need input on parts for a 904 rebuild!!!

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mattm

mattm

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OK i have a 74 dart sport with a 91 360 in it. its pretty much a stock 360 it is a factory roller cam motor with some bolt ons. tti headers, holly street dominater intake n a edelbrock carb. so not much in hp department. I just did a disc brake explorer rear swap in it. turned out very nice however i did have to swap gears i started with 3.73s n was way to much for interstate cruising. i came across some 3.30s n they worked awsome. the car has a a904 trans. recently it began shifting spuratic i ended up putting a trans go tf2 shift kit in it n am pretty happy with it. it did appear to take care a the problem. i have rebuilt several c4 ford transmissions n they turned out really well so i am going to do my 904 it was alot of clutch material in the pan n front band has little to no adj. left nor any frition material n rear band isnt much better so while it hasnt self distructed i want to freshin it up. i ordered a performance automatic kit through summit here is my question what if anything should i upgrade look out for etc while i am in this trans any helpfull tips etc i know to soak bands n clutches in fluid to prevent chatter n that vasaliene is awsome for holding thrust washers etc during assembly just wondering the do n donts n if its any must do upgrades for durability
 
I would never get a full kit. Flex bands SUCK balls. Get a Borg Warner clutch kit, ridgid front and rear bands. It'll cosa a little more, but hold up much better.
 
mattm said:
OK i have a 74 dart sport with a 91 360 in it. its pretty much a stock 360 it is a factory roller cam motor with some bolt ons. tti headers, holly street dominater intake n a edelbrock carb. so not much in hp department. I just did a disc brake explorer rear swap in it. turned out very nice however i did have to swap gears i started with 3.73s n was way to much for interstate cruising. i came across some 3.30s n they worked awsome. the car has a a904 trans. recently it began shifting spuratic i ended up putting a trans go tf2 shift kit in it n am pretty happy with it. it did appear to take care a the problem. i have rebuilt several c4 ford transmissions n they turned out really well so i am going to do my 904 it was alot of clutch material in the pan n front band has little to no adj. left nor any frition material n rear band isnt much better so while it hasnt self distructed i want to freshin it up. i ordered a performance automatic kit through summit here is my question what if anything should i upgrade look out for etc while i am in this trans any helpfull tips etc i know to soak bands n clutches in fluid to prevent chatter n that vasaliene is awsome for holding thrust washers etc during assembly just wondering the do n donts n if its any must do upgrades for durability
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Might be an idea to get a ATSG manual for it just so you've got all the clearances right. I don't know whats in the Summit performance kit for friction plates, but with what you've done to the engine, a good rebuild will work OK. Chrysler used Raybestos plates for the most part, and some builders prefer to use the waffle lined plates for applications other than stock. Borg Warner plates will usually give what some builders call a "softer shift". With builders it's a personal thing. Make sure you clean the transmission cooling system out, as any clutch/steel material that come out of your original transmission will be there. Best bet is to pull the rad and take it to a rad shop and have a new cooler installed. If this is not possible for whatever reason, by pass the cooler in the rad with a GOOD transmission cooler. LONG MANUFACTURING makes the best, sometimes sold under the B&M name. B & M buy them from Long. Get a good sized one. Your converter will also have all the gunk in it too, so replace it with whatever converter best suits your needs. Don't bother to try and have the converter FLUSHED. This technology went out with the flathead 6. It never cleaned the converter properly and from my experience, only the CHEAP CHEAP transmission shops had the flushing machine in their shop. Remember, cold solvent does'nt clean as good as ATF at operating temperature.
Just my opinion.
 
its actually a performance automatic kit i ordered through summit far as radiator goes its a brand new aluminum radiator my trans is still working i just noticed the front flex band is looking thin wen i did the trans go tf2 shift kit n i want to freshin it up before it becomes a problem n scores the drum or anything to that effect
 
mattm said:
its actually a performance automatic kit i ordered through summit far as radiator goes its a brand new aluminum radiator my trans is still working i just noticed the front flex band is looking thin wen i did the trans go tf2 shift kit n i want to freshin it up before it becomes a problem n scores the drum or anything to that effect
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Your original post states that there was a lot of clutch material in the pan, besides the filter and the pan, the material lodges in the converter and the cooler in the radiator. I don't know what parts Summit uses in their kits for friction plates. They should be BORG WARNER, ALTO, or RAYBESTOS. The gasket set will come from one of the 2 or 3 gasket set makers. Summit doesn't make these any of these parts, they buy them and then repackage them in their own boxes, or they could have them private labeled. The company I used to work for made a wide variety of High Performance hard parts (drums, input shafts, pumps, etc.) for the transmission performance industry, and instead of putting our own logo on them, if the order was large enough and/or the customer requested it, we'd machine the customers name/logo on them. Private labeling has been going on for a long time. I'm sure that Summit will have provided you with the good stuff, and not the off-shore junk I've seen in some cheap kits.
I'm sure
 
Performance automatic is who puts the kit together guess i wont clear on that i just ordered their kit via summit i am putting a new converter in it n will flush the radiator i went with performance automatics kit because they make one tough trans for fords if this kit is half as good as the products they offer for c4 s it will be a good product i have built atleast a dozen c4 s for other people n im sure i can do the 904 just trying to figure out if its anything i should also invest in while i am in there i dont plan on doing any more as far as hp goes its more a cruiser then anything else
 
n on the c4 i know most a the kits performance automatics offers are alto red clutches
 
mattm said:
n on the c4 i know most a the kits performance automatics offers are alto red clutches
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Alto red plates are very good performance plates. I presume they also sent you the black Kolene steel plates.
 
i will know soon as they arrive on the ford kits i have gotten from them yes i went with their kit cause on the ford stuff i have done i never had a problem
 
If you are just building a cruiser...the Transtar deluxe kit from northauto parts will do just find...

does not come with a rear band...just get a double wrap rear band as required by the V8 version of the 904....../6 904 use a different rear band...
 
ok another thing i was wondering is on the pa kit i ordered it has pump bushing n out put bushings but not the rest if i were to order em from CRT its asking me steel or aluminum drums is it a way to tell without it being apart yet?
 
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