Glad to see it working out for you. I went through the same thing almost 30 years ago with my 79. Put the 406 in it, changed the rear to a 3.73 monte SS rear, then changed the trans because I smoked that from racing it with the stock gears previously. Oops. The car wasn't a rocket ship but it went 13.60's back then.
83 Monte gets a stronger heartbeat.
- Thread starter bowtiebutler956
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Shoot, 30 years ago a car than ran 13.60's was considered a stout street machine! Back then 3500lb cars were leaving the factory with 120-160hp. 😳 I'm looking forward to getting this drivetrain sorted out. I'm already enjoying how well it runs compared to the way it did with the 305, even with the slipping trans, and 2.29 gears. Once I have the 2.73 posi, and a crisp shifting trans, I think I'll really enjoy the car.
I have an 84 C10 as well, (Ive owned it for 16yrs) and its a blast to drive. I has a 383 as well, but wilder than this one (Brodix aluminum heads, the largest of the Lunati VooDoo series cams, 11:1 comp, Holley 850HP carb, 150 shot plate system, 4.10 gears, 3000 stall, and a 700r4 with very aggressive shifts, etc..... As much fun as it is to drive, its not a very good daily driver. It gets 6-8mpg, and its street manners are not very good. When I started building that truck I was younger and the build reflects that.
My Monte is a product of a more mature, restrained me, and I think it will be perfect. However, I still enjoy driving my C10 one day out of the week!😎Matt
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Its nothing special to look at, and is still wearing most of its original paint. I'll take some pics of it soon, but it can be seen lurking in many of the pics of my Monte. It also looks the part of a sleeper, but it doesnt sound like one with FM 40 series mufflers and turn downs underneath.
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Took some time to clean the trans up and make it presentable. Replaced front and rear seals, vacuum modulator, and a few other misc seals. Inspected the governor, and replaced the tailshaft bushing. I pulled the cover on the 1-2 accumulator to find someone had already removed the spring from it. Thats a pretty common practice for firming up the 1-2 shift, and it shouldn't be to harsh unless the feed hole in the separator plate has be enlarged. I really should tear the trans down, and check it out, but I'm short on time, and money at the moment, and second gear in my TH250 is almost completely gone now. The old trans really doesn't like the cars new found power! 😊 I hope I'm not just polishing a turd with this trans, but I haven't seen any metal debris whatsoever in it, so we'll see. I'm swapping it in tomorrow. Here are a couple pics.
Matt
Matt
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We have a win!! This transmission shifts perfectly. It has very fast shifts, but not harsh at all, and I couldn't be happier with its performance. I included some side by side comparisons of the TH250, and Th350. They really are identical to look at other than the band stud sticking out of the case. I will try to make a video of the trans going thru the gears tomorrow. Thanks
Matt
Matt
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Well, the car is running, and shifting great! However, now I don't have any traction, and while big smoky burnouts are great, its a little embarrassing when its only one tire.
So the next piece of the puzzle is this Eaton posi I picked up. Its from an F body, and is for 28 spline axles, so it will require a set of Moser axles to install it. Its equipped with highway friendly 2.73 gears, but they are better than the 2.29's it currently has. Here are a couple pics.
Matt
So the next piece of the puzzle is this Eaton posi I picked up. Its from an F body, and is for 28 spline axles, so it will require a set of Moser axles to install it. Its equipped with highway friendly 2.73 gears, but they are better than the 2.29's it currently has. Here are a couple pics.Matt
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With all the torque you have with that 383, you can probably get away with 2.73s.
I too think they should work well. With my small cam, and small cylinder head runners, this thing has amazing low end grunt. To me, the car almost feels like it has a stock big block in it. Its light throttle performance is so nice. No need to mash the gas and have it downshift for passing anymore. Just role into the throttle a little, and away we go. 😗
Matt
Hello, and I hope everyone had a great Christmas time. I thought it was time for an update. My used trans had been doing great, but I notices that 3rd gear was getting a little soft on the upshift, but still wasn't slipping, so I decided to drop the pan to have a look. I found a bunch of clutch material in the pan but not much metal. I decided to pull it out and rebuild before any further damage took place. The first few pics here are the problems I found inside. For starter I found mud dobber bugs in some of the passages in my front pump!
I hate mud dobbers! No big deal, and the pump, as well as the pump pockets still look very good. Next, I found the two center clutches in the direct drum (3rd gear) had no clutch lining left on them. Notice there is no blue color on the steel which leads me to believe the material probably came delaminated and fell of from being old. At least thats my guess. Then I found a real problem. When I got to the center support I notice it had a lug broke off it, and after removing it my worst fear was realized. This case was badly worn in the lugs where the center support rides. Someone had already installed one of the little texas shape case savers in it, but with the case worn so badly there was just too much stress on that one lug, so it broke the lug off the center support. I thought I was going to have to find a new case, but after some research I found a company Adapt-A-Case that built a nearly indestructible bolt in case saver that makes trans stronger than new, and the racers are installing in good trans cases as it make the center support more robust. Its designed for the 700r4, and 4l60e, but also retrofits to the th350, but requires the use of the larger 4l60 low roller clutch. Needles to say, this wasn't a cheap fix, but I feel good about it. Here are a few pics of the damage as well as pics of the case saver.
I hate mud dobbers! No big deal, and the pump, as well as the pump pockets still look very good. Next, I found the two center clutches in the direct drum (3rd gear) had no clutch lining left on them. Notice there is no blue color on the steel which leads me to believe the material probably came delaminated and fell of from being old. At least thats my guess. Then I found a real problem. When I got to the center support I notice it had a lug broke off it, and after removing it my worst fear was realized. This case was badly worn in the lugs where the center support rides. Someone had already installed one of the little texas shape case savers in it, but with the case worn so badly there was just too much stress on that one lug, so it broke the lug off the center support. I thought I was going to have to find a new case, but after some research I found a company Adapt-A-Case that built a nearly indestructible bolt in case saver that makes trans stronger than new, and the racers are installing in good trans cases as it make the center support more robust. Its designed for the 700r4, and 4l60e, but also retrofits to the th350, but requires the use of the larger 4l60 low roller clutch. Needles to say, this wasn't a cheap fix, but I feel good about it. Here are a few pics of the damage as well as pics of the case saver.Attachments
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