on first to second shift , felt like it went into neutral and chattered, thought it was the powertrax letting go, but after investigation, rear gears and powertrax are OK.

intermediate sprag going south I think...was the points leader, now dropped to second by one round. :(

anybody got a spare race built 400 for sale locally I can pick up over the weekend ????

:(

Aw man. That stinks. Anyway, BUF is a 10 hour round trip. I'll make some calls if you'd like.

Thanks Gene,

yes why not, Buffalo is an easier ride than down state for sure

Transmission Specialties is a 9 hour round trip just below Philadelphia, seriously thinking about it for tomorrow..

That Hughes trans has worked flawless for over 250 passes all in the 11's and 10's. It owes me Nothing !!!

Tell you what, I'll call a few places early am and see if there are any around. Only KNOWN good places. My am is all phone time, so a few more aren't a big deal. Manual vb I assume? Reverse pattern? Post exactly so this stickman doesnt screw up.

Have STR build the trans!

Steve is the man, you will find that many of the local area racers are advocates of Steve's work, and his prices are very competative.

Thanks Gene, manual VB forward pattern, manual/auto VB preferable.

Brian, STR...I have heard about Steve..Phone # ??? Contact Info?

Are they already built in stock?

How are you doing your burnout, Tom? Did your transmission have a race hardended 34 element sprag? I realize that you're trying to turn this around pretty quick. My advice to you, however, is to learn to rebuild the transmission yourself! If you need to have it back in the car to race before you can rebuild it then buy a new one and eat the core charge. Then build this one at your leisure and you will have a spare. You've got enough GM iron in your stable that a spare 400 wouldn't be a bad thing :D If you decide to go this route let me know and I'll try and help you get through it. I rebuilt my first TH-400 a couple months ago and I intend to do my own transmission work going forward. Jakeshoe was a great help to me by email/phone. I also bought a couple of books that had really good illustrations. If you take your time and double/triple check your work there is little that can go wrong.

:( It was our time Tom, Mine broke last saturday,currently tied for 6th in points...1-2 shift on mine was long lazy "powerglide" shift,went to 3rd fine....checked fluid and its burnt bad,,drained it,pulled it,no evidence of metal in the fluid,converter seems fine,havent pulled the pan,but imagine its full of clutch... neighbor across the street will hopefully get it done by next points race on the 17th,I'm leaving for Colorado tonight for a week, I've had enuff,ready for a break.

Thanks Ken..I agree for sure. The one I broke will go on the bench for a rebuild by me.

Yes it did have the 34 element sprag, at least that's what Hughes said. I have 3 Cores as well as a standard rebuild sitting in the garage that is for my Buick. I am thinking of putting it in just for next Wed. It does not have a 34 element sprag. If I wasn't involved in a points race I wouldn't be in a rush.

I really appreciate you offering the help on a rebuild, I will be taking you up on that and hopefully Jakeshoe will help with some consultation too. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks again

Originally posted by Rapid Robert:
:( It was our time Tom :( . Yup, It was bound to happen sooner or later. I blame myself for procrastinating not having a race built spare around.

Have a safe trip Bob..

Wow, real bummer for both of you guys. Hope you both can get it all back together soon.

Tom,sorry to hear about this :(
Time for a 2.75 1st TH400 :D

Originally posted by mr 4 speed:
Tom,sorry to hear about this :(
Time for a 2.75 1st TH400 :D I checked into that when I went through mine. $600 for the gear set :eek:

$600, man you could almost machine it for that.

Tom, striking out, best so far is a Hughes street/strip for around $1000. That's at KS Auto, talk to Gary 716-692-8222. My race engine client JUST sold off a race ATI unit this week and has nothing on the shelf.

What, was it a moon phase, they all break at once???

Thanks Gene, I may be heading down to PA tomorrow morning. If they can't hook me up, I will likely take the Hughes from that guy...I will be in touch soon, waiting to hear fom Trans Specialties.

Gene,

Transmission Specialties set one up for me, I can pick it up between 10 am and 12 pm at their shop. They set it up so someone would be there...great servise they have..Thanks for your efforts...much appreciated.

Tom

Yeah,
Email me I'll tell you anything I can..

Sprag breakage is common on these things and it is caused by a too hard 1-2 shift, burnouts in 2nd gear, or manually downshifting under decel from 3-2.

They're pretty easy to do.

Thanks Jakeshoe...

Must be the 1-2 shift, I do burnout in third and never downshift.

Tom

How hard does it shift?

You want a firm clean shift but not a Bang! shift.

Yes,

Firm and clean, I was very happy with the Hughes Trans. very consistent. Just once last wed on the 1-2 shift felt like neutral and then it grabbed after I let off and got back on it.

Glad you hooked up buddy. Stay in the points race! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Yep,
Sounds like the sprag rolled over.

TH400's even with the HD 34 element sprag can roll it if they shift too hard. I think this is more of a fatigue issue than an immediate failure.

Then on a 2nd gear burnout when it hooks, a 3500+ lb car and 400+ hp, when the slicks catch with it spinnign in 2nd it bangs the sprag into locked mode and it either locks and holds or it rolls it over.

Sometimes I wonder if a rolelr type element with more rollers for capacity wouldn't work better.

An aluminum direct drum helps prevent failures because it takes a huge amount of load off the sprag. The direct durm is 14 lbs in a Th400, and from 1st gear it is spinning 84% of engine rpm then comes to an abrupt stop going into 2nd.

Not a "slushbox" guy at all but do remember the MOPAR 727's banging REAL HARD, all the time it seemed if pushed hard!!!!

Don't have any idea what the difference in design is between a TH400 and a 727 that accounted for the shifting differences???

pdq67

Tom,
Call steve at 1-973-579-2055
Tell him what you need, his turn around time is amazingly fast, and he is the best.
Ed's trans saw a ton of passes before he had steve go through the trans again, then put over 1000 passes on it before having any problems to speak of.

Thanks Brian... graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Jakeshoe, Over the last few weeks I have been burning out a little harder and getting the tires to hook hard off the line loc. But I am in third gear when doing this.

The new trans is a forward pattern manual valve body, never used one before...so do I leave it in 2nd or shift up to third during the burnout?

Shif tup to third while in the burnout. Get it into 3rd, then go to WOT. Don't do a WOT 1-2 shift in the box, and don't let it hook in 2nd.

Little change of events, I went to the NHRA Divisional Event last night at my local track, and Low and Behold and Unexpectadely there was the ATI Trailer stocked full of transmissions including a new competition series forward manual valve body short tail TH400. Cash and Carry into my truck for $649 race day price. No 10 hour trip for me today. graemlins/hurray.gif

Instead: --> Trans is in, test drive felt good, no leaks...shifts firmer into 2nd than the Hughes did.

Going to change fluid again and run her tonight on the street a little to a cruis-in.

Lucky dawg!! graemlins/thumbsup.gif Well good for you and that sounds like a real good price also for a race trans that will hold up behind a 540". Um,...you always go to the track with $650 in your pocket? :D

Originally posted by Epistuff:
Um,...you always go to the track with $650 in your pocket? :D Well, I was performing duties for some of the lonely ladies in the pits. :D

Originally posted by mc71454:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Epistuff:
Um,...you always go to the track with $650 in your pocket? :D Well, I was performing duties for some of the lonely ladies in the pits. :D </font>[/QUOTE]I went to the store to pick up some milk for my friends wife for their kids and used the cash machine while I was there....

Dirty Minds You Have... ;)

Tom, that's the trans I have in my car that I ordered from them, you lucked out! It's been good so far! Good luck racing this weekend graemlins/thumbsup.gif , I have to wait until next weekend :(

Matt

I went to the store to pick up some milk for my friends wife for their kids and used the cash machine while I was there....

Dirty Minds You Have... ;) I'm not buying that story. My ATM card does not let me take out more than $400 in one day. You were pimping the pits weren't you?

Good news on the trans Tom graemlins/thumbsup.gif
I might see you at LVD this Wednesday..I will be heading back to CT after 8:00PM though.

graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Man, ya gotta love that!

Whata ya charging by the inch or the pound!? tongue.gif

Originally posted by 427L88:
What ya charging by the inch or the pound!? tongue.gif "Milk" comes in quarts, doesn't it? ;)

LOL....Too funny..

Thanks Matt for helping my peace of mind..

Chris I hope you make it up... graemlins/thumbsup.gif

So far so good, I am going to have to get used to this full manual valve body, I had to downshift when I turned into my driveway.... graemlins/clonk.gif