Shifting - What am I missing.

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fishy68 said:
A shift improver kit is not a repair kit. In fact the vast majority of the time you install a shift improver kit in a transmission that is very old (like yours) it'll blow the seals because a shift improver kit raises the line and throttle pressure and 40 year old seals are almost always hard and brittle. It can also finish off the clutches and bands or something else detrimental to the workings of the trans. I have been rebuilding torqueflite's since 1981 and I learned the hard way in my early days you never put a shift improver kit in a trans that is not in real good condition.
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OK, after reading the installation instructions I get quite nervous. I plan to own the car for years to come, so I will just put the shifter improver on the shelf with other projects that need doing. I may decide to install it at a later date or maybe put it on the for sale forum.

Thanks for the info
 
Here is a question that I need an answer to.
The drain plug kit. When installing, the white gasket (or whatever color)
is that installed inside the tranny pan or on the outside of the pan.
I would think it needs to be on the inside of the pan. Others tell me on the outside.

opinions welcome
 
it goes on the inside. Put some loctite on the threads too.
 
Oh boy. I just read your post where you said you drilled a hole in the pan to drain the fluid. I gasped when I read that! The valve body and filter might not like where you put that drain plug. I hope you didn't drill into anything important. tmm
 
toolmanmike said:
Oh boy. I just read your post where you said you drilled a hole in the pan to drain the fluid. I gasped when I read that! The valve body and filter might not like where you put that drain plug. I hope you didn't drill into anything important. tmm
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I was careful about where I put it, I used a very small drill bit ( That is why it took a couple hours to drain). Although it did lift one fiber off the filter. No other damage, just one fiber.

I welded it closed and relocated the drain hole in a location that interferes with nothing.

Thanks
 
Not to add a PIA at the last minute, but I always hated those nylon washers because it seemed like every time I needed to drain the fluid the washer had softened enough to let the whole plug assembly spin in the hole instead of the plug coming out.

I braze the damn things to the pan after a couple of times of that happening.
 
TrailBeast said:
Not to add a PIA at the last minute, but I always hated those nylon washers because it seemed like every time I needed to drain the fluid the washer had softened enough to let the whole plug assembly spin in the hole instead of the plug coming out.

I braze the damn things to the pan after a couple of times of that happening.
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Maybe I should enlarge the hole slightly and put in grommet before the hardware. I have been looking for a flat gasket to use instead of the nylon that comes with it.
 
TrailBeast said:
Not to add a PIA at the last minute, but I always hated those nylon washers because it seemed like every time I needed to drain the fluid the washer had softened enough to let the whole plug assembly spin in the hole instead of the plug coming out.

I braze the damn things to the pan after a couple of times of that happening.
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Same here. I thought about trying a copper gasket instead of the nylon but in the end decided on brazing it cause I know brazing wouldn't leak. The copper gasket might not have leaked, but...
 
Pawned said:
Maybe I should enlarge the hole slightly and put in grommet before the hardware. I have been looking for a flat gasket to use instead of the nylon that comes with it.
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I doubt a grommet would hold up to ATF and the torque needed to keep it from spinning when you try to remove the drain plug. NAPA and many other auto supply stores sell copper sealing rings and they may work. They generally have an assortment box so you should be able to find a size to fit. I haven't tried it but they work on sealing up many other things such as brake caliper lines so it stands to reason they should work.
 
I know how to solder very well, both electronic, electrical and plumbing. I got a MIG welder a few months back and my welding is getting better.
I do not remember brazing, if I ever knew how.
Actually it should not come loose draining the oil. The opening has a plug threaded into it and if I have a problem I would use the 2 wrench approach
 
Pawned said:
I know how to solder very well, both electronic, electrical and plumbing. I got a MIG welder a few months back and my welding is getting better.
I do not remember brazing, if I ever knew how.
Actually it should not come loose draining the oil. The opening has a plug threaded into it and if I have a problem I would use the 2 wrench approach
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That'll work also.
I think siliconed threads under the nut and leaving the washer off might even be better.
Then you could tighten the crap out of it.
 
TrailBeast said:
That'll work also.
I think siliconed threads under the nut and leaving the washer off might even be better.
Then you could tighten the crap out of it.
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I went to Home Depot, in the irrigation section I bought a couple items and used them to fabricate a drain plug. I was looking for a 1/4" nut to tighten down the drain from the inside. The guy at HD said that no one makes a nut with the same thread of them.

So on recommendation from the HD guy I bought a cap (LF A736). He had told me I could drill a hole in the top of it. I kept thinking it thru. I wanted it very short so as not to interfere with anything in there. First I cut 3 or 4 threads from the Hex Bushing [1/4"mip X 1/8" FIP] ( LF A738)
I then cut the cap (LF A736) in half. I took the bottom section and it became a nut with the correct threads. The oil plug I built is flawless. I cut a couple gaskets from some material here and put some liquid gasket on both gaskets inside and out. The 1/8" plug (LF A710) works perfectly.

NOTE I just went out to look for a leak before I wrote anything.

I am still having small problems, 4 or 5 drips in a 24 hour period, with the oil pan at the very front. I will do some trial and error to get that to seal.

By putting a bunch of Teflon tape on the neutral/backup sender I eliminated all the leaks but the one mentioned above

Also, while I had the car up in the air, I replaced the shocks. I had no idea how old the existing shocks were.
The numbers (in parenthesis) above are the HD model nubbers
 
I was driving the car to a local car show tonite and had a thought.
much was discussed about the position of the throttle rod, what about the placement of the throttle linkage. Where the cable is fastened. There are a lot of differences on where the throttle is in the linkage by were you fasten down the throttle cable
 
The only thing left to adjust to say the car runs perfectly. The shifting at 3 and 10 mph.
I move the throttle rod back and forth, with nut and without, just can not make it shift better
 
They make and sell governor shift speed kits, but it's possible that trans is just getting to worn out.
We used to put another half of a governor spring in with the current one to raise that on TF transmissions.
 
Pawned, Thanks for sharing how you built a drain plug for the tranny pan...that sounds really good. I recently refurbished my transmission and one of the things I learned was the importance of the springs to return the linkage to the correct position. A mechanic 20 yrs ago didn't know/forgot to hook up my return spring...shifting wasn't right. After reading your post through I had two thoughts...have you confirmed the lever on the tranny is FULL back at WOT? And secondly, does the lever on the tranny return to full forward at idle? You did mention it worked better before and you left a spring off...the springs just don't look quite right to me either...possibly not moving the tranny lever full forward?? Just a thought. Good luck with the shifting!
 
MrDuster said:
Pawned, Thanks for sharing how you built a drain plug for the tranny pan...that sounds really good. I recently refurbished my transmission and one of the things I learned was the importance of the springs to return the linkage to the correct position. A mechanic 20 yrs ago didn't know/forgot to hook up my return spring...shifting wasn't right. After reading your post through I had two thoughts...have you confirmed the lever on the tranny is FULL back at WOT? And secondly, does the lever on the tranny return to full forward at idle? You did mention it worked better before and you left a spring off...the springs just don't look quite right to me either...possibly not moving the tranny lever full forward?? Just a thought. Good luck with the shifting!
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Thank you.
The springs are fairly new. Not OEM. I am thinking maybe the linkage at the transmission is not on proper. I recently removed pounds of oil/dirt from the xmission and surrounding area. I will get out my inspection camera and see if the problem is down there.
I will go out now and inspect it.

Ed
 
I did find that it makes a BIG difference if the throttle rod is inserted into the linkage from the left or right of the hole. You need to take into account the kink in the rod. As soon as I find the extra c-clip I have for the choke linkage I will test out my adjustments
 
Pawned said:
Thank you.
The springs are fairly new. Not OEM. I am thinking maybe the linkage at the transmission is not on proper. I recently removed pounds of oil/dirt from the xmission and surrounding area. I will get out my inspection camera and see if the problem is down there.
I will go out now and inspect it.

Ed
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The linkage on the trans will only slide on one way because it's a "D" shape. If you have the linkage adjusted up top so it goes all the way back at WOT that's all you can do short of modifying the governor or shift valve springs in the valve body.
 
Well, before I can see if it is fixed, I have to get a new fuel pump. I was lucky to get her back in the garage
 
fishy68 said:
\ shift valve springs in the valve body.
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I bought a Shift Improver Kit, but I did not put it in as there were way too many things going on. I figure I better only concentrate on the kit install and nothing else. not be interrupted

Feedback?
 
That sounds like a good plan. When you install it make sure and clean off a good working space. Doing a valve body is kinda messy. No matter how hard you try to drain all the atf out there'll still be some in there to get all over the bench. I lay down shop towels to lay the valves out on. Even though the instructions don't say to completely disassemble the valve body it's always a good idea to do so and give it a good cleaning to get the yrs. of sludge build up out of it. Most valves will only go in 1 direction but there are a couple that can be put together wrong. I suggest taking pictures as you take each section apart so you'll have a guide in case you get stuck when re-assembling it. Put a little ATF on the valves as you install them and make sure no shop towel lint gets on them. Lastly don't go crazy on drilling out the holes it tells you to drill. It'll give you a range such as .125-.188". There's very little difference in going all the way. Sometimes it can even be detrimental causing shift overlap. I generally use a drill bit just slightly larger than the minimal hole size suggested
 
Pawned said:
I bought a Shift Improver Kit, but I did not put it in as there were way too many things going on. I figure I better only concentrate on the kit install and nothing else. not be interrupted

Feedback?
Click to expand...

I'll give you mine if you don't mind.
Honestly, if you have the time and ability to install the shift kit it wouldn't actually hurt anything to do with the kit if the trans ended up needing more than that down the road a bit.
You wouldn't loose anything by installing it except the time it took and those same parts would be reusable if something else happened.

I say go for it if you want.
 
OK all you Phoenix mopar nuts, where is a great transmission shop in the north valley??


I stopped over at AAMCO to get an estimate what it would cost to repair. They wanted to do their inspection first. That was free. The only guy older than the car came over, I told him the problems. He opened it up and adjusted the KD linkage. About an hour later after 3 or 4 times adjusting the linkage and 3 test drives, he was able to get it to shift at 10 & 20 mph.
But it is not down shifting on acceleration. He told me about a couple adjustments to try at home. I asked what I owed them and he said there was no charge, it was part of their free inspection.
I gave him a $20 bill as a tip. Very pleased. I may even get down shifting with the couple adjustments he told me about
 
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