BUILD THREAD Poor Man's Monte Carlo
- Thread starter Opie Knievel
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Everything seems to be coming up Millhouse for ya opie! Congrats on the cool place and your first trans rebuild! Now that you know what goes into it, that opens up a world of possibilities.
I got my kit from eBay. It came with a free ATSG CD ROM. Now this kit doesn't have the high performance red friction material. It uses the High Energy Green. From what I've read it should be fine for my application, even after I put the Vortec in.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335822911&icep_item=272152934281
I'll check that video out. Watch the videos I posted in this thread. They're old but really helpful. I used the book by Cliff Ruggles. I agree, after watching the videos I wasn't nearly as intimidated by the inner workings of an automatic transmission. After doing the rebuild I can say I wish I had tried it sooner. It's just like working on any other part of the car. Take your time, pay attention, follow the instructions, use common sense, ask questions if you don't understand something and check your work before moving onto the next step. The TH350 is actually pretty simple. I was very fortunate to have a personal mentor for this project. Someone who has built many transmissions. I want to thank Bar50 again for all of his help and advice.
Having a "practice" transmission would have been nice. I didn't have one though so I just dove right into the real thing. If I can offer a small piece of advice, have plenty of room for the rebuild. There are a lot parts in the transmission. It would be nice to be able to lay them all out on a bench. I didn't have that luxury at mom's house. I had to make due with the space I had. Also, have an air compressor for air checking the clutch packs. No reason not to check them while the transmission is still apart. Buy the 2 compressors I have shown in my thread. Trust me, it's so much easier this way. Also, a modified C-clamp for removing the 2-3 Accumulator from the valve body (especially if you have a plastic accumulator piston) will make it much easier. You can do the rebuild without a transmission holding fixture but I'm really glad I had one. It was really nice to be able to position the transmission right where I wanted it.
You said something earlier about your frictions being all worn out and them basically being steels too. Lol. That's how my transmission was. Worn out! The night I put it in the car I noticed it would spin the tires taking off. It wouldn't do that before. It's amazing how much difference a few thousandths of friction material will make. Make sure you have a few pans to clean parts in and at least one to soak frictions in trans fluid.
You seem to be good with mechanical stuff, I'm sure you can handle a rebuild. It makes me feel good seeing a young man willing to learn this stuff. A lot of your generation couldn't care less about working on cars. Hell, my fiance is 10 years younger than me (she's 23) and she knows more about cars than a lot of guys her age that she works with.
Do it to it young grasshopper! I'll give the Quadrajet rebuild a try if you'll give the transmission rebuild a try. I wish you luck in your job search. I know how it is getting passed over for jobs. I went for an interview for a REALLY GOOD job the other day. I didn't get it. They said I interviewed well but they went with a candidate with a little more experience than me. That's life.... Hang in there man. Something will come along. Stay strong my young G Body brother.
Thanks for the advice man. And yeah, it sucks that more and more kids my age are just Snapchat this, instagram that and don't know a muffler from a cat converter. It's depressing when a grown *ss man (or as much of one they can be these days. What's with all the tight clothes?) can't even change his own oil. And I'm 99% sure I have a job at a Fareway grocery store near my house. I had an interview last week, and today (Monday) I went in for a follow up. I filled out some paperwork for a background check, and I assume I'm not a felon so I should be good there. The guy said if it comes back clean they'll have me back in to get set up and on the schedule. $10 an hour, Monday-Friday, upto 30 hours a week. Some saturdays, No sundays. Also I saw the "HIRING PART TIME MEAT CLERK" signs that were there last time in the storage area.
As for the qjet, go for it whenever you get a chance! The rebuild stuff will cost around 150 bucks, but things like screws forthe throttle blades and throttle shaft bushings are cheap and come in packs of 20 and 10 respectively at 5ish bucks each. Buy a few and do a few carbs. Lastly, I HIGHLY recommend getting a good drill press if you don't have one already, and an indexing vise. This vise was a god send for drilling out the throttle shaft screws that broke. It was $60 something at my local Harbor Freight. Every. Single. Screw. Broke. Replacement screws are 6-32, same as the choke flap and air door screws. Good luck to ya with your new place and keep on "testing" that transmission!
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Yeah, things are going good here. I attribute a lot of that to finding a damn good woman and sticking with her. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Thanks man. We are really happy with the place. I'm pretty proud of the rebuild. It's pretty cool to have the first one work so well. I wouldn't be a bit scared to try another.
Hell yeah! A job is a job sometimes. Congratulations!!! You gotta start somewhere. If you can get into the meat room some of those guys make decent money. I'm amazed that these younger guys can't even change their own oil. I'll gladly oblige for enough $$$$. Lol.
I do have a drill press. It's a little old but my dad had it before he died (which makes it worth it's weight in gold to me).
I'm gonna keep "testing" this transmission daily. Lol
I had a few minutes on lunch today and decided to do something that I've wanted to do for a while now.
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