[East]

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.

[East]

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.

[srmmmm]

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.

[East]

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.

[East]

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.