2004r transmission rebuild kit thought

[350Regal]

Hey guys I'm looking for thoughts on rebuilding a Monte ss 2004r. It works but it shifts to high of rpm for me at wot. I have it hooked up to my buick 350. It has the heads getting looked at again (Long story, another topic). I thinking of changing weights in the governor. It slips a little going into 2nd from 1st. I'm thinking 2nd gear band is shot. I purchased the high dollar transgo reprogram kit with billet servo, Yet to be installed. I was looking at purchasing the McLeod and Raybestos kit from Oregon performance transmission and doing it up. Unfortunately there customer service seems to be...not there. Josh

 

[JD1964]

I had done a 2004r swap into a 73 Corvette years ago (car since sold). That transmission was built by a professional for performance and shipped to me. It had a slipping sort of feeling on the 1-2 shift at WOT. On part throttle 1-2 shifts it was really snappy and would chirp the tires no problem. I tried to work through a solution with the builder and another 2004r specialist but never got it sorted out. The transmission was always reliable and consistent and I had no problems with it other than the sluggish WOT 1-2 shift.

I have another 2004r core in the garage that I might rebuild for a future project. I hope you get this sorted out. Ill be watching this thread to see what happens.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Are you looking to increase shift points with the governor? You can just grind on the small weight and increase the shift points. I grind it down and tap for a small screw to keep the spring in place. Try installing the Transgo shift kit. The Green line bias spring in that kit increases full throttle shift points, 300 to 500 rpm. It adds positive shifts that kit, just make sure the servo is set properly,not too tight. I fried the band, setting it too tight. Please post another thread about the issue with your Buick 350's heads.

 

[350Regal]

Are you looking to increase shift points with the governor? You can just grind on the small weight and increase the shift points. I grind it down and tap for a small screw to keep the spring in place. Try installing the Transgo shift kit. The Green line bias spring in that kit increases full throttle shift points, 300 to 500 rpm. It adds positive shifts that kit, just make sure the servo is set properly,not too tight. I fried the band, setting it too tight. Please post another thread about the issue with your Buick 350's heads.

Actually I wanted to decrease shift points, wot it seemed to shift at about 5500 rpm. I'd rather about 4800rpm, the heads I'd rather not. Which why I have kinda made comments about why I wish I chose a different engine in the past. The sort of short story is the 1st machine shop in 2011 did the work halfway. Causing the first 2 cams to go bad, the 2nd shop turn down the valve guides to have clearance for the bigger cam that was roughly 5rs ago so about 7000 miles. But the last fall the car started puffing smoke. I pulled the 2 valves on that cylinder as I took the valve keepers out, each valve fell out with almost no resistance, the guides seem to have a lot of play. I took the heads to a very reputable shop Friday night. They have done our combine head and another tractor head. I have lots of frustration with the engine/car. I even had temptations to sell it and I've had it since June of 2009.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Well that sucks, hopefully this shop fixes it right. I'm sure a member has a 4000 rpm governor around. I do but not at home right now. A H/O or 442 factory governor would be ideal.

 

[81cutlass]

If it's a Monte SS CZ valvebody and governor yeah it's going to shift higher. You need a heavier governor out of a CT or non SS trans if you want to pull the shift rpm down

 

[64nailhead]

Actually I wanted to decrease shift points, wot it seemed to shift at about 5500 rpm. I'd rather about 4800rpm, the heads I'd rather not. Which why I have kinda made comments about why I wish I chose a different engine in the past. The sort of short story is the 1st machine shop in 2011 did the work halfway. Causing the first 2 cams to go bad, the 2nd shop turn down the valve guides to have clearance for the bigger cam that was roughly 5rs ago so about 7000 miles. But the last fall the car started puffing smoke. I pulled the 2 valves on that cylinder as I took the valve keepers out, each valve fell out with almost no resistance, the guides seem to have a lot of play. I took the heads to a very reputable shop Friday night. They have done our combine head and another tractor head. I have lots of frustration with the engine/car. I even had temptations to sell it and I've had it since June of 2009.

You can get a custom governor to change WOT shift points or modify yours. Fine tuning a governor is not difficult, but time consuming - dropping pan, pulling governor and adding weight on the wings and/or changing springs. From you comment above, be advised that you won't find a stock governor that shifted at 4800 so you're definitely into customizing the one you have. I'm going to ask a question because your concern for WOT shifting doesn't seem sensible to me - why do you not want it to shift at 5500? Most of us that have been around 200's for any amount of time have begged for that governor.

Regarding your motor story, you've described every reason to take the dive and do your own work. You've dropped a fair amount of jing because 'someone' didn't know what they were doing. And despite what others say, you have described every reason that a roller cam/lifter setup should be installed. A roller cam and roller lifter will never fail in 100K miles. Yes, I know it costs more initially, but reading your story you could've saved alot of money going roller the 1st time around.

FT hydraulic cams SUCK and are destined to fail. And with improper oil, machining, break in, parts they are destined to fail prematurely. Again, I know someone is going to hop on here and disagree with me and tell their stories of how long their FT has been working great. But for every one of those stories you can find 10 stories of premature hydraulic FT cam failures. Been there and done that.

 

[350Regal]

The 5500 rpm just seems high for that engine maybe it's just me. The cam I have is still good now, just puffing smoke. The transmission, I called a 2 local shops The 1 said they do not work on those. The other one was a straight up prick about it. "They are a junk transmission, your using it in car that didn't come with along with a engine that was never a combo". I don't drag race this car, I drive it on the weekends, sometimes hard. This is the kit I looking at.

 

[350Regal]

The other kit,maybe they Are the same kit. I have also seen people talking about the wider 2nd gear band.

 

[64nailhead]

You need to find someone to rebuild or do it yourself - my $.02.

Where are you located?