while the motor and trans arent totally "trad", the rest of the car kinda-sorta is... 55 belvedere, mildish custom... anyway, it's got a mildly built (purple cam, port n polish, blueprinted, etc) somewhat fresh '71 383. On to the trans: '70 727, completly rebuilt about 100 miles ago... all new, quality, HD parts... bands, disks, seals, gaskets, everything... and a transgo shift kit... Im really bored with the automatic, and to slightly curb my desire to dump it and put a 4spd row-your-own in it, im puttin a 3000rpm-stall convertor in it this weekend, for a better launch... it's got an 8 3/4, 3.73:1 rear, HD driveshaft and U-Joints... not worried about the car handling the stress. It gets driven REALLY hard, and will be putting up with a lot of abuse, redline shifts, etc... Not a daily driver, but would like to still take it on the occasional long drive, too. now for my questions... it shifts sorta firmly, but i'd like it quite a bit harder, and quicker under full throttle... while ive got the trans out, any mods you can suggest? any tips as to band and kickdown adjustments, other than stock? anything else you can think of? Since the trans is gonna be out, i dont mind tearin into it again...
check mopar performance,or what ever it's called these days,look for a "hemi kickdown"lever or "5 t0 1"kickdown lever.they are one and the same,and provide a higher ratio of leverage from the servo that acts upon it. it'll firm it up!
Do you have a manual valve body? If not get a turbo action. Also make sure ya got a 5 to 1 kickdown lever mopar part #p4529023.Jack up youre line pressure I extra turn counter clockwise.Everything you need to know is in the Mopar ch***is book I suggest you get one.----FEDER
cool... ive got a 5 to 1 sittting on my workbench... ready to go in... Was thinking of a manual valve body... might go that route. scoop327, MANY thanks... i emailed him... this car is gonna see a lot of street time (if i can manage to register it without the grand that the CA DMV wants... but that's another rant all together) and some strip time... LOTS of hard abuse (got me a heavy right foot, I do)... Ive had a trans brake in a Powerglide before, on the street... was pretty happy with it. I havent heard any bad things with them in 727's... anyone else? I'm responsible on the sreet, but out in the boonies, or on the srip... Drive it like ya stole it!... 383's seem ta wind to 6k quite happily ... well, to my happiness, anyway. The motor is sorta mild now, but is only gonna get warmer. Late this winter, I want to drop an 833 4spd in it, if i can gather the parts (and afford it)... but for now... the auto's gotta do
this is going back about 25 or 30 years ago, but i built a lot of 727's for IH pickups back in my younger days, one of the things i noticed that really made things work better was the addition of an extra steel clutch disc in what i remember was the forward clutch. the original setup was quite sloppy, and adding an additional steel took up some of the slop and really made the shifts quick and solid.. those 727's are on tough ****** if built right. bob
What FEDER said. If you go with a Turbo Action reverse valve body you would naturally need a Turbo Action Cheetah shifter too. What's $260 more dollars? You would really feel the shift then. It's like right now, putting you in the back of the seat. Only problem is, it is not recommended to down shift with these and is intended for racing only. You can downshift with the Transgo from what I've read.
The only changes that need to be made on a 727 are the following: drill out 4 holes in the valve boby, drill out one of the holes in the front pump, and pull the spring off the ac***ulator and stick a 3/8" bolt in it. anything else might lighten your wallet or make you feel better, but wont do anything for performance, and often makes things worse. If you want me to elaborate on on exactly were to drill out what size bolt to use, I will but don't have that information with me right now. Good luck, Dave
pulled the trans this morning... Went a bit higher on the line pressure realized it already has a 5:1 arm in it (forgot i put one in when i built it a couple years ago)... the valve body is already modified, the ac***ulator spring was tossed long ago... think my line pressure may have just been too low. adjusted the bands again, checked everything out... looks good. i realize this all could have been done with the trans in, but it's pretty damn easy to drop it out of this car... Gonna put it back in, adjust the kickdown, and take it for a spin this evening... see how it feels. channeled- when ya get a chance, i'd appreciate that info... doin the 727 in my truck soon... come to think of it... i didnt drill anything in the front pump... OK... just put the trans back in, filled with fresh type F, adjusted the kickdown to bottom @ WOT... Nice firm shifts, anything over 1/3 throttle chirps the tires nicely... over 3/4 throttle snaps your neck. Much better. The higher stall convertor DIDNT fit. dunno what it's for, now...
pull out your front clutch pack, push your piston down and undo the snap ring. Pull piston out and see how many springs are underneath. I bought a rebuild/perf. kit from Level 10 in New Jersey and they put 15 springs under that clutch piston. I have a Turbo Action manual VB in my roadrunner and it works very well shifting firmly. If you use the 5.0 lever you will have to adjust the front band after so much time. I believe you turn the adjuster in till it bottoms out then back it off 2 full turns. I hope this helps. later plmczy
I'll see if I can dig up the info tomorrow, maybe put together something for the tech-o-matic. The front pump mod isn't mandatory, but helps. The rest can be done just by dropping the valve body. Dave
channeled- cool, thanks man... the tech-o-matic could use some 727 info... i know there's a lot of HAMBers runnin em. Bondo- ive posted a few pics before... not many, cause of the wheels... ugly trailer trash lookin things. Car's a project... just havent gotten around to wheels yet. Gonna actually finish the car in the next few months, though. Maybe. I hope. post with pics... Interior, chrome, drivetrain, elec., etc are all new... going to a torque arm rear, suspended with a transverse leaf... fixing the early 80's install of the volare front end/front clip, and paint.
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