[grivera]

@Bill - Thanks for posting the great lead on quality condensers! Will be buying one for my convertible - seems one has to join the stovebolt.com forum to buy one?

[Bill Hanlon]

I'll see if Jon will let me post a private request with your contact info.

[grivera]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

I'll see if Jon will let me post a private request with your contact info.

Jon was a pleasure to work with. I received the condenser today- interesting piece.

[Jack Gifford]

Appears to be a bipolar electrolytic.

[mgarblik]

I reinstalled the transmission in the car and took a short road test yesterday. The good news is all the external leaks are fixed and there were allot of them. It has all it's gears and shifts OK. I am not 100% satisfied with the shift timing and feel. It's going to require some fine tuning of the valve body, possibly the modulator, and maybe the governor to make me 100% happy. Also, no detent downshift which I have isolated to the switch on the gas pedal. Having a little trouble sourcing that switch locally. Available all over the internet. So progress is being made. I think I mentioned this transmission was replaced by the original owner early in the car's life. It has an SD-455 governor and many other parts, but the valve body is unknown. The 1-2 shift is extremely early under light throttle. Sometimes 5-7 MPH. Would like to stretch it out a little. 2-3 shift is also somewhat early. Shift feel is a little soft for my taste in both changes. If it wasn't an original SD car, it would be getting a 4-speed. Not a fan of automatic transmission muscle cars for street driving. Actually, this is one of the very few I have owned.

[grivera]

Thanks - of course I will need to measure the wire but I assume the same length as other v8s

[sdbob]

I like the Trans go shift kit. Of course I haven't bought one in 30 yrs so now a days quality I'm not sure of.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by sdbob

I like the Trans go shift kit. Of course I haven't bought one in 30 yrs so now a days quality I'm not sure of.

I like them too. Still American made. The Turbo 400 one is simple and only $40.00. I think it's 8-9 springs and a separator plate. 2 gaskets.

[Held for Ransom]

How did Part 2 (Bad news) precede Part 1 (Good news)???

[sdbob]

When new as I said the m40 in my SD hitting 3rd was very firm. I do not think the TRansgo helped that. Tom Nell (rip)must have known something.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

How did Part 2 (Bad news) precede Part 1 (Good news)???

I have no idea. I certainly didn't post them that way. Some glitch way above my pay grade.

[Held for Ransom]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I have no idea. I certainly didn't post them that way. Some glitch way above my pay grade.

I guess Page 1 (Good) posted twice (I didn't see it on the other page). Still, weird.

[mgarblik]

Short update. I removed the transmission today and gave it a quick inspection. I am not happy with anything about it to be honest. I checked the front and rear end play. Front is quite excessive, about .010" greater than the tolerance. The rear end play is about .008": past the tolerance. There were a few aluminum shards in the pan already and a little clutch material. Just not happy with about 1 mile on it and about 1.5 hours of engine run time on it.

I am going to go ahead and completely disassemble it and check the entire transmission, fix the end plays, replace all the rubber and seals throughout. That way I can be confident it's going to be ready for some road trips.

This transmission was completely overhauled in 1979 by a reputable shop in the area that I personally used many times. It was never run after being built. A little disappointed by what I am seeing inside. Oh well, easily fixed. Will just take some time. After working on some of these modern 8 and 10 speeds, this looks like fun. Very few special tools needed. Turbo 400, about as tough as it gets!

[grivera]

Jon says the condensers were originally designed for an inline 6 cylinder engine, which is why the wire length needs altering.

[Mr Anonymous]

Nobody knows how an automatic transmission really works. Too many whirling bits inside

[mgarblik]

Finally was able to take about a 10 mile road test in the SD yesterday. Longest "trip" it's been on since 1978. The transmission is a solid A- now. No leaks and the shift timing seems to be normal. The 1-2 shift feel still needs a little tweaking. The 2-3 shift feels good. Car drives excellent. Tracks straight, brakes are fantastic, and the Mickey Thompson Sportsman radials are very smooth to 70 MPH. That's as fast as I have had it so far.
This was the first drive with the hood on it. Speaking of the hood, what a nightmare to fit perfectly. Now I really understand why so many 70-73 Firebird hoods don't fit the greatest. Very complicated fitment and adjustments. How in the world did they build these cars in less than 1 minute coming off the line? It took three of us, with considerable experience 7 hours over 2 days to get the hood to fit just right. But we got it. Opens and closes perfectly and the gaps are as good as I have seen on one of these cars.

I will post some finished pics and some driving video in the next week or so. Thanks for hanging with this thread through some ups and downs getting it on the road again. Plan is to put some local miles on it the next few weeks and if I am confident enough in it, drive it to Norwalk next month. That will be about a 450 mile or so round trip.

Things left to do, The grilles need some minor attention and installation. Transmission needs some tuning and a working detent switch. General detailing before the trip.

[PAUL K]

Excellent!!!

[sdbob]

Good to here. When I put the nos73 TA front end on my 70. I had limited experience with sheet metal alignment! It was a sharp learning curve.

[Jack Gifford]

Drive carefully Mike!

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Jack Gifford

Drive carefully Mike!

Will do Jack. I hope to see you at Norwalk.