VETDRMS
15+ Year Contributor
- 340
- 21
- Jun 1, 2006
-
Vancouver,
Washington
I am still waiting for cams, which doesn't surprise me much, but hopefully GSC comes through.
In the mean time I am finishing what I can. I finished the transmission last night. I ended up replacing the sun shell and kick-down band. When the transmission was new it would occasionally bind on the 1-2 shift when using full line pressure. It wasn't bad but it was noticeable. When I had disassembled this transmission the first time the kick-down band was burnt up. I didn't realize it also warped the sun shell. Upon disassembly this time only the inner 1/2" of the kick-down band showed any heat marks. The sun shell wasn't flat so it was catching the high spot upon engagement. I backed the kick-down adjustment off about 1/8 of a turn from before. I had about .070" of pin travel before and it is .080" now. I also had some bushing wear that was pretty characteristic of how violent the full line pressure shifts are. I sanded the bushing to clean them up which will help as they will be a little looser now.
I also replaced the OD clutches/steels as I had a part-throttle 3-4 shift flare and the steels showed some heat. I combined some parts from a new TransGo shift kit with the existing TransLab modifications to try and fix this. I used a different spring on the rear exhaust valve, changed the kick-down spring, and backed off the line pressure a little bit. The inside of the valve body was very clean but the 3-4 shift valve was a little sticky, which could have caused the flare.
Upon disassembly the input shaft end-play was .039". I shimmed this to .020" with the shim in the TransGo kit. I also used the TransGo sealing rings on the pump. They have a small wire under them to help get fluid under the rings to seal better.
I also installed the Alto Red 5-disc front clutch pack. The stock 4-disc steels had heat spots so it wouldn't have lasted long with the 2.4.
I had the converter cut open to check it out for wear as I could feel the lock up clutch auto-engage on launch. Everything looked good, the woven Kevlar clutch looked great and there was only some minor wear on the cover. The seal for the lock up clutch had a small tear in it, so it might have not had 100% apply pressure.
I used 6x1.0x30mm studs for the pan. I tried to find another rubber gasket but didn't have any luck so I just used one of the many cork ones I had laying around. Hopefully it doesn't leak.
Other than the transmission I got the water pipe/thermostat housing installed. I had to open up the hole on the water pipe mounting tab a bit to accommodate the additional 6mm of deck height. I could pull it down but it moved the o-ring pretty far down in the thermostat housing. I also plugged the water lines I wouldn't be using. I used some 8x1.25 stainless steel cap screws with JB weld. They look pretty nice.
I also got the intake, ignition components, and fuel injectors/rail installed last night.
I am using a Magnus thermal heat barrier intake gasket. After reading some posts about the EGR port melting these I plugged it with a 1/8" NPT plug and JB weld.
The gasket was a good match when aligned with the holes. I moved it to match the port and then scribed a small line above the upper bolts to mark where it should sit. I adjusted this to match while torquing the bolts.
I wasn't sure if they needed to be grounded, but I realized that all the powder coated ignition-mounting parts would not act as a ground due to the coating. I tapped all the holes in the intake and brackets and sanded off the coating under the mounting bolts. I checked continuity between the block and all the bolts/brackets after it was assembled and it is fine. I plan to add a grounding strap from the bottom of the intake to the back of the block as well.
I am happy with how the color-scheme is coming together so far.
In the mean time I am finishing what I can. I finished the transmission last night. I ended up replacing the sun shell and kick-down band. When the transmission was new it would occasionally bind on the 1-2 shift when using full line pressure. It wasn't bad but it was noticeable. When I had disassembled this transmission the first time the kick-down band was burnt up. I didn't realize it also warped the sun shell. Upon disassembly this time only the inner 1/2" of the kick-down band showed any heat marks. The sun shell wasn't flat so it was catching the high spot upon engagement. I backed the kick-down adjustment off about 1/8 of a turn from before. I had about .070" of pin travel before and it is .080" now. I also had some bushing wear that was pretty characteristic of how violent the full line pressure shifts are. I sanded the bushing to clean them up which will help as they will be a little looser now.
I also replaced the OD clutches/steels as I had a part-throttle 3-4 shift flare and the steels showed some heat. I combined some parts from a new TransGo shift kit with the existing TransLab modifications to try and fix this. I used a different spring on the rear exhaust valve, changed the kick-down spring, and backed off the line pressure a little bit. The inside of the valve body was very clean but the 3-4 shift valve was a little sticky, which could have caused the flare.
Upon disassembly the input shaft end-play was .039". I shimmed this to .020" with the shim in the TransGo kit. I also used the TransGo sealing rings on the pump. They have a small wire under them to help get fluid under the rings to seal better.
I also installed the Alto Red 5-disc front clutch pack. The stock 4-disc steels had heat spots so it wouldn't have lasted long with the 2.4.
I had the converter cut open to check it out for wear as I could feel the lock up clutch auto-engage on launch. Everything looked good, the woven Kevlar clutch looked great and there was only some minor wear on the cover. The seal for the lock up clutch had a small tear in it, so it might have not had 100% apply pressure.
I used 6x1.0x30mm studs for the pan. I tried to find another rubber gasket but didn't have any luck so I just used one of the many cork ones I had laying around. Hopefully it doesn't leak.
Other than the transmission I got the water pipe/thermostat housing installed. I had to open up the hole on the water pipe mounting tab a bit to accommodate the additional 6mm of deck height. I could pull it down but it moved the o-ring pretty far down in the thermostat housing. I also plugged the water lines I wouldn't be using. I used some 8x1.25 stainless steel cap screws with JB weld. They look pretty nice.
I also got the intake, ignition components, and fuel injectors/rail installed last night.
I am using a Magnus thermal heat barrier intake gasket. After reading some posts about the EGR port melting these I plugged it with a 1/8" NPT plug and JB weld.
The gasket was a good match when aligned with the holes. I moved it to match the port and then scribed a small line above the upper bolts to mark where it should sit. I adjusted this to match while torquing the bolts.
I wasn't sure if they needed to be grounded, but I realized that all the powder coated ignition-mounting parts would not act as a ground due to the coating. I tapped all the holes in the intake and brackets and sanded off the coating under the mounting bolts. I checked continuity between the block and all the bolts/brackets after it was assembled and it is fine. I plan to add a grounding strap from the bottom of the intake to the back of the block as well.
I am happy with how the color-scheme is coming together so far.
