Undoing shift "improvements"

[Headintheclouds]

My 42RH transmission has just been rebuilt and still has a hard 1-2 shift that I would like to soften up for street use. I think it may have been modified at some point as the accumulator springs were missing. The larger accumulator spring was replaced from a donor TF transmission but not the smaller one under the piston as it seems many transmissions don't use these.

I think the shop that is doing the work is pretty good but most of their work is on European transmissions so they might have missed any subtle modifications.
Is there anything we should be checking for - drilled out parts of the valve body, missing check ball, non standard springs etc that would firm up the 1-2 shift if modifying for performance?

 

[RustyRatRod]

No telling. Everyone does it a little differently. It's something you're just going to have to get into and see.

 

[volaredon]

A "shift kit" doesn't mean it has to shift harsh. The amount of possible mods is long and it's hard to say what the last guy in there actually did. Is the shift timing alright or is it always late? The later they shift (whether because of a linkage issue or just that you have the gas pedal mashed) the harder they will shift even stock

 

[Headintheclouds]

It seems I underestimated my transmission builder. A bit of time with a box of assorted springs and some scales to check the spring constant and he has changed the accumulator and valve springs to get a smooth 1 to 2 shift to match the shift into third. Nearly there with the transmission swap.

 

[jos51700]

I've been in a couple shift kit cars that didn't toss the accumulator springs and actually shifted quite politely