TH 400 Rebuild
 

All,
I'm looking for suggestions/recommendations of a tranny shop in the Philly area to rebuild my TH 400 for street/strip use.
The first time I got it to the track this year (October), I realized it needed help.

Any recommendations of a good shop are greatly appreciated.
There are so many around that, I just want to have it done right the first time.

Thanks,

~jal

I think Nasty66 on this board may do tranny's. I'm sure he will reply here.

Trans. Build
 

A suggestion would be Rossler Transmission in Gerard Ohio. Maybe a couple of hours away.Look him up in Dragster magazine for phone number. You may be surprised with his pricing.He biulds some of the best 400 trans,anywere.His name is Carl Rossler.Worth a phone call.

http://www.rosslertrans.com/index.htm

I agree, for the money it's a great transmission.

Thanks guys but, I'm really looking for someone local to me. Gerard, Oh is probably a 6 1/2 hour drive and, I don't want to deal with shipping.
I'd be willing to drive an hour or two but, I figure that there has to be a good shop in the Philadelphia area.

~jal

I'm in Phila just let me know how you want it built

Just stay away from GER products and workmanship up that way.

Ken, is George still around these days? Last time I saw someone use a trans and converter from him, they lasted about 20 minutes! The guy loaded up the trans and headed to the hills to find them. He told me they have a "front" in an old dairy barn, one car in the parking lot and George was no where to be found?......Cliff

I go along with that. Never met a happy customer of GER's.

Never did like the "look" of that outfit (GER). :noidea:

They used to have ads all over SSDI back when,just seemed to be one of those "too good to be true" deals,guess they were... :confused2

I did get a catalog from them once,was'nt impressed by that either! http://www.revxtreme.com/forums/imag...s/rotflmao.gif

Glad I never found out myself. :-ohwell:

Same deal with that "other" fella out west... ;)

Hope all works out for the best with it,all here will help if they can I'm sure.

Jerry Taylor in Dover, DE does a great job, and will give a warranty for an all drag tranny... Link to his website: http://www.jerrytaylorsracingtransmissions.com/

I may be off base with my post here, but for a lot of years I was afraid of automatic transmissions. I have build many engines, set up many rear ends and torn apart more carburetors than I care to mention. But an automatic trans was the one thing that you always let someone else deal with. I passed most of my knowledge to my son. He in turn has gone on to learn and experiment with his 10 second, '69 firdbird. He ask me one day if I could help him with rebuilding his TH400. I told him that I had never done one. I have, however rebuilt a couple of C4's and C6's for my work trucks with the help of a video. Well, I come home one day and there he is, up to his waist in TH400 parts, with a set of snap ring pliers in one hand and a oily remote in the other watching a rebuild video on the workbench. I just walked on past and let him do his thing. Well about 2 days later, I hear the car fire up and I walked out to see how it was going. He said "We will see". As it turned out he basically did a stock rebuild, added a manual valve body, cooler, and 4500 converter. Last week he pulled the trans apart after about 100 runs. Everything was good. He just put in a seal kit and he's ready for next season. I guess my point to all this, is that, at the power level that most of us seem to be (600 or so), it seems like the TH400 is a better trans than I thought in stock form. I think he has about $100 in the basic rebuild. Of course you need to add for the VB and converter. I have driven the car, and the trans is solid as a rock. Of course, maybe one day it will blow and take half the population of California with it. Oh well.

rfb I agree. Im getting ready for some video training myself.
A friend back in Utah has his name on really a lot of local race cars. Basically the man when it comes to trans work in that area. I was in his shop one day and I ask him where are all your fancy blue plates? I could only see mostly stock looking parts hanging on the nails. He said I basically do stock rebuilds except for a different sprag and valve body work if they need that. He said with a th400 no need for anything special until the power goes WAY up. He said detailed assembly and careful attention to the oil circuts make a lot more difference than special parts.

And those "Blue plates" are very expensive. $120 for a C4.......whew ! I agree, a stronger sprag would be th first order of business. We've done ok, so far with the stock sprag in ours. The best video I found so far, is the one from technical video. I have the TH400, C4, C6 and AOD tapes and all are very clear and well done. Unless you are pushing 800-1000 HP, I'd say you don't need a high dollar trans.

LOL. I do know that after my GER Converter took a dump in my BBC 68 Chevelle back in the 80's (2 passes) called and they wouldn't do a thing. I sent it to JW to fix. He sent it back cut open with a note saying.........................


"We don't work on Pigeon poop." Bwahahahahahaha.

Looked like someone heated up some brass and threw it at the fins. Kept that note and converter in my shop for customers to see for many many years till it finally got in the way and threw it out.

Yes, I remember the ads all over the mags and even ND. Thta's why I bought one from them. Good prices in well know mags............. But even a 9" at $450 from them back then was fairly costly.

FWIW: I ran a T-400 for 3 years into the mid 9's constantly 76 T/A, 3550 lbs) on Nitrous with well over 300 passes and all it had was a B & M kit with a sprag. Tore it apart and only had to replace clutches.

I build the TH400 for Street/Strip Pontiacs. I can build a best-of-parts TH400:
Best [121 or 895] Front Pump,
Best Forward pack,
Best Direct Pack & Sprag,
Best Center Support design,
New Alto Red and Original Borg-Warner radial-groove Clutches.
Best 1-2 Planetary sets and can use the 1965 GM THD 34 Element Lo-Roller Sprag if desired.
Best GM Armasteel Tailshaft with GM Reinforced Tail Cup.
Best [AH] valvebody with careful programming.
Generic GM separator plate having the 1969 428HO "Tow Package" program.
Full Direct Pack fluid fill for Highest capacity 2-3 3-2.
Best unmodified GM Govenors for automatic 1/4mile upshift.
Best Case prep and hardware selection: and will get it to nearly concourse quality if desired.

I can do this because I'm not a Business. That means I can keep the best parts laying around. you also get a scoresheet of the internal setup. All the Parts, and valvebody settings for your (and my) Reference. Good to low 10's for many many years.

You can watch and be taught as the build occurs.

Converter will be the weakest link and we can talk about the tradeoff there. Final note: I'm probable the lowest price. Shipping free 'cause you pick it up.

Email me if interested.

The 68GTO Project has a Switch-Pitch TH400 that ought to handle 10's. Thus far it works well up-n-down the driveway, and no leaks. Signature data below all ran through my TH400 recipe I or recipe II.

:ranger: HIS

Half-Inch,
Sent you a PM since I can't access your email.

jal

Why don't you try 1 built by Redneck and give us some feedback. Be upfront with them about your intent of posting the results and maybe get a discount. Can't argue with their pricing and their converts seem to hold up. I'm 6 months away from spring so I can wait for results.

"Yes, I remember the ads all over the mags and even ND. Thta's why I bought one from them. Good prices in well know mags............. But even a 9" at $450 from them back then was fairly costly."

Pigeon poop, that's funny! I never tried the GER converters, the LOW prices scared me some. Let a few friends do so instead and ALL of them failed miserably in short order. I'm convinced George was buying the el-cheapo Daaco performance converters and repainting/reboxing them. I was foolish enough to try a Daaco performance converter, briefly in my old 67 SS. Blew it to BITS after a short engine break-in on the FIRST full throttle blast!

HIS, just curious as to what planetaries are better than others, straight cut, helical cut, or is there something else out there? The early low sprag is probably a good idea, but we've never broke the later style, probably because it isn't involved in a shift like the intermediate sprag?.....Cliff

I bought a GER 10" 2800 stall and used it for about 4 years until my 60 foots started going away.Then I noticed a funny noise from the trany when at idle.I sent it back and they told me all of the vanes were bent over the other way.The only good thing I can say is they did honor their 5 year warranty on convertor that was 2 months from being 5 years old.They sent me a new one and I used it for one race and installed a TCI 8".I still have it and there is nothing wrong with it,but it is in a box under my bench.I consider it a street convertor.On T400s,theyare not difficult if you are a good mechanic.Pretty basic.I have found Hughes race kit has most of the good stuff that a rebuild kit should have.It is the only one I know of that has a Clevite or Federal Mougal center support bushing.(very important)TCIs,B&M kits ect have a bushing that has a part number only on it and they are a "offshore" bushing.I also like to use the later model teflon seal rings instead of the cast iron.I unknowingly cracked a iron one once and it made a mess.The trany ran fine it seemed until my burnout.The car did not spin the tires at all and there was a horrible smell.The broken 1/2 inch peice went through the pump,ruined it and the first gear cluthch pack had a MELTDOWN.I saved the trany though but things like this can be avoided with the teflon seals.They work great.I also like the Trans Go shift kit.Top quality like the Hughes rebuild kit.