed. Note that this is not a governor issue, but a valve body issue.
Anyway, to replace the governor, you have to remove the trans extension housing. The governor is behind the main case, so you don't have to take the trans completely apart, just the extension housing.
A higher speed governor will also raise the part throttle shift points. Nice if you want the car to hold each gear a bit longer at part throttle, especially if you're lacking in low speed torque.
For at least a couple of years in the late sixties, you could not get a Torqueflite trans to shift into low gear above 30 mph no matter how hard you tried - whether just stabbing the throttle or trying to manual shift into low. That was the case with my Dad's (now my) 67 Hemi Charger. Once you were in it, low gear was a 55 mph gear, but if you were in Drive going 31 mph, low gear was just not available. Got smoked a couple of times from a low 30's roll because it would only kickdown into second where the rpm's were maybe somewhere around two grand. No internet then, or any Mopar clubs, or any Mopar-knowledgeable friends, but I did have my car magazines and their ads. I fixed the problem with a B&M manual/automatic kit for the original valve body. Now you could manually shift into low gear at any speed. Note that this is not a governor issue, but a valve body issue.
Anyway, to replace the governor, you have to remove the trans extension housing. The governor is behind the main case, so you don't have to take the trans completely apart, just the extension housing.
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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and that answers the full manual question.
My First Trans-Go shift was a comprehensive all-modes kit. You could select full manual, semi-auto, and a modest bang-shift mode, from the instructions.
well of course, being a newbe, and like 24 years old, I went with the full-manual. Well that lasted about a week, maybe two.
Thankfully, at that time, full manual was reversible to semi-auto, pretty easy.
And since I had not changed the rear gear yet, the governor still worked pretty good. A lil tweaking and she was good to go.
I have never used a full manual since, lol.
My cars are usually DDs, and in city driving back and fourth to work, that manual shift was cutting into my girl-watching time. never mind; traffic lights, stop signs, and watching out for other idiot drivers doing what I was doing. lol.
Eventually I moved out of the city, and went back to a manual trans. I have a few of those to choose from.
BTW 3.55s are an excellent gear for an auto car. especially a city car. They have always been my go-to gear, since 1970.... albeit usually with a manual trans.
My First Trans-Go shift was a comprehensive all-modes kit. You could select full manual, semi-auto, and a modest bang-shift mode, from the instructions.
well of course, being a newbe, and like 24 years old, I went with the full-manual. Well that lasted about a week, maybe two.
Thankfully, at that time, full manual was reversible to semi-auto, pretty easy.
And since I had not changed the rear gear yet, the governor still worked pretty good. A lil tweaking and she was good to go.
I have never used a full manual since, lol.
My cars are usually DDs, and in city driving back and fourth to work, that manual shift was cutting into my girl-watching time. never mind; traffic lights, stop signs, and watching out for other idiot drivers doing what I was doing. lol.
Eventually I moved out of the city, and went back to a manual trans. I have a few of those to choose from.
BTW 3.55s are an excellent gear for an auto car. especially a city car. They have always been my go-to gear, since 1970.... albeit usually with a manual trans.
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