Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
Mark, JT Services (Hugo, MN just north of White Bear Lake) (651) 429-9012 The guy's name is Tim. He basically has a hobby farm setup and is certified on numerous levels (include ASE). I bought some driveline parts a while ago from him and was very impressed with his knowledge and shop. I will probably be taking my next tranny to him just because I like to help the small guy and he really seems to know his stuff from talking with him. He is very reasonably priced and said last time I talked to him he will tear the tranny apart with you right there. Richfield Transmission 7444 Lyndale Ave. S. (612) 866-0009 Chuck is the owner and the tranny guru up there is Pete. They built me a 700R4 for my street rod Firebird about 3 years ago. It lived up great behind a rather stout 355 sbc. I was very happy with it and it gave me zero problems. Shifted great and again the price was very reasonable. I sent my lifted 4x4 to them about 2 years ago to have the 700r4 rebuilt and again top notch work. Everyone who I have talked to that has used them has been totally happy. They seem to muscle cars in there quite frequently as well. Two other shops... TSI up in Richfield here is a decent shop as well, Also the shop I work at does not do any internal tranny work and we send everything down to Kennedy Transmission down in Apple Valley. David Kennedy has always been pretty good to our customers and we haven't seen the reoccurring problems with other shops we have used in the past. Good Luck! Mikey - Original Message - From: Mark Weber Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 9:09 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. Mike, please forward the contacts for the trans places you mention. Thanks. Mark -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Capt CrunchSent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 2:00 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. Hey mark... whereare you located at and where did you get the tranny from? What exactly was done on it? I know a coupleguys that do Hi-Perf 700r4's. One will actually crack the tranny open while you watch and
Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
I think any GOOD trany guy can open up a transmission and will be able to tell if it had only 150 miles on it. Larry (z)
Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
I would call up the food chain and calmly explain the situation. Blowing you torque converter, in an OD trans could be a falty converter or failed because of a number of reasons. If this is a reputable HP shop. thay can tell ifthe transimission only had 150 mi on it. the truck shipping for transmission done to high performance specs. is in the noise. I have found most places understand the duration a project takes and don't hold you to the letter of the law regarding problems . keep us informd on your progress. Wayne - Original Message - From: Mark Weber To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 5:47 PM Subject: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring. The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Fridayand pumped metal through the trans.During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too. The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered torebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away. I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is? I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is somethingthere. I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner. Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first150 miles I put on the car ending upcosting $6.67per milefor transmission repairalone :( Does anybody have any advise? Thanks for listening. Mark 71 SS
Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
Hey mark... whereare you located at and where did you get the tranny from? What exactly was done on it? I know a coupleguys that do Hi-Perf 700r4's. One will actually crack the tranny open while you watch and explain exactly what went wrong and what he will do to repair the problem. I had one done up for my last street rod firebird and was the best tranny I have ever had. Price was very reasonable too. There also are a couple companies out there with extremely good reviews. One is a place that recently hit it big, but I knew of them from my cuz. They are located in LA and have what is called a"Raptor" 700R4. I also highly recommend Art Carr. His 700's are masterpieces and are run by racers, off-roaders, and streetrodders all over. In terms of what I know about 700's... you don't need a shift kit for them really. Most mods can be made by a smart tranny tech by drilling, replacing springs, and passage mods. The 700r4 is still the most commonly screwed up tranny. They need top be updated with numerous parts and they commonly had a 1-2 shift problem even in the late models. Many shops try to fix this by modding 2nd to shift in faster, but forget to modify 1st to release quicker, thus it binds and burns up #2 which was not a problem at the factory. This can also cause overheating and TC problems. Many people use a corvette servo which has mixed feelings by different shops. The skinny, the vette servo makes the shift rough because it is designed for a vette tranny w/ a special aux. Valve body. It does have more surface area which is why many use it. I have also heard of people using caprice servo's or custom built ones. "Alto" clutch packs also have mixed reviews. MikeyMark Weber wrote: I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring.The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Friday and pumped metal through the trans. During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too.The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered to rebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away.I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is?I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is something there.I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner.Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first 150 miles I put on the car ending up costing $6.67 per mile for transmission repair alone :(Does anybody have any advise?Thanks for listening.Mark71 SS
RE: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
I am in Lakeville MN. The trans is a Raptor 700r4 ( http://www.transmissioncenter.net/). Mine came out of Louisiana though. The reason I bought it was because of all the high end stuff they put in it. My brother is an ASE mechanic and has rebuilt about 100transmissions in his life. He just builds daily drivers though with shift kits in them and did not want to build a high HP one and then have to stand behind it when the BBC had at it. He read the spec sheet and agreed with everything they changed or modded on the Raptor. He said they would be more expert than him on this type of build. The TV cable was set correctly. We spent about an hour getting it installed and set (and welding the flimsy Holly brand cable bracket etc. Nice job Holley - there was 1/8 to 1/4" of play introduced with medium pressure on the bracket). We did not put a pressure gauge on it however. Iheard that lower pressure will cause soft shifts too. A trans may last many years under normal conditions with lower pressure, but when they get beat on it can cause problems a lot faster. Rebuilt pumps supposedly have a higher rate of low pressure. They rebuild the pumps there to keep the price down. I did not like the torque converter from day one. The car had a vibration when the engine ran. I am suspicious that the torque converter may have not been balanced 100%. The engine is a 454 with an externally balanced flexplate (bought from transmission center) and an externally balanced fluidamper harmonic balancer. The cam is a non-overlap comp cams model. The engine was built to run smooth at low rpm, idle nice at stop signs, and have plenty of vacuum for accessories. Everything other carI have spins smoother at idle. I am not bad mouthing this shop. The people there seem pretty decent when I talk to them. I understand this is an area that is kind of gray. The failure rate on transmission rebuilds in the industry is 3% I found out. The failure rate of the Raptor is, well, a littlehigher than the industry average. If I have them rebuild it they will put the warrantee on it again. I will probably have it rebuilt, and if it gives me problems again I will switch back to the TH400 and live w/o overdrive. Lesson learned: Get it in writing. Perhaps better to source things locally that are heavy, expensive, or complex. Mark 71SS -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Capt CrunchSent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 2:00 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. Hey mark... whereare you located at and where did you get the tranny from? What exactly was done on it? I know a coupleguys that do Hi-Perf 700r4's. One will actually crack the tranny open while you watch and explain exactly what went wrong and what he will do to repair the problem. I had one done up for my last street rod firebird and was the best tranny I have ever had. Price was very reasonable too. There also are a couple companies out there with extremely good reviews. One is a place that recently hit it big, but I knew of them from my cuz. They are located in LA and have what is called a"Raptor" 700R4. I also highly recommend Art Carr. His 700's are masterpieces and are run by racers, off-roaders, and streetrodders all over. In terms of what I know about 700's... you don't need a shift kit for them really. Most mods can be made by a smart tranny tech by drilling, replacing springs, and passage mods. The 700r4 is still the most commonly screwed up tranny. They need top be updated with numerous parts and they commonly had a 1-2 shift problem even in the late models. Many shops try to fix this by modding 2nd to shift in faster, but forget to modify 1st to release quicker, thus it binds and burns up #2 which was not a problem at the factory. This can also cause overheating and TC problems. Many people use a corvette servo which has mixed feelings by different shops. The skinny, the vette servo makes the shift rough because it is designed for a vette tranny w/ a special aux. Valve body. It does have more surface area which is why many use it. I have also heard of people using caprice servo's or custom built ones. "Alto" clutch packs also have mixed reviews. Mikey
RE: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
Mike, please forward the contacts for the trans places you mention. Thanks. Mark -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Capt CrunchSent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 2:00 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. Hey mark... whereare you located at and where did you get the tranny from? What exactly was done on it? I know a coupleguys that do Hi-Perf 700r4's. One will actually crack the tranny open while you watch and
RE: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
Bill, thanks for telling this story. Ican feel the frustration. Looks like your problem was fixed by spending more time and more money on it. The two key elements I have found that are required to work on your own car. Good luck with your test drive. Mark 71 SS -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Bill Vander WerfSent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 11:15 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.I had a problem with a turbo 400 I had someone build for me. It sat about a year too. When I ran the car I couldn't figure out why my motor kept eating up the thrust bearing. I spent more time being anal with the details of this motor than any motor I ever built yet I kept finding large amounts of finely ground bearing material in my oil filter after I put the trans in gear for even a few minutes on jack stands. I never even drove the car any further than the end of my street because the trans wouldn't go into 3rd. Everyone told me I had a bad converter causing the thrust bearing problem. I thought it was a bigger problem than the converter because it wouldn't go into third. By now I was ready to change religions if I thought it might help so I borrowed a used converter I knew was good and installed it. Same problem. This time I took the trans out again and took it to a guy who came highly recommended at the race track. Turns out the first guy put the sprag (for second gear I believe) in backwards and it ate up some clutches and a band. I'm told I was lucky I didn't crack the case even with the little amount I drove it on the street. The governor was also screwed up which sent aluminum debris everywhere. My brand new BM torque converter is full of metal particles and crap from the bands and clutches. He tells me the trans was causing the converter to put a giant load on the flex plate hydraulically whenever the trans was in gear. I hope he's right. I spent another $400 to have the trans redone and I bought a new torque converter from ATI to the tune of $600. Total cost was right at $1000 to be right back where I started. My wife thought I should take it back to the guy who built it to have it repairedI don't think I would let him touch my lawnmower at this point. I'll consider the cost of the first torque converter and trans rebuild an expensive lesson in who "not" to take your transmission to. I pulled the motor and put a new rear main bearing in once already and I still need to put in another new main bearing because the end play of the crank is now at .012 and it's supposed to only be .007. I'm going to make sure the problem is fixed before I pull the motor again though...this is supposed to be a fun hobby, right? At this point I figure would have about a million dollars in labor in my car if my time was worth 5 cents an hour. The trans is back in and I hope to drive it tomorrow and not find anything in the oil filter that doesn't belong there afterwards. I always did everything from paint and body to building engines but for some reason I never got into upholstery or automatic transmissions. I guarantee you, the next step in my automotive education is to learn automatic transmissions. I already bought a book. Bill Vander Werf Mark Weber wrote: I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring.The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Friday and pumped metal through the trans. During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too.The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered to rebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away.I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is?I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the
[Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring. The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Fridayand pumped metal through the trans.During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too. The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered torebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away. I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is? I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is somethingthere. I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner. Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first150 miles I put on the car ending upcosting $6.67per milefor transmission repairalone :( Does anybody have any advise? Thanks for listening. Mark 71 SS
Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
Well i hate to hear of your bad luck. But i do know that the guy who has his whole restoration documented at www.72chevelle.com had a complete feul delevery system (forgot name and type but it is on the web site) that he had installed for a while (once again i forgot the time frame but it is all on the site) and it was never used as he was doing a frame off and he managed to convince to company to refund all of his money. So it can be done if you do decide to deal with the original company i am sure you can work something out with them. Michael From: Mark Weber [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 16:47:14 -0500 I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring. The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Friday and pumped metal through the trans. During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too. The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered to rebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away. I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is? I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is something there. I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner. Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first 150 miles I put on the car ending up costing $6.67 per mile for transmission repair alone Does anybody have any advise? Thanks for listening. Mark 71 SS _ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com - To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
I know that this may not help, but. I had a stock transmission in my 71 Chevelle and broke the ears from the pump when I put the torque converter on. DUMB DUMB mistake which I knew not to do, but... I went to a local transmission shop which replaced the pump for under 60.00. Again, I do not know if this is the same pump part you are speaking of and not the same type of transmission, but maybe the repair cost won't be as bad as you think. Keith Cooper [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Mark Weber To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 5:47 PM Subject: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad. I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring. The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Fridayand pumped metal through the trans.During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too. The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered torebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away. I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is? I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is somethingthere. I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner. Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first150 miles I put on the car ending upcosting $6.67per milefor transmission repairalone :( Does anybody have any advise? Thanks for listening. Mark 71 SS
Re:[Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
Mark Sorry to hear about your bad luck, especially when its so expensive. Soft shifts in a 700r4 are a typical symptom of a misadjusted TV cable. Are you sure it was adjusted correctly? And I don't know how or why it would effect the T/C?? For more on the 700 read some of the info here: http://links.chevelles.net/links/WorkShop/Manual_Auto_Tranny/ And I don't know how you'd convince the builder to repair it. From his point of view, how does he KNOW how long it was run. Good luck, I hope that he will work with you on it. rick -- Mark Weber [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring. The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Friday and pumped metal through the trans. During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too. The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered to rebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away. I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is? I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is something there. I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner. Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first 150 miles I put on the car ending up costing $6.67 per mile for transmission repair alone Does anybody have any advise? Thanks for listening. Mark 71 SS rick schaefer 72 El camino http://www.endrud.net/elcamino/rick1972elky.html ACES #00140 Team Chevelle #00038 - To Unsubscribe please visit www.chevelles.net/list.html To start a new topic, send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [Chevelle-List] Restoring Problem, Transmission Bad.
I had a problem with a turbo 400 I had someone build for me. It sat about a year too. When I ran the car I couldn't figure out why my motor kept eating up the thrust bearing. I spent more time being anal with the details of this motor than any motor I ever built yet I kept finding large amounts of finely ground bearing material in my oil filter after I put the trans in gear for even a few minutes on jack stands. I never even drove the car any further than the end of my street because the trans wouldn't go into 3rd. Everyone told me I had a bad converter causing the thrust bearing problem. I thought it was a bigger problem than the converter because it wouldn't go into third. By now I was ready to change religions if I thought it might help so I borrowed a used converter I knew was good and installed it. Same problem. This time I took the trans out again and took it to a guy who came highly recommended at the race track. Turns out the first guy put the sprag (for second gear I believe) in backwards and it ate up some clutches and a band. I'm told I was lucky I didn't crack the case even with the little amount I drove it on the street. The governor was also screwed up which sent aluminum debris everywhere. My brand new BM torque converter is full of metal particles and crap from the bands and clutches. He tells me the trans was causing the converter to put a giant load on the flex plate hydraulically whenever the trans was in gear. I hope he's right. I spent another $400 to have the trans redone and I bought a new torque converter from ATI to the tune of $600. Total cost was right at $1000 to be right back where I started. My wife thought I should take it back to the guy who built it to have it repairedI don't think I would let him touch my lawnmower at this point. I'll consider the cost of the first torque converter and trans rebuild an expensive lesson in who "not" to take your transmission to. I pulled the motor and put a new rear main bearing in once already and I still need to put in another new main bearing because the end play of the crank is now at .012 and it's supposed to only be .007. I'm going to make sure the problem is fixed before I pull the motor again though...this is supposed to be a fun hobby, right? At this point I figure would have about a million dollars in labor in my car if my time was worth 5 cents an hour. The trans is back in and I hope to drive it tomorrow and not find anything in the oil filter that doesn't belong there afterwards. I always did everything from paint and body to building engines but for some reason I never got into upholstery or automatic transmissions. I guarantee you, the next step in my automotive education is to learn automatic transmissions. I already bought a book. Bill Vander Werf Mark Weber wrote: I need some opinion from some other people about a problem I have with the transmission in my 71 BBC SS I am restoring.The background: Bought rebuilt TH700r4 that was built to stand high horsepower and torque during summer of 2001, installed into frame and it sat for about 1 year. Did not get the body on the frame until spring 2002, and did not get the car on drivable (hood on, aligned, insured etc) until June 2002. With only 150 miles on the car, the torque converter blew up during a 2 - 3 shift last Friday and pumped metal through the trans. During the previous 150 miles, the shifts were pretty soft. It has shift kits and many other components that were supposed to give it a good firm shift. A trans shop I talked to this week said a weak pump would cause low pressure and mushy shifts. I suspect that was a problem too.The problem: The company I bought it from says that's too bad. The warrantee was 6 months and they have to stick to this. They offered to rebuild it and put parts in for cost and go easy on the labor charges if I ship it to them, 2000 miles away.I am not an unreasonable person. I halfway understand where they are coming from with having to draw a line somewhere. Does anybody else have a similar experience with a problem that showed up later due to a long restoration time period? Or, is this just bad luck and that's the way it is?I don't think I got anything in writing about starting the warrantee once the car is drivable. I will check my email box at work tomorrow though, maybe there is something there.I have not talked to the owner of the place yet. But the guy I did talk to supposedly got his instructions from the owner.Guess I need to whine to somebody. Bummed because I can see the first 150 miles I put on the car ending up costing $6.67 per mile for transmission repair alone :(Does anybody have any advise?Thanks for listening.Mark71 SS
