**HARDER SHIFTS PLEASE**

[nawlins-tim]

**NOW**THIS QUESTION REALLY COULD GO OUT TO MOST HOTROD OWNERS. I just finished a hot 350. Had the trans rebuilt, and got a 2500-2800 converter. When I got it all together it was not shifting as hard as I would like. The rebuild was supposed to have a shift kit. Without insulting the rebuild guy. I need to know if the lack of shift firmness is due to the converter. The funny thing is that while under soft acceleration I can feel the shifts snap in to second and third. But when in it real hard it won't shift hard enough to chirp second. It got a 3.42 gear with posi and a 28 inch tall tire. But man I had less gear in another car once that would chirp 3rd like most hit second........
Any ideas would be cool...tim

 

[Oldsmoletick]

Re: **HARDER SHIFTS SLEASE**

There's different levels of a "shift kit", your guy may have built it for towing (firmer shift) rather than strip, also there's a little more that can be done other than just the kit. Do you know what he did exactly as far as what type of kit he used, if he removed the wave rings (replaced with extra discs and steels), changed out the springs in the valve body, removed the accumulator spring/s? All of which has a small impact on how quick and/or harsh of shift your transmission will have. Oh I am assuming a TH350.

 

[shotgun]

Re: **HARDER SHIFTS SLEASE**

For a mild improvement use type F (now FH) fluid and a bottle of lucas.

 

[nawlins-tim]

Yeah it is a th350 I am running. Ya see at first I needed just a rebuild. Then I mentioned it was gonna go behind a real strong 355 with a strong cam. So maybe we didn't see eye to eye on how hard the shifts should be. But any ideas on the effects of the stall converter on shift firmness?

 

[Oldsmoletick]

Should not have a negative effect on your shifts at WOT, being that after 2800r's your converter won't be slipping. If cruising around town and the car shifted at 2000 and felt "soft" that could be due to converter slippage. The more rpm's you turn, the more pressure the transmission builds, the harsher/quicker the shift should be. You should ask your builder how far he went on the transmission.

 

[outsider_27]

Mine was done almost 10 years ago, but I put in a B&M shift improver kit, removed the accumulator spring, and did an adjustment on the vaccum modulator. The adjustment is what I don't remember which way or how many turns the screw was turned, but it shifts pretty hard when I got on it.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Did you go back and ask the guy? I'm sure he can firm it up from inside the pan. As stated those kits come in all stages . Stage 2 was all I needed in my Firebird.

 

[82cutty]

had my 350 transmission rebuilt back in the mid 90's it shifted so soft it felt like it was slipping. I Did the trans install myself, so I took the car back to them and had the drive it. With a medium built 455, 2500 stall, 3.73 gears and a 28" tall tire they were suprized at how it felt. They ended up replacing the govenor and adjusting the vacumm module. It was a good firm shift thru the gears but when I jumped on it it barked the tires everytime. Got me a few tickets also.
Steve

 

[Phoenyx]

I could be wrong, but here's an idea.

I had a car with a TH350 and a stage 2 shift kit. I noticed the same thing, it shifted hard under light throttle, but didn't seem very hard on WOT. But after 2 months I noticed that my back tires were already bald ( and I wasn't doing burnouts). I kinda laughed and thought maybe it was jusr spinning between the gears. Sure enough after I put on new rear tires. They were squealing like mad at WOT on the shifts. I guess the old tires just didn't make noise when they spun. Maybe you are having an issue like this?

 

[nawlins-tim]

WHEN RUNNING HARD SHIFTING MANUALLY ,WHEN I SHIFT THE TRANS ACTUALLY TAKES A FEW TENTHS TO SHIFT. i HAVE TO SHIFT AT 5500 JUST TO ACCOMIDATE FOR THE TRANS LATE SHIFT AT 6200+. Ya know I am wondering if this thing has a shift kit in it at all. Or at best it may have a shift improver set up for rv towing. I may be better off taking a day out to put in a descent TRANS PAC myself. I'm a little intimidated but could more than likely handle it no problem.