Am I losing my mind. Trying to take out TH400 governor
 

I am working on my 1969 Firebird which now has a TH400.

I somehow have a memory of having removed the governor to check it. I want to change the gasket so I removed the cover. So I decided to take out the governor and look it over once more and I don't have the room between the tunnel and trans.

I am totally baffled that I can't fit it out of the case.

So I get to work unbolting exhaust, cross member, rear trans mount, and loosening engine mounts so that I can lower the transmission enough to make working room for the governor. I haven't removed the drive shaft yet.

So I jack up the transmission and it raises very little. Not enough to remove the rear mount so that I have room to remove the cross member.

I'm scratching my head wondering why the transmission won't lift.

The only thing that I can think of is that I now have the rear of the car jacked up and the jack stands supporting the car, and the rear end hanging. I usually have the jack stand under the rear end, or use ramps under the rear wheels.

Am I fu#king myself over and not realizing it?

I have had the engines and transmissions out of this car several times, either bolted together or separately. 350, 400 (twice), and 428 removed and reinstalled twice.

Before I go at this again, can someone please help me get my head out of my @55 ? Why is everything so simple being so difficult?

I just can't figure out the simplest things lately.

Governor removed without further drama or disassembly of other componants
 

After stepping away from the previous attempt, I was able to manipulate the governor out of the case without dropping the rear of the transmission this morning.

I was cleaning up under the car and decided to try again. It was done in less than a minute.

I suppose I worked myself up unnecessarily.

After i finish cleaning the governor and installing the new gear and cover gasket, I can remove and clean up the valve body. That's after I put everything else back that I loosened and removed.

Sorry about the drama.

Maybe I should take up quilting.

Just a case of thought constipation. :) Glad you got over it. That's lot easier to deal with than forgetting where you put the governor after you took it out.

Working on that
 

Yes, you are right.

It ought to be a real hoot when I start working on the valve body.

I should probably look for that pack of .250" check balls I seen somewhere, and buy them.

Have a good one.:thumbup:

Figured out my problem
 

I posted last time complaining about not being able to remove the governor.

I was able to do so easily after stepping back and getting back to it with a clear head.

I have it reinstalled with a fresh gasket, and I reinstalled the crossmember.

Last time I was having trouble not being able to lift the rear of the transmission to move the crossmember out of the way. It turned out to be because I was supporting the car on jack stands located under the rear sub frame. Once I raised the rear end as high as it would go, I was able to lift the rear of the transmission to put back the crossmember.

I was working against myself unknowingly by doing things differently. I always used to lift the car and support it by the rear end.

My next goal is to remove the valve body to see if the 1-2 shift valve is sticking.

I bought the gaskets, cleaning brushes, and Assemblee Goo to get the task completed.

While I have the exhaust still disconnected, I can test fit the mandrel bent long branch head pipes. Other posts reported the passenger side not having a correct bend to allow a good seal to the manifold.

I wanted to give an update that was less embarrassing and more positive than my governor fiasco.