The Shop Truck

[r3dd0g]

Lokar says to check it by putting in the correct amount of fluid in and verifying it reads correctly. This was a custom setup that already had fluid in it along with a trans cooler. I had no way of knowing how much fluid was required.
They don't need to add that step, that's a cya step to put the blame on the customer when it's wrong. They should be calibrating the dipsticks to read full at 1/4-1/8" above the gasket surface which doesn't require installation.

 

[r3dd0g]

The parts showed up today, I'm totally blown away that Gearstar sent me $1000+ worth of parts for free because a dipstick I didn't even buy from them wasn't calibrated correctly.

 

[76zimmer]

That says a lot about them!
Nice score.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Gearstar is on the list of a place I would buy a transmission from, it’s going to be hard to not get one from Greg though. It’s been amazing for 7 years.

 

[Truckman4life]

Perhaps they have seen the attention your truck was getting at the last event.

 

[r3dd0g]

Perhaps they have seen the attention your truck was getting at the last event.

I'm not sure, but they didn't even throw in any stickers.

 

[Truckman4life]

I'm not sure, but they didn't even throw in any stickers.

What the hell!!

 

[r3dd0g]

What the hell!!

Right? I would have def put one or two on the truck because of the free parts.

 

[r3dd0g]

The transmission is going back together, slowly! Last week I modified everything that needed clearanced for the new driveshaft.
Widened driveshaft loop.

Widened carrier bearing crossmember cutout, including a removable bottom section to simplify driveshaft installation, I don't think I could have installed it the way I did with the smaller shaft. I also had to cut the mounting plate for the air tank, install spacers under the two sides and raise the middle section.

Transmission guts being reassembled after cleanup and replacing seals.

I had to order some 45° feeler gages so I can measure clearance on the clutch packs, as well as a seal installer/shrinker for the seals that go on the shaft that I'm replacing. I'm hoping to be reinstalling the transmission by Wednesday. I'll still need to do some wiring for the new sensor block and trans brake, but the truck will be drivable without that and it will be easier to do that with it off the lift.
Duct Tape Drags starts Friday the 16th and we also just signed up for a new "Drag and Drive" that's at Tucson Dragway on November 27/28.
Sick also announced that they're doing Sick in the Desert next year together with Radford Racing School (Firebird Motorsports Park). This one is supposed to be Drag and Drive, Drift and Drive, Track and Drive as well as Offroad and Drive. They're branching out... I know Firebird has tracks for all of that, but I'm not sure who else does, maybe we won't all be going to the same places?

 

[r3dd0g]

Progress is slow, the book sucks, not to mention that with all the upgrades in this transmission it doesn't even match what I have. I found a good youtube channel that's covering rebuilding a performance 4l80e so it better matches what I'm doing and the guy is going through it step by step. I actually took everything apart again and watched his video as I assembled it to make sure I get it right.
Here's his channel and these are the 3 videos I'm using to assemble the trans.
https://www.youtube.com/@nickstransmissions

 

[Babaganoosh]

Progress is slow, the book sucks, not to mention that with all the upgrades in this transmission it doesn't even match what I have. I found a good youtube channel that's covering rebuilding a performance 4l80e so it better matches what I'm doing and the guy is going through it step by step. I actually took everything apart again and watched his video as I assembled it to make sure I get it right.
Here's his channel and these are the 3 videos I'm using to assemble the trans.
https://www.youtube.com/@nickstransmissions

I will have to save these for a rainy day, it’s one of the last things I haven’t touched on my truck.

 

[r3dd0g]

Well crap, I spent over an hour trying to get the direct drum installed before I finally started taking the transmission back apart to see what was wrong. They sent me the wrong clutch pack for the intermediate clutches. Apparently my direct drum has been modified to use a Ford C6 style sprag on the back and it needs C6 direct clutches instead of the 4l80e intermediate clutches. They are larger in the center diameter and have 64 splines vs 47.
I managed to get ahold of Gearstar and I'm trying to get them to send me the parts I need expedited, even if I have to pay. 1 week until DTD... They also sent different (thicker) steels than what were in it, so I'll likely need the thinner steels too.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Bummer, surprised they didn't have the trans on file to look up or know.

 

[r3dd0g]

I was surprised when I got the transmission that it didn't come with a build sheet telling me what was in it. I don't know if they keep those records or what, but I'm pretty disappointed. Their shop manager is supposed to call me, but I haven't heard from them today and it's already 7PM in Ohio so I'm not expecting to.
If I was sure of what I need, I would just order it from somewhere else.

 

[r3dd0g]

I talked to Gearstar this morning, they have the parts and I paid for next day air shipping. Hopefully I can get the trans back together and installed this weekend.
Apparently they changed which direct drum they used around the same time I ordered my transmission so they weren't sure which one was in it. Why they didn't ask before they just shipped parts or why they didn't have a build sheet of what they put in my transmission is another story.

 

[r3dd0g]

Well, after way more issues and complications than I want to talk about.....

The only thing left is reinstalling the torque converter.
The clutches and steels showed up at about 11 today. They're not Raybestos stage 1, which is what they put in there before, in fact they're not Raybestos clutches at all and I'm not sure what they are, so hopefully it's something similar. Most things went as good as you can expect when assembling an automatic transmission, until we got to the Rosslock. It installed just fine, but the oil feed tube wanted to occupy the same space as one of the solenoids. For reference, this is what the oil feed line looked like from the factory.

After an hour of carefully bending and straightening and wrestling it looked like this and seemed to be secure.

Then I tried to put the pan on and realized it hit... After another hour of carefully reshaping the tube I managed this.

I would like to add at this point that the Rosslock instructions don't say anything about this tube or modifying it, or plugging off the holes (which is an option I guess???), I just had to figure it out and make it work.
This is just a shot showing the extended oil filter tube for the deep pan, this is from before the second round of modifications to the oil tube.

Tomorrow we'll install the torque converter and put the truck back together. I still need to do some wiring and mount the new sensor block somewhere, but I'm finally past fixing the transmission(hopefully).