A few months ago, Joyo and I coasted into Austin on our return trip from Ohio with a tranny making funny noises. It still shifted fine, but the sound resonating from under '60 Chevrolet wagon sure did sound fatal. The high dollar 700R4 from Art Carr ... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
You sound like a checkbook rodder........ I'm beginning to hate AT's.....my trans was acting up @ a month ago on the way to a small show, I didn't make it home...it ate itself on the way. But luckily, I had a supposedly "rebuilt" TH400 under my bench, so I swapped trans and held my breath....it works! Got me going for the following weekend. Next rod will be a 4 speed...... Say, are 700R4's mounts in same location as TH350's?
That was all Bob Bleed man... I know he hates doing it, but he is damn good at it. Maybe he will speak up. I'm not an auto guy either (hot rods have 3 pedals)... I'm too stupid to work on them and frankly, they aren't nearly as fun to drive. But this is my wife's car... and she needs an auto. And no, mounts are different...
Rule of thumb from my past experiences is to keep your spare parts. No matter how big or small. Trust is a bitch when it comes to mechanical services. Can you get your old transmission back?
Good to see you got the troubles fixed. As a wagon owner I've read all your issues with great interest. I'm planning on getting the bearings and ujoints serviced on mine soon. After I re-do the front suspension that is.
I have 2 cars that are identical. 1 with auto and 1 with top-loader. The one with tha auto is the family car-LOL and the 1 with the 4 gear we call the intimidator. They drive like 2 different cars even though they're alike >>>>.
It's still at a local tranny shop... I've had a rough couple of months and just haven't been able to mentally deal with the possibility. Sometimes it's better for your health to ignore. On top of that, I'm beginning to think that it might have been hurt. I'm getting around 22mpg now when I was getting about 14mpg. Granted, the first tranny didn't have a lock-up converter (just silly) but I can't imagine the difference of 400rpm at 70mph having that great of an effect on gas mileage. But, who knows... I'm happy with my new tranny and glad I have it over the Art Carr.
With any old car the deeper you look the more you can find to blame. Sounds like you looked deep in the wrong spot and found unrelated badness. Happens all the time, don't beat yourself up over it. A dragging carrier bearing could've been partially to blame for the mpg deal. Happy motoring
While the reply above said don't sweat it or second guess, I'd get the old trans back. Somebody near you needs one and can freshen it up themselves. My spin is how much I hate the "good money after bad" thing that can affect all of us at one time or another. Stress? Getting it back is a major stress reliever if I got everything I read from the topic/blog post. It still drove you home. It's probably re-buildable. It therefore has a value to a fellow enthusiast. And yes, a non lock-up convertor, and a bad mid bearing can wreak havoc on mileage, especially in a car like that where every lil bit helps. Glad to see you got some resolve and peace of mind for your "family car".
When it comes to tranny's insist on being there for the tear down. They have so many parts laying around it is just too easy to say the f'd up parts were yours. Plus the guy tearing it down figures you have to replace a ton of stuff with just the tear down so why not do everything while you are in there. Just doesn't make sense to change one part. As far as the converter, heck yeah that lock up will make all the difference in the world. Otherwise you are just generating heat. Also they probably spec'd your converter to your car rather than a generic one. I bought a $900 Performance Industries converter for a 700r4 car and it was day and night compared to the off the shelf unit. Doesn't Gearstar use Yank converters?? On the same level if not better depending on who you talk to. Hope you flushed or changed the cooler while you were at it?? Good luck
Just what I was thinking. You should get the Art Carr back though, what's done is done. Who can afford to leave good or rebuild-able parts behind? If you don't want it, you could sell it or give it away.
Driveline noises transmit throughout the whole car sometimes...we chased quite a few before replacing the carrier in our '60 El Camino... You're not the only one who has chased the noises around Ryan... Glad it worked out, sorry it was so costly...20+ MPG is great in a big wagon though. Makes the trips a lot cheaper. Todd
Aren't these old cars fun? Hey Ryan, any chance of seeing some more picture's of the family truckster? I love wagon's but haven't seen much of yours.
They are available through me- no up sell on my part- just helping a good friend with his business. I can get anyone a GREAT deal on a Gearstar transmission that will out perform ANY trans on the market for less than any of the competitors. When Gearstar does a trans ALL the moving parts are replaced- NOT just the worn out ones like all the other shops (even then they leave many toasted parts behind with a high failure rate). Gearstar has only had 3 transmissions returned in all their years of business because people are just that happy with them and they do not fail. If you have a 400hp car they build you a trans that will take 750hp because they never want to be the weak link- But at the same time, like the case with Ryan, as well as performance their transmissions also provide excellent fuel economy. Let me know if anyone has a need and we will get you an excellent transmission. I know Ryan mentioned "expensive" in reference to Gearstar- but I was told the price and I'm confident no shop could even come close with a generic "recondition"- let alone a custom built bullet-proof trans built to order. Very happy the trans worked out Ryan- maybe your "grocery getter" will hit the track next year because I know that trans will take whatever you can throw at it! Thanks, Jim
Glad to hear you got her back on the road! My wife and I built the 700R4 in the '50 Burb, and so far so good. It was a fun, satisfying weekend together. I watch it like a hawk, 'cause you know old Murphy and his Law's right behind ya! Amazing how precise those TV cable adjustments get
I thought I had heard that Art Carr is no longer affiliated with his own name transmissions/shop? It seems after he lost the rights to his own name being on a trans, he started CPT (California Performance Transmissions) http://www.cpttransmission.com/ Maybe thats why you werent given any help on your old trans...My friend was having troubles with his "Art Carr" trans and when he called the company they just shrugged it off...then he got in contact with Art the person and he was very helpful in pointing him in the right direction....