Automatic Trans upgrade thread

[black97spyder]

Lol yeah that is a confusing drawing. I think he was trying to show (and make sure) that you have some ducting going towards the trans cooler so that air goes through it and not around it

 

[11Banger]

What size trans cooler are you guys running? I assume youre running -6an lines

 

[J_HEATH]

Lol yeah that is a confusing drawing. I think he was trying to show (and make sure) that you have some ducting going towards the trans cooler so that air goes through it and not around it

yeah, I'll just post pics when I do mine again. I just got my front bumper repainted.

Also, I run the largest B&M cooler made with tight 90 degree fittings, -6an lines going to the trans with whatever (can't remember the size going into the trans) to -6 straights. Also made a T fitting with the temp sensor inline.

 

[black97spyder]

I'm running the IPT 28,000 lbs GVW cooler (biggest one they offer) and 7/16" lines running from the trans to the cooler on the passenger side with a brass T fitting for a temp sender in the return line.

 

[TJCTalon]

Are you guys using stock torque converter bolts with your kiggly flex plates?

I heard of issues with stock bolts?

 

[black97spyder]

Yep with my 7 bolt Kiggly flexplate I'm using the OEM bolts the bolt it up to the block with blue loctite @ 100 ft lbs and 4 OEM converter bolts with red loctite tightened as hard as I could get them with a wedge in the converter teeth and a long 17mm wrench. Only thing I had to do for fitment was cut the inner part out of the starter spacer so the converter bolts wouldnt scrape it as it spun (see my profile for pictures of it), and also some people have to notch their rear crank seal housing but I did not have to. You'll just have to mock it up on the block to see if it touches the housing or not.

 

[killercolt]

What fluid do you guys recommend? I've herd good about John Deere ATF and also b&m products.

Do not use John Deere fluid. This is one of the most stupid idea ever. I know Kiggly said he use it but he must be mixing it with a lot stabilizer or something. If you want to screw your tranny up, put some of these craps into your tranny. I made a mistake of using John Deere fluid and roasted my tranny after 8 passes. John Deere fluid does not have stabilizer to keep it from foaming up. Once it foams up, it will just disappear. It is crazy how it can just evaporate like that. I noticed the foaming the first time I pulled the dip stick to check the fluid level. I can see the white foam at the top of the residue mark on dip stick. I kinda say fxxx it and stuck it back in like a dummie. I went to the 1/8 miles and made 6 passes. I came home and drain the fluid to check it. 4 out of 9 quarts came out. I refilled it with new John Deere fluid to the correct level and went to the 1/4 miles. After 2 passes, the tranny was dead. When I drain the tranny this time, 1/2 a quart came out of the tranny. I took the tranny apart and everything was roasted. It was a complete lost. I had zero leak. Where did the fluid went? Freaken crazy. John Deere fluid is 100% straight crap.


I have tried Castrol import auto trans fluid. This oil is junk too. It will foam up at idle with out adding stabilizer to it. 1 quart of B&M tranny fluid will keep the oil from foaming.

So far, the best oil is the Valvoline Import Synthetic. It is about $6.50 per quart and will not foam. My friend introduced me to this oil. It comes in a blue bottle. You can get it from Advance auto part store. We went to track with and there was zero foaming. After 6 runs, the clutches and the oil did not burn up.

 

[LaserRS92]

I thought you were only supposed to use ATF+4 in these trannies not a generic import fluid?

Also, is it true you can run the Kiggly flex plate on 6bolts and not have to use a flex plate spacer or shim?

 

[J_HEATH]

You have to use the spacer on the Kiggly flex plate. ARP flywheel to crank bolts fit, just make sure they are for an auto and not a manual. Also you can drill and tap your converter to accept larger ARP torque converter bolts.

If you use the OEM converter bolts use a LOT of red loctite and toque them down as tight as you can. I had all of mine back out at the track once.

 

[TJCTalon]

What spacer needs to be used?

Do you have the part number for the ARP bolts for the crank made for auto??

Does ARP make torque converter bolts that work? What are you using for hardware now?

 

[J_HEATH]

Extreme psi sells the flex plate to crank bolts. You can call jnz to get the spacer, I can't recall the part number.

The torque converter bolts are 1/2" ARP converter bolts. Like I said you'll have to drill and tap your converter.

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[codeofdastreets]

Depending on the miles and condition of your trans, an end clutch kit and front clutch kit would be wise.

A larger cooler is a must if you decide to put money into the trans to help keep the temps down and save it.

A shift kit and shift box are two different things of course. A shift box (road surge, or whoever) will just give you 100% line pressure and allow you to shift at whatever RPM you want, samething with a reprogrammed TCU.

The translab shift kit is a mechanical upgrade and perminant. It has nothing to do with line pressure, but with the shifting of the gears and pressure of fluid and such in the valvebody. In order to get 100% line pressure either a reprogrammed TCU, kiggly mod or bluewire mod would still need to be done.

A upgraded torque converter would be one of the most benificial modifications along with a flexplate.

Run good fluid, and a welded center differential if you are mostly worried about 1/4th mile drag racing.

An upgraded/rebuilt trans is only needed if your trans has a ton of miles on it and is in rough shape (shifting badly, hesitant between shifts, so on). Same with the transfer case, hell I wouldn't worry about upgrading the transfer case until you broke one to be honest. People have ran 8's on a stock one (of course it eventually broke).

List of mods I'd do
1. Larger trans cooler and a trans temp gauge
2. new filter and good fluid
3. end clutches front clutches
4. Translab shift kit
5. flexplate and torque converter
6. reprogrammed TCU, blue wire mod, or Kiggly mod
7. welded center diff

When he mean end clutchs and front clutchs does this mean a oem replacement or a upgraded aftermarket??

 

[mrfister11]

What kind of Rpm are u guys turning through the traps and on what size tire in third?

I pulled 118mph after hitting 7k and letting off on my fwd in third.. roughly stock tire size.. I was using stock trans and converter. Shift kit in valvebody. I could stall converter up to 3800 or more no problem and build whatever boost I wanted but was pointless being fwd. I was on a stock 180k mile engine and hx35. Ran the 118 many time letting off at 18psi street tires at 35psi. 2.2 60ft

 

[J_HEATH]

When he mean end clutchs and front clutchs does this mean a oem replacement or a upgraded aftermarket??

I run IPT end clutches and Kiggly front clutches.

The end clutches can be installed with the trans in the car, the front clutches you'll have to remove the trans pump to access the front clutch basket.

Just be sure to torque everything back to spec, make sure your pump gasket is in good shape and not torn or replace it, and make sure the metal spacer or shim is in place correctly before you reinstall the pimp.

The IPT end clutch kit comes with all the seals required when replacing them. Make sure you replace everything.

 

[casperfast]

so can anyone say what could have gone wrong in my trans for my pump driven gear to seize and the drive gear to break into 4 pieces? i have posted other threads and even pictures but have zero idea. i was running the blue wire mod and i was using the launch control in v3 to allow me to launch at 15psi. i was breaking traction on my launch but the trans went out at the end of the 3rd pass. everything else in the trans looks fine. was new fluid, new filter (500 miles)