Bits and pieces, Leslie's car.

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So I think I finally nailed down why the converter was destroyed. It just sorta hit all of a sudden. The converter wasn’t seated in the front pump properly which took out the pump and the converter with it. Due to the way these old converters are built, the amount of “free space” between the stator, impeller, and turbine wasn’t enough which in turn caused the stator to rub and break apart on the turbine. Anyway, figured you guys would like to know what I figured out.

Transmission is all painted now and ready to go in minus the front pump and converter still.
 

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Got the converter yesterday. I pulled it apart and everything looked really good. What little fluid was in it was bright red so I’m gonna say she’s gonna be perfect. Even checked to make sure that the hub fits snug in the pump and it does. Took it to work last night and ran it through the parts washer for a half hour so this afternoon I’ll get it resealed and put back together and hopefully have the car fired back up this weekend. If all goes well, I’ll get the windshield put in and she’ll be pretty much ready to go to Vegas. Then it’s off to start on the RSC buildoff car.

Pictures and video to follow.
 
Converter is resealed and back together. Got the engine and trans dropped back in the car. Tomorrow I’ll get everything bolted in and buttoned up so I can fire her up and make sure there are no leaks and then I’ll check to make sure the transmission goes into gear as it should. Here’s crossing my fingers that everything goes as planned.
 

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Got everything back together this morning and got the car fired up. Transmission doesn’t leak a drop. After letting it sit for a little while getting warm, I put the transmission in gear and it spun the wheels. Put it in reverse but got nothing. Decided to drop it on the ground and see if it would at least move forward and it wouldn’t. Trying to wrap my head around what I did incorrectly but can’t come up with squat. So tomorrow I’m gonna try to readjust the bands. Maybe once everything got coated in fluid, the adjustment changed. If that doesn’t do the trick, I’ll drain the fluid and drop the pan to double check everything with air as the book says. I really don’t want to have to pull the transmission out again.
 
Hate to hear that JB. That’s why I’d rather pay someone to build my transmission, I don’t know enough about them nor have the special tools to work on them.
 
So, got the bands readjusted today. They weren’t off much but enough. While the pan was off I pulled the valve body and did the air checks. I can hear the clutches engaging and the servos are working as they should. I did however notice that when I applied air to the governor port, I couldn’t tell if it was leaking or not. So I put the valve body back, put the pan back on, and pulled the extension housing. The governor seems to have a bit of slop that it didn’t have when I put the transmission together so it might be just enough out of tolerance. I’ll pull the output shaft apart tomorrow and see if it’s just slightly out of tolerance. If it is out of tolerance, I’ll have to replace it.
 
Could not sleep this morning so I went out to the garage. Got the output shaft tore apart and figured out 2 things. One, I had forgotten to put a spacer back on the oil distribution block tubes so it was pushed in slightly allowing fluid to leak by the rings. And two, the governor body is out of round and there’s a nice little notch where the detent rides so the fluid bores weren’t lined up properly. Luckily I was able to find a new governor that should be here this coming Monday. So, I won’t have any transmission updates until I can put it back together and test it. Hopefully for the last time.
 
Got out to the shop today. Got everything back together and put it through the gears and still was nothing. So back out she came. Decided to pull everything apart and see if I forgot anything. Turns out, I had missed the o-ring seals in the rear clutch pack. So got the seals replaced and everything back together. Hopefully for the last time. I’ll try to get out and get the transmission put back in tomorrow to see if I got her right this time. I’m really starting to lose my patience with this thing.
 
So, great news everyone. The transmission appears to be functional now. I’ll need to top off the antifreeze and trans fluid, then drop her off the stands and make sure she can move under her own power. Then I’ll throw the skid plate back on and she’ll be good to go. Well, kinda. I still want to put some bigger tires on the rear.
 

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