Ken73

Mike (Red84CrossFire) and I are looking at rebuilding our transmissions at about the same time. Mine is out of the car and on the garage floor; I already have all my parts here (although I think I'm going to pick up a few more pieces as "insurance") and Mike is going to order his next week.

I have the Haynes multi-manual (200-4R, 350, 400, 700-R4) and the two ATSG manuals (blue 82-86 and green "update" manual.)

From what I'm seeing, the Haynes manual seems to be the most detailed and looks like it will really help.

Does anyone have any advice, other than keep everything very clean, take my time, keep everything very clean and take my time? :jester: I'm hearing that you don't really need any special tools; most of them can be made (and I have a welder/grinder/etc.) at home easily to do most of the operations. The tech at the place I bought the parts from said some people even use large pieces of PVC pipe as compressors!

HWoods

Ken, Mike can pick them up in Houston at PTP Transmission parts, 456 West Gulf Bank, 281-591-6068, Transtar, 800-882-8844, or ATC Distributing, 800-456-7925

Blue85L98

I rebuilt my '85s 700R4 several months ago....My first attempt at rebuiling an automatic trans....I always felt a little intimidated by the exploded views in the transmission section of the service manual. After losing third gear twice in less than 8000 miles with transmission shop rebuilds, I thought that I would give it a shot myself. Used a friend who had THM-400 trans rebuild experience, if I had any questions. I also took a lot of digi pics as I went along, just in case...

I had access to the Haynes manual, but mostly used transmission section of the the '85 Helm service manual. For the most part, same information is in both. Didn't need much in the way of special tools...mostly basic socket set & wrenches, screwdrivers, assorted snap-ring pliers....however I did use a friends shop press to compress some of the various piston springs in order to replace piston seals. Only advice that I would pass on is to lay out the parts in the same order that you remove them, and make sure that you soak the new friction disks in trans fluid at least overnight prior to re-asssembly.

Good luck with the rebuild, keep us posted on your progress :cheers:

BBA

The above advice is very good. Another tidbit...buy a NICE set of quality snap ring pliars. Trust me!!

One thing, do not be afraid to make the clutch packs on the tight side of clearance. Basically, after stacking the elements, if a dime will slide between the clutch/plates, and a nickel is tight between the clutch plates, it will give the best shift quality.

The hardest thing is getting the 2/4 band clearance right. It has to be adjusted with either replacing the servo pin or grinding the tip of the existing pin, depending on how you need to go. I say you can get by just using a new band, preferrably kevlar, and reuse the existing servo pin. Just check band clearance before buttoning up the pan.

Definitely make sure you replace the reverse piston seals. You will have to make a compressor to remove the piston, when I made my first one, I used two flat 3/16" bars cut to fit the edge of the piston, with a threaded rod for compressing it. One bar rested on the piston, the other bar outside the case through the tailshaft opening and the threaded rod compressed them together to force the reverse piston down.

Ken73

Would you happen to have any of those digipics laying around for me to look at? More for curiosity's sake than anything..

BTW, here's the original thread I started with a pic of all the parts I bought.

BBA

Looks like you have most everything in check here. The sk700 kit can be a life saver too.

Did you get a kevlar band and a .500" boost valve button?

Ken73

I bought a .471" boost valve, it's in the pic in the lower left corner (you can barely see it.) I got the "updated" Borg-Warner band, and I'm hoping that since I have a Corvette - that I already have the "Corvette Servo" .. although this transmission has been rebuilt twice now (once by me, once by previous owner) so who knows what's been done to it.

I was told the Kevlar band was too harsh of a shift.. also keep in mind that this is an original '82 (first year!) 700-R4, so it's weaker than the later years.

Bruthish

PLEASE!!! let me know how it turns out...Mine is on my garage floor right now too...and I am contimplating to do the rebuild myself. I wanna do it and I wanna learn. Please let us know how it turns out!!!!

HWoods

Ken, you know Harris County Community College auto shop has a class in auto transmission rebuilds. My son took a couple of classes over there and the shop instructors are great guys, I can get you a phone number if you want to call him just to visit about your rebuild, bet he would help with some pointers if you need them. If you have never been over there, it is just like an auto dealership service center. All first class equipment. It is off Richey Road, over by the Hardy Toll road and Aldine Westfield

white90conv

I once rebuilt a TH350 and found a video I bought very useful. I also bought a video for the 700R4 but decided not to try it (I paid a lot at a shop but it has worked well). Good luck.

Ken73

A friend just sent me the video - I'm watching it now. I had some confidence in doing this before I saw it but now I'm really confident!!

I have a large heavy-duty bench that I built in my garage and I'm thinking about building a holding fixture to hold it vertical while I pull parts out. The "special tools" aren't really necessary from what I can see, either.

BBA

I feel cheated...I never had a video :cry


Ken, since it's an 82...did you get the updated 31 spline input shaft/converter/pump parts?

Ken73

The video is absolutely priceless. I'm really impressed with it. Of course once they show you a basic procedure (like removing a snap ring and using a spring compressor) they skip those parts on other assemblies, so it goes pretty quick. I'm sure it'll still take me several days to rebuild it, but that's fine as long as it turns out okay.

Unfortunately my digicam just took a huge dive, so I don't know if I'll be taking pictures or not. Depends if I can get it fixed, or borrow my father's (since he doesn't use it much.)

When I talked to the tech guy about the input shaft he said they weren't interchangable.

dgoodhue

I haven't rebuilt the 700 in my truck yet, but I have all the parts and it is my next major project on the to do list. I bought the ATSG manual which came highly recommended to me. What video did you buy?

robertpel9

i envy you guys. I went the AAMCO route. Cost me some dough but it performs great and i have a LONG warranty on it. Can't beat piece of mind.

Ken73

I didn't buy it - a friend who has rebuilt several 700R4's himself sent it to me. It's made by "Technical Video" I believe.

my02cents

Good info! Thanks guys! :cheers:

Ken, Vincent has a digital camera.

Rick86

I rebuilt my transmission in my garage without any special tools or compressors; although those items make it a lot easier it can be done without them. If you don't have to, don't mess with the valve body and if you do pay close attention to which way things came out and try to only do one valve at a time. There is no black magic invovled in rebuilding transmissions. Oh be very care when you put in the pistions because the seals could get torn very easily, mine did, so just take your time and if you have compressed air you can air test the clutch packs. If you air test keep the PSI down around 15 PSI because you could roll a seal.

Ken73

I've actually pulled apart my valve body because it was VERY dirty. The entire transmission was full of GRAY fluid, so I know something's not doing so great in there. The valve body was in good shape though, just needs a thourough cleaning. The shift kit I purchased (Transgo SK700) requires some disassembly, so I knew I was going to have to dig into it anyway. I have a little trick for pulling all the valves out - I took masking tape and made "ridges" so that it seperates all of the valves easily, and I place them in order. Having the ATSG manual also helps a LOT because it shows exactly which valve goes where.

I've already removed the governer, valve body, servos and linkage.. now I'm on to the pump - is there any trick to removing it without the fancy pump puller, or do I just need to go get the pump puller..?

BBA

Two holes are threaded into the pump body, just put long bolts in those holes and leverage off those to work it out.

As for updating the input shaft, all you have to do is buy a 31 spline pump, a 31 spline converter and a 31 spline input housing. All the other parts will work with it.