I think my 727 is fried. Now I'm at a crossroads...

Fried 727 in a car you plan to convert to 4 speed. What would you do?

  • Rebuild the 727 and run it until you're ready for the 4 speed conversion

  • Do the conversion now and worry about the engine rebuild later

  • Find a cliff, push the car over it, and never look back

Results are only viewable after voting.
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CudaFactHackJob said:
Before you pull the pump, pull in and out on the input shaft to see how much endplay it has.
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Thanks, will do.

I have a book on the Torqueflites and while I won't need it for the drums, I think it'll come in handy when going through the valve body.
 
Don't forget that you want to do a few cheap upgrades to increase the value of the trans for when you go to sell it.
 
I can't tell if you're being facetious or not....

I'm not terribly concerned with resale value, I'm more concerned with reliability and performance. I plan to install a shift kit, but other than that, what other upgrades are you thinking of?
 
I'm always concerned about resale value whenever I repair or modify something. A Kevlar front band is cheap $15 and Red Eagle frictions in third gear is a $30 upgrade that sells.
 
CudaFactHackJob said:
Before you pull the pump, pull in and out on the input shaft to see how much endplay it has.
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I checked the input shaft yesterday, I've got maybe 1/16" play in and out. Compared with another core 727 I have in the shop that has probably 1/2" or more!
 
1/2" endplay has missing/destroyed parts inside. 1/16"; you'll probably want to replace the thin front thrust washer with a thick one; barring any excessively worn washers or parts.
 
I think you and me are the only ones left on this website. Be sure to turn off the lights when you leave...
 
Well, I found what I think is the culprit here. For some reason I decided to go with braided line instead of the steel cooler lines, and apparently I didn’t secure it away from the exhaust. Today I noticed one of the lines had been against one header, showing a melted patch. Ordered steel lines today.

10A99835-77DB-458E-B3CE-E382D26A72D0.jpeg
 
Finally have time to pull apart the 727. I noticed the shift lever and kickdown lever are both kinda just floating on the shaft - they’re not tight at all.
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Plus the bolt holding the kickdown lever is backwards with the nut. Not the end of the world, but no wonder they weren’t able to get it tight with it oriented this way.
F5A62FE9-D2EF-46D3-9981-13C561117379.jpeg
 
I also noticed about 1/8” vertical play in the shift shaft. Hard to see in the picture.
7B622E00-8ECC-47C3-8086-B8199F83DC2E.jpeg
78BF29F8-51FD-4517-BA91-5A4612C891DB.jpeg
 
He recommends Alto Red Eagle (the best) clutches in just about every single transmission thread he talk in. It's probably in here somewhere.
 
RustyRatRod said:
He recommends Alto Red Eagle (the best) clutches in just about every single transmission thread he talk in. It's probably in here somewhere.
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Ahh, thanks. That makes sense. I remember he mentioned Eagle bands and clutches I think, just didn't realize he was talking about the brand when he said they weren't worth installing.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the front servo spring is missing? Is this a common modification or did someone make a boo-boo?
 
Righty Tighty said:
Ahh, thanks. That makes sense. I remember he mentioned Eagle bands and clutches I think, just didn't realize he was talking about the brand when he said they weren't worth installing.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the front servo spring is missing? Is this a common modification or did someone make a boo-boo?
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That's the accumulator. Everyone has their preference on whether to leave the spring, ditch it, install a blocker rod/spacer, and combinations of all of those. I think there was just a thread on it a few weeks ago. You may want to try to find it. I'll try as well.
 
I always run a spring, but I stick a 1/2-5/8" long piece of 1/2" ID iron water pipe inside the spring. I like the .061 Red eagles so I can install an extra one in the direct pack; oems for the forward clutch. I've been putting five in every direct pack anymore. Five thins fit into the four plate drum with the stock top plate, but I use the lower forward ridged plate on top in the three plate drum to install five.
 
mopowers said:
That's the accumulator. Everyone has their preference on whether to leave the spring, ditch it, install a blocker rod/spacer, and combinations of all of those. I think there was just a thread on it a few weeks ago. You may want to try to find it. I'll try as well.
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Thanks a bunch. I was studying my 727 book last night and learned that I misspoke. I'm off to work, but I'll check out those threads later today.
 
CudaFactHackJob said:
I always run a spring, but I stick a 1/2-5/8" long piece of 1/2" ID iron water pipe inside the spring. I like the .061 Red eagles so I can install an extra one in the direct pack; oems for the forward clutch. I've been putting five in every direct pack anymore. Five thins fit into the four plate drum with the stock top plate, but I use the lower forward ridged plate on top in the three plate drum to install five.
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I think I'll try the Red Eagles and try what you do with the clutches, but I have a couple questions.

I was reading the threads on accumulator springs and people were saying that if they weren't running a spring, they'd use the blocker rod. Mine had no spring or rod, and the shifting was terribly soft and early -- especially 1-2. Could that have been a cause?

Second question is regarding the lower forward rigid plate. Maybe it'll make more sense when I'm at the shop looking at the drums and plates, but do you mean I'll need to get an additional plate? Or am I switching the position of the lower plate?
 
The only time I have to buy the extra ridged plate is if I have a 3 plate direct. Then I need it for the additional clearance so I can run five .061 Red Eagles in there. But if you already have a four plate, the five thins will fit with the stock top plate. If you are running a stall converter, you can put a flat retaining ring (they are selective) in the direct drum without encountering a harsh reverse engagement. The waved ring can be inserted into the groove with the ridged plate but it takes some twisting back and forth and you might not end up with enough clutch clearance. The soft 1-2 was probably something else. But I'm not absolutely positive. Was your kickdown set right? Sounds like you don't have one hooked up at all. Let's see what was done to your valve body. But I would def put in a spring; along with a stubby section of 1/2" ID iron water pipe (the OD fits the inside of the spring very well) 1/2 to 5/8" long.
 
CudaFactHackJob said:
The only time I have to buy the extra ridged plate is if I have a 3 plate direct. Then I need it for the additional clearance so I can run five .061 Red Eagles in there. But if you already have a four plate, the five thins will fit with the stock top plate. If you are running a stall converter, you can put a flat retaining ring (they are selective) in the direct drum without encountering a harsh reverse engagement. The waved ring can be inserted into the groove with the ridged plate but it takes some twisting back and forth and you might not end up with enough clutch clearance. The soft 1-2 was probably something else. But I'm not absolutely positive. Was your kickdown set right? Sounds like you don't have one hooked up at all. Let's see what was done to your valve body. But I would def put in a spring; along with a stubby section of 1/2" ID iron water pipe (the OD fits the inside of the spring very well) 1/2 to 5/8" long.
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Thanks a lot, that makes good sense now. I remember when I had the clutches replaced in my 904, the guy said he removed the waved ring altogether for crisper shifts. He was right, but it also had a pretty harsh reverse engagement. So maybe he didn't replace it with a flat retaining ring?

I will say that when I bought the car, it wasn't running. Once I got it running and took it for a test drive, I noticed shifting was weird. Took a look underneath and the kickdown rod was not connected to the lever. Who knows how long it was disconnected, it had quite a bit of grime on it where it should've been inserted into the lever. Once I figured all of this out, I got it back connected and adjusted it, and shift quality improved somewhat.
 
I'll look and see if I can find a video showing a direct clutch drum with the clutches and ring being installed.
 
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