79' GMC C15 - Spruce Caboose

[bix]

Funny you say that, I had my top valley cover on backwards for year. Did the first road trip and it puked everywhere

ill definitely keep an eye on it, no real motivation to pull the balancer and cover anytime soon... although i would like a new balancer because mine has a sliiight wobble to it. I must ignore the constant push and just enjoy it for now though. Focus on little things... like rebuilding a transmission

 

[Babaganoosh]

ill definitely keep an eye on it, no real motivation to pull the balancer and cover anytime soon... although i would like a new balancer because mine has a sliiight wobble to it. I must ignore the constant push and just enjoy it for now though. Focus on little things... like rebuilding a transmission

For sure, just keep a eye on it.

 

[bix]

Almost ready to start re assembly. Just matching up steel plates a d friction disc's to make sure I have everything first. The kolene disks are a way more abrasive feeling than the stock steel clutches.

 

[bix]

Heres a photo dump of the beginning of the re-assembly. Id explain what i was doing, if only i knew... haha. Rebuild manuals are pretty straight forward on how to orientate all the pieces.

Put a new bushing in the case, and started from there.





























There are two notches in the bushing. I marked where the original ones were and copied that.






Mixed half trans fluid with some mineral spirits and tested the checkball for the servo. Case remained dry, so thats good news.

 

[bix]

Acceptable endplay on the planetaries is .008 - .028. With no side to side play, which would indicate needle bearing failure.






By placing the sun gear in the planetaries you can confirm the thrust bearing washer on the inside is good. Luckily it was, because im not sure if it can be removed without full dis-assembly of the planetary gears. The bushing in the sun gear is also going to be replaced since its not installed at this time.











Before putting the wavy steel clutch in, double checked that the parking pawl engages. If you are staring at the transmission and the valve body is facing you. The steel frictions with the notch in them go to the bottom right side, and with the notch facing left. The fully assembled end play in the clutch pack, is .125 or less. The pack ends with a friction plate, the anti clunk spring goes in and then the one way clutch assembly goes in. The upgraded Sonnax version that came with the sun shell went in the case as well, and engages with the planetaries but has a smooth shanked area as well.




































When you install the one way clutch and press down the anti clunk spring will lock into place. Snap ring goes in and then you can check the amount of play in the clutch pack. Using 30-40 psi you can also confirm the piston is functioning and see if there is play when the clutch pack is compressed.

 

[6872xtc]

Cool to see someone else doing this. We were just past this point last weekend. We had to hold up because of needing a new end plate for 2 clutch packs. They didn't show up yesterday, so no progress for us.
Hopefully you keep making progress!

 

[bix]

View attachment 20220820_173255.mp4

 

[bix]

2wd tail shaft in place. Thats a good spot to end the day on. The wife is out of town for the week and im off work, as i just quit my job and the next one doesnt start for a couple weeks. Really hoping to get this done and in the truck asap.

 

[bix]

Cool to see someone else doing this. We were just past this point last weekend. We had to hold up because of needing a new end plate for 2 clutch packs. They didn't show up yesterday, so no progress for us.
Hopefully you keep making progress!

Better to be set back than not notice the need for new parts. I definitely had to keep waiting on parts. Didnt know id need bushing... then a driver set.. then thrust washers . So far so good though. I Havent ran into anything to replace yet so thats good. Hoping the pump is good and stator ect... Hope you get the parts sooner than later, and do you find it more fun that you thought? I really ended up enjoying the process so far.

 

[Chevy305]

With how small the parking prawl is I'm shocked so many people use it in the most awful of ways and you rarely hear about one breaking.

 

[mrk5]

With how small the parking prawl is I'm shocked so many people use it in the most awful of ways and you rarely hear about one breaking.

I agree.

I have broken one myself. It was a th350 in my 75 K5. Threw it into park while the truck was still moving. Don't remember the details now but it was a panic thing.

 

[6872xtc]

Better to be set back than not notice the need for new parts. I definitely had to keep waiting on parts. Didnt know id need bushing... then a driver set.. then thrust washers . So far so good though. I Havent ran into anything to replace yet so thats good. Hoping the pump is good and stator ect... Hope you get the parts sooner than later, and do you find it more fun that you thought? I really ended up enjoying the process so far.

Yes, it has been fun. My 4L80E last year had me nervous about success since it was the first full build for me. Now we are feeling a little more confident, and with all of the upgrades that he is doing with this 4L60E, we are both excited to see the end result.
We did a vacuum test on the valve body and have to repair several bores. That will be more education.

 

[bix]

Yes, it has been fun. My 4L80E last year had me nervous about success since it was the first full build for me. Now we are feeling a little more confident, and with all of the upgrades that he is doing with this 4L60E, we are both excited to see the end result.
We did a vacuum test on the valve body and have to repair several bores. That will be more education.

Do you know what testing tool he got for the valvebody? hows the 4l80 holding up?

With how small the parking prawl is I'm shocked so many people use it in the most awful of ways and you rarely hear about one breaking.

Yea it really isnt anything special. I had a buddy toss his truck in park while moving, like mrk5 mentioned also. One reason i want to upgrade to the wilwood rear disks that have the brake shoes as a parking break. I avoid all hills when parking with the pawl... plus when i stab a manual in here id loose that anyhow. Something to keep in mind for later

 

[6872xtc]

4L80E is doing great! We did a Transgo shift kit in it, with a convertor from Phoenix Transmission.
He bought a test kit with the big lexan plate, and a repair kit from Sonnax. He went all out. He decided to go full boat on this one, as he has bought a lot of upgrades, knowing that it's overkill. This last week has pushed the total number up again, but it should be final for purchases.
He has to decide on what sizes for the separator plate holes soon.

 

[bix]

4L80E is doing great! We did a Transgo shift kit in it, with a convertor from Phoenix Transmission.
He bought a test kit with the big lexan plate, and a repair kit from Sonnax. He went all out. He decided to go full boat on this one, as he has bought a lot of upgrades, knowing that it's overkill. This last week has pushed the total number up again, but it should be final for purchases.
He has to decide on what sizes for the separator plate holes soon.

Those kits look nice though! I was thinking of buying the plate and making my own vacuum gauge set up.

 

[bix]

Yesterday when i tried to get the final snap ring in the tailshaft.. i couldnt. I just left it until today and i tried again for awhile before i started thinking about why im a 1/16th short ... I had re-installed the black tab thrust spacer and when i re read the sonnax instructions, it states to dispose of that due to the thrust bearing washer. Once removed the snap ring went right in when i re installed it. I could now move on to installing the 3-4 zpak.



Two steel plates and two frictions go first.

 

[bix]

I havent checked the gap with any feelers yet but will.

 

[bix]

Finished up the input drum today. I had to re stack the friction plates because i had them orientated wrong. Most of the friction and steels dont seem to be easy to mis align, but these could be the easier ones to mess up.. or atleast i did. Checked final clearance as per the z pak instructions. Important to check at 180 locations to ensure you havent compressed the plates up tight to the top plate, on the other side of the drum. Clearance was .050 to 0.70 iirc..























Clearance on the reverse clutch pack is .040 to .085 and the first time i assembled them i had about .020. I then saw in the ATSG manual, that there is two thickness types of plates, and it ensures you need 4 friction and 4 steels in there along with the bottom conical plate first and beveled plate last. I ended up using the two smallest OE ones, and two of the kolene clutches.

 

[bix]

Started on the pump today. Got it fully taken apart now, and re assembling with some sonnax upgrades that came in the performance package like a pump spring that replaces the double stock one. A new boost and reverse pin, and spring.


I also left the orings for the input shaft on my seal stretcher device over night by accident... needless to say they were a tad too stretched.. Will need to order some more before i re install. Been thinking of a summit order anyway with a torque converter.. the one that came with this trans cant be trusted its even clean inside. Thinking of getting an converter with a 2400-2600 stall.

 

[bix]

Vane pump disassembled and cleaned up... all parts washed, brake cleaned and then sprayed with air. Pressed new bushings where needed and double checked the bushing on the torque converter snout...

The pile of replaced parts is getting bigger. Figured id keep them for reference until its done.

More disassembly photo vomit..