th350 no 2nd gear, what to upgrade?

frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
ill just lead with, i am probably into the needing a th400 territory at this point, but finding one around here with a matching transfer case and a reasonable price just doesnt seem to happen, which is why i ended up with the th350/205 combo the begin with

so, background, truck has a 383 with dart iron eagle heads, 10.4:1, erson retro fit roller cam 286/294 .548/.548 lift, 750cfm quick fuel carb

the trans has a full TCI transmission kit, with a hardened outer race for the sprag, ATI input shaft(twisted the stock one off)hughes 2500 stall converter, very firm shift kit

truck has 4.56's 33' tires and weighs in at 6200 lbs

was driving to the gym saturday, was shifting really weird, would do ok in 1st and 3rd, felt like 2 is slipping, i can manually shift through the gears, 2 slips to 4-5000 rpms, lift and it will shift into 3rd, nothing wrong with 3rd.

leaving the gym i payed more attention, it s pretty much shifting from 1-3, rpms build real high in 1, then it dogs a bit into 3rd, checked the fluid, fluid is a nice bright red(royal purple) small amount of black "powder" on the stick, which makes me think the clutches arent the issue, ive read alot about the intermediate sprag shattering,

havent torn it down yet, i need it to move on its own for a little longer....looking at the 36 element drump upgrade from tci auto, anyone use one? any other suggested hard parts i should put in it while its apart?

just thought id see what you guys thought
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
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I did it with 11:1 383sbc.. Then manned up went to a th400 with shift kit, red eagles and kolene steels sprag up grade (34)The put a ~400/550 HP/TQ BBC with a 2000 stall TC in front of it.
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
7,835
280
83
42
in the buckeye state
It's all in this right now
11800601_10206488591507128_2486683284305575328_n.jpg
 

malibu795

misspeelleerr
Apr 28, 2007
7,835
280
83
42
in the buckeye state
75 K20 d60 open/ 14B spooled 4.10, 315/70/17, cross over steering, 52"/64" spring swap netted ~3.5" lift, 203 right now got PS drop 241 I need to SYE and swap to 32spline input.
Also have a 4l80 pre 97 transmission to go in it.. Prefer 98 and new.. But it was a barter
Where are you located... I got 2 th350 collecting dust
 

frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
im in fairbanks alaska.....a ways away, i have a spare th350, but i need to to the one that in it, i had the direct apply piston machined down to fit more clutches,

heres a pic of mine, 74' 14ff with a lockright, a very sad D44, 4.56's 285/75/16's, 4'' front springs, ORD shackle flip in the back
 

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frankenstien

Member
May 25, 2015
587
2
18
Fairbanks,Alaska
so, finally got some time to take it apart, she is one sad panda, i had to pry and beat the intermediate clutch drum off the front pump, not to mention how much a bitch it was to get the front pump out

the larger bushing from the intermediate drum spun and stuck to the pump, the 2 sets of clutches i looked at looked good/ok. also broke the race, it WAS a hardened outer race

trans is about 8 years old and has had alot of abuse, and its my first trans ive built

need to get some better snap ring pliers to get the rest apart, and waiting on my other parts.

thinking im going to see if the machine shop can run the case though a parts washer or hot tank of some sort, alot of nasty shit floating around, even had some in the back side of the lip seal of the messed up drum
 

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Bonestock

Active member
Aug 9, 2010
1,358
1
38
Worland Wy
You will also need a compreesor tool if you are going to remove lowand reverse piston to clean inspect all passage ways.