OK - I've got a TH350 with the B&M "shift improver" kit installed in it, but it's still not shifting quick/hard enough for my tastes... Other than going with someone elses valvebody mods, can anyone give me hints on which springs to shim, which ones to swap to, which holes to enlarge, etc. I know at one point I ran across diagrams and directions on the web somewhere, but of course when I need them I can't find them again Really I'd like to convert this to full manual control of upshifts, yet retain some auto capabilities if possible. I'm thinking I need to open up the feed to the second gear and third gear apply pistons, remove the ac***ulator spring from the servo, and and??
not sure how they work, but i put an adjustable vac modulator on the t-400 in the willys... snappy shifts, and adjustable shift points as well within reason... i'd say they gave me about 3-6 MPH worth of variance to play with for shift point. T
When I have installed shift kits on TH350s, it came with a drill bit and a diagram detailing where to drill the plate. Check with B&M for a diagram.
taking out ac***ulator springs will sure quicken up the shifts, but not in a good way....better to restrict the ac***ulator feed p***ages, which you can do with a couple of freeze plugs with a small hole drilled in them. also you can shim the pressure regulator valve spring, if it's the original one, use one or two horshoe shims out of a 400 regulator. How about some more details on your setup? how heavy is the car? what is the engine? what gearing does it have? how much stall speed? how fresh is the trans rebuild? maybe there's wear in there--no amount of shift improvement will help a worn pump or hard lip seals or worn sealing ring surfaces or burned clutches.
Car weighs in around 3400-3600 - so not a lightweight roadster by any means. Gearing is 4:10, tires are around 28" tall, Trans was bought used, and I did a quick teardown and replaced front and rear seals. Everything looked good upon inspection (clutches, band and steels all good, seals "looked" OK). Converter is a TCI street fighter (~3200 RPM flash). Engine is an 11:1 350 chev bored .030, solid lifter cam (runs a 50/50 mix of 110 race gas and 92 oct pump gas) Just to set a baseline - after installing the B&M Shift improver kit (in the street/strip mode) everyone driving it would say the shifts are quick and firm for a daily driver, but really I'm more worried about the performance at the strip. It'll chirp 2nd on the street with the tires inflated to 35 PSI, but on the strip at 18 psi and good traction it'll seem sluggish. Everything is stock rebuild stuff (hardend sprag race is about the only upgrade before I got the trans), standard frictions and steels, standard pump spring / pressure (pump gears looked OK) I've got 4 more weekends to play with this at the strip and I'd like to drop some off the ET if I could, and then if needed I'll rebuild the thing completely with good frictions, keolene steels, teflon sealing rings, kevlar band, etc. I'd really like to hit it with a 150 shot of nitrous, but don't feel it's got the guts to live up to that.
are shift kits hard to install. been wanting to do one in my 29 sedan (t-350) because the shifting is slow..
Nope - The B&M instructions are a lot better than most of the other kits that I have seen. If I had to do this one over again I'd get the TransPak from B&M instead of their "shift improver" kit (guy had it and I needed it 'now' - difference is it doesn't give full manual control, and doesn't bump the pump pressure.
when you say full manual control, do you mean it becomes a manual valve body (only shifts when you want it to) or just allows you to shift and it reacts right away.
the b&m shift improver kits are NOT a shift kit. they are just a new separator plate and gaskets. if you want a true performance shift kit, find one that not only has the separator plate and gaskets but also new springs for the valve body, governor, regulator and vac modulator. some also come with different check balls etc. i'm personally a fan of the transgo kits, which can be had for around $50 on ebay last i saw. they have all that stuff and TONS of options for you to play with plus they are simple as hell to install and have great instructions.
What type of fluid are you using? Like was mentioned earlier, Type "F" will make it shift harder, and B&M Trick Shift will do the same. Been running Type "F" in my T 350 for over ten years and it still bites hard in second with the Trans Pak kit in it set up for street and strip.
I'll second the trans-go recommendation....they have something like 4 different performance leves. You could go either street-strip or race, and see how it works, then perhaps make some changes as needed when you go thru the trans. But to play around with it in the meantime, you could block the ac***ulators and open up the shift feed holes to the max size, and shim the pressure regulator valve....see if that does the trick
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