MIKER

I will probably use my floor jack to lower the transmission and it is ~6" high at its lowest point and it will raise to a height of ~20". I will have a piece of wood placed between the floor jack and the transmission pan. This will probably add ~2". So all in all, the bottom of the transmission will be about ~8" off of the floor.
How tall is a 700R4 from the bottom of the pan to the top of the housing?

We installed the transmission and engine while they were connected from the top so this is new territory for me.

Jvette73

I think I had mine up about 18" or so. You might need to tilt the trans forward and pull it out by the tail to get the top of the bell housing to clear the frame.

MIKER

I purchased four 6 Ton jack stands this afternoon. They raise to a height of 24". That should do it
Thanks for the info Jvette73.

norvalwilhelm

I made 4 posts about 20 inches high that I set the car on. I use a floor jack but made a heavy tray with a lip on 2 sides that fits nicely under the transmission oil pan. I bolt this to the floor jack. I lay newspaper in the tray then fit it under the transmission oil pan and lift it until it is taking a little load. When the transmission is disconnected and the torque convertor, slide the transmission rearward in this pan and the newpaper allows it to slid easily. lower the jack and slide the transmission and jack out. The frame rails might hit but a little tilting of th tailstock help it clear. It is a one man operation. Installation is just as easy.

gkull

What's up with the tranny? You only had it in for a little over 3 months.

MIKER

Hey gkull,
I laid it out in these earlier threads, “Lars recurve kit has been installed (money well spent!) + Transmission Failure!” http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=181371
“Do it yourselfer 700R4 rebuild? What's involved?” http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=182925
Rear gear parts vendors. Any recommendations? http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=182236


To sum it all up, I basically gambled on a used transmission and lost! The positive side of it is that this downtime will allow me to take care of a number of other things needing attention. One of my brand new engine mounts failed (drivers side of course) and needs to be replaced, I suspect my “new” torque converter is not balanced properly (based on a heavy feeling vibration) so I will have this checked and corrected if needed. I went ahead and ordered a new 3.73 ring and pinion gear along with a rebuild kit (lowest gear possible without changing the carrier). I am going to go ahead and install those new adjustable poly bushed strut rods that I purchased back in July.

I’m really excited about the transmission rebuild because of the guy who will be working on it. I would put this guy up against anybody in the transmission arena. If I can time it right, I will be able to participate in the tranny rebuild and hopefully learn something. It will be built as “bullet-proof” as a 700R4 can be. Another minor thing that I want to correct is the fact that I could not remove the inspection cover because the headers are too close to it. I plan on converting it to a two piece unit to facilitate removal in the future if needed.
Yesterday I removed the exhaust system from the headers back, removed the top 4 of 6 bell housing bolts from the transmission and today I got the car put up on the jack stands. I managed to get it up to 20” from the frame rails to the floor. That should be enough clearance for transmission removal. Also I got all of the header bolts out so that I can remove the inspection cover.
Thursday I started a 4 night run of 12 hour nightshifts so wrenching time is going to be temporarily limited. (You can usually tell when I’m on nightshift by my excessively late PM and early AM posts!)
I’m trying not to rush the whole job much. I want to take it easy and enjoy it.




[Modified by MIKER, 8:08 PM 11/16/2001]

gkull

Heat kills! :smash: So you need to do the same idea as me and Norval. You have to have a cross member that has a straight shot back from the headers. Both he and I have 3 inch pipe. I don't run the tin pan - flex plate/convert cover for heat reasons. My upper bell housing has two inch and half holes bored through it to act a a chimny at the 10 and 2 range on a clock. I used to run the 700R4 as a full manual with lockup in all four gears and a 3800 stall 10 inch with the biggest B&M cooler. (4 years) It was bad for everything behind the motor

The clutches blew in the lockup because of too much fun! :confused: So i drove it around for 1/2 a year with max slip and have since settled in on this Art Carr 9.5 inch 3000 stall three clutch with auto shift.

For the money - I would tell every one to go TKO or ROD. There is no reason to sink the money into 650-850 HP 700R4's

MIKER

My crossmember has been modified (notched for pipe clearance on drivers side. Both exhaust pipes do run straight back (albeit very close to the tranny pan).I don't currently have a temperature gauge connected to the transmission so I don't know what temperatures that it was running. What are your average temperatures? Could you detect a notable temperature difference by using an aftermarket pan? Could you see any difference after boring the holes through the bell housing?
I'm willing to run without the inspection cover, even boring the holes. What are the risks associated without the protection that the cover provides?
I've often wondered what it would be like to have my 700R4 to full manual. Sounds FUN!
I agree that there is no reason to attempt 700R4 survival behind 650-850 HP. Unfortunately I don't nearly have that annoying "650-850 HP" problem YET! Should be no problem getting one to live a long life behind my ~350-400??? HP engine

Jvette73

Has anyone tried the 4L80E in a C3? Thats the th400 version of the O/D tranny. At a sum of $3000 or so.....I bet it would hold up better. Stand alone computors are available for them so I hear.

MIKER

From what I've read here on the forum, the 4L80E is physically too large to fit into an unmodified C3's transmission tunnel. Of course you know that it can be done but the question is how badly do you want it.
The 4L80E is supposed to be a brutally strong transmission and having fully adjustable electronic control over the shift points (along with control over the firmness I think) would be the ultimate transmission as far as automatics go. Sooo much cool stuff and sooo little money!
The 4L60E will fit into a C3 and according to the guy who will be upgrading my 4L60 / 700R4 it's reliablility can be comparable to that of the 4L80E when done up correctly.
I wish that someone would come out with an attractively priced shift controller for the 4L60E/4L80E transmissions. I've heard that the controllers are ~$1000. That is a simply rediculous price for an electronic part. If the demand becomes high enough, the prices will come back down to earth.

MoMo

I probably had my Corvette up around 18 to 20 inches in front. As high as you can get it with large jack stands is the answer. When I pulled my tranny, I pulled it with the engine attached still, and angled it up as I pulled it out. It came out pretty easily actually.
The hard part by far was removing the radiator shroud! 33 year old rust can be stubborn on those bolts! Tip, soak bolts with oil several times for days before such a job.

MIKER

I JUST got my transmission out of the car about 10 minutes ago. I raised it to 20" from floor to bottom of frame rails. Thanks for the input everyone!



[Modified by MIKER, 5:45 AM 11/19/2001]