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how can i get more power from my 454?

Yeah true story. They seem nice enough guys. It's probably in my head... after all the bs with this thing I think anyone would be a little paranoid and pissy lol
 
kgblazerfive said:
What trans shop?
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Intermountain transmission. The company I got the torque converter from specifically wanted this shop to look at it. Something about them building amazing custom torque converters so they will be the best to identify the issue if it's transmission related. I don't really think they are out joyriding it but he said it would take an hour. It's been 2 days and I got a bad vibe from one guy there. Just some comments he made on the phone.
 
hahaha these guys have no idea where its coming from he said he cant say for sure one way or the other however he is leaning towards ( AN ENGINE BALANCE ISSUE!!!) wonderful! he wants to unbolt the torque converter and rev it up and see if that changes anything .

I may take it home and do it myself.. this is really getting stupid.
 
It's a simple process of elimination IMO, pull the trans back and see if it still vibrates. I'd be telling those guys to do that or your picking the truck up.
 
I spoke with my engine builder, and the shop that did the install. they both told me toget it out of that shop and to take it back to them. I'll drop it off on monday and have them tinker with it. I feel better hearing two things from the shop that currently has it. They said " Yes there is a bad shake, this is a major problem and needs to be addressed quickly" "also this is not inside the transmission or a driveline issue this is at the TC or forward " .
The reason this makes me feel better is everything TC forward has a warranty on it :)
Sometimes its the little victories. lol
 
well it has been 3 weeks and i still don't have an answer. the best we can come up with is " Replace the torque converter and flex plate and see if that fixes the problem, If it doesn't then we need to replace the harmonic balancer and see...." ( i have an externally balanced crank) so maybe something i have isnt matched well with the new crank even though it was an oem replacement.

three shops have looked at it and three shops have said " There's a shake, cant tell if its in the TC or the engine. the easiest place to start is flex plate and TC"
Everyone agrees to just do the flex plate just in case this one is warped or something from being mounted so many times and sitting in so many different shops.

It really sucks and I hate to be negative but I really am pretty much done wit this project. It has become more stress than its worth.

on the same note, the shake seems to change all the time... today i drove it to work, low RPM kinda just cruising i would hit pockets of vibration, id bring the rpm up a little it would go away, today when i got on it pretty hard in 2nd + the vibration wasn't as bad as it was... the last shop didnt unbolt anything nothing and has changed except more miles on the truck.

one question that is coming up is could this have anything to do with my new cam? It's a little more aggressive than the last one I did.... I'm just shooting in the dark here... could a big cam in a BBC have weird vibrations under different conditions?

Cam Specs
Brand:Crane Cams

Manufacturer's Part Number:139011

Part Type:Camshafts

Product Line:Crane Hydraulic Roller Camshafts

Summit Racing Part Number:CRN-139011


UPC:021174125184

Cam Style:Hydraulic roller tappet

Basic Operating RPM Range:1,600-5,600

Intake Duration at 050 inch Lift:226

Exhaust Duration at 050 inch Lift:234

Duration at 050 inch Lift:226 int./234 exh.

Advertised Intake Duration:288

Advertised Exhaust Duration:296

Advertised Duration:288 int./296 exh.

Intake Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio:0.587 in.

Exhaust Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio:0.610 in.

Valve Lift with Factory Rocker Arm Ratio:0.587 int./0.610 exh.

Lobe Separation (degrees):112

Computer-Controlled Compatible:No

Grind Number:ZHR-288-2S-12 IG ZCAM

Valve Springs Required:Yes
 
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A cam could cause a lumpy idle, but that would smooth out w/ rpms. Can't remember it's been a couple of weeks now - has anyone looked at the driveline angles? Pinion angle will change w/ spring wrap.
 
seems odd that they would be willing to throw a flex plate or balancer at an engine that had been balanced? Should be able to unbolt the converter and push it back to run the engine without it.
 
JoshHefnerX said:
A cam could cause a lumpy idle, but that would smooth out w/ rpms. Can't remember it's been a couple of weeks now - has anyone looked at the driveline angles? Pinion angle will change w/ spring wrap.
Click to expand...

no.... however, it didnt shake with the last 3 builds that had almost the exact same specs. I'm sure its putting down a little more power than it was but that wouldn't explain the now shaking under light cruising or why hitting the lockup switch would smooth it out. or why i can get the vibration in park... its just seems to be amplified by load. everyone that has looked at it has eliminated anything outside the TC or engine.

The only changes that have been made since it drove like glass last has been a new slightly more aggressive roller cam, a new crank and the stall converter. other than that nothing at all is different from the last 3 builds.

And yeah i expected/desired a lumpy idle. that's one of the best parts of having a nice cam :)
 
black dawg said:
seems odd that they would be willing to throw a flex plate or balancer at an engine that had been balanced? Should be able to unbolt the converter and push it back to run the engine without it.
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The machine shop said he didnt have to make any adjustments to the weight so swapping the flex plate with another OE flex plate wont effect the balance.
They said that simply unbolting and sliding the TC back is a bad test because it takes all the load off the engine so it will behave differently

This is all info I am being fed from the three shops that have looked at it now. they all seem to agree on this basic stuff.
 
If it will shake in N or park, pushing the converter back will rule out anything to do with the engine if the shake is gone.
 
black dawg said:
If it will shake in N or park, pushing the converter back will rule out anything to do with the engine if the shake is gone.
Click to expand...
"They said that simply unbolting and sliding the TC back is a bad test because it takes all the load off the engine so it will behave differently"
Remember load seems to change the way it vibrates... lets say the flex plate is slightly warped.... if i detach the TC from the flex plate and run the engine, that slight warp probably wont be amplified enough to feel because there is less weight on the flex plate.
 
black dawg said:
Vibrations suck.....load may be just changing the way the vibration is transfered.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree 100%!
And yes you nailed it on the head.
It really sucks because I am hyper sensitive to vibrations and I would seriously sell a vehicle over it... I dropped over 7k last year in my daily trying to track down a shake that 90% of the people in this world wouldn't even notice. This is especially annoying to me because this truck was so dang smooth before it wasn't even funny. I spent a lot of time making sure this thing drove nice.
another member on here @72gmck5 has actually driven my truck and can definitely agree to how smooth it was.
 
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