Hey guys. Back in the spring I bought a T roadster with a Chevy 350/700R4 in it. I'm trying to determine what may be done to the transmission. I'd like to make a few improvements. Unfortunately the local guy that built the tranny has since passed away so asking him is not an option. The guy I bought the car from didn't build said car and had no idea. Anyway, it most definitely has a shift kit in it. It shifts hard, chirping the tires into 2nd and 3rd. At about 40-45mph, it shifts itself into overdrive. There is no wiring connected to the trans. When I first got the car it shifted way early. I found the TV cable was grossly out of adjustment. As it is set up now, the cable is fully extended at WOT. The Edelbrock carb has a cable relocation bracket on it. After adjustment, the trans seems to behave "normally" upshifting and downshifting at appropriate times. I did recently have the pan off to fix the leaky pan gasket and the fluid looked very good. There was practically no residue or metal in the pan. From what I've read, having the TV cable that misadjusted would have caused a failure. I've put on several hundred miles since adjusting also with no ill effects. My main complaint is that the thing tries to pull through the brakes at idle. If I'm sitting at a light for an extended period I shift it into neutral because I have to stand on the brake so hard. The engine does have a large cam in it so it needs to idle around 900rpm. That could be part of the issue. The torque converter is also unknown, but it looks new and is painted a bright green. I've done a bit of research and found that TCI makes a constant pressure valve body shift kit. Does what I'm describing sound like it could have one of those? Does the color of the TC clue anybody in as to a manufacturer? I'm thinking that a looser converter may help my issue, but I'm really not sure what I should be looking at as far as stall speed, and I'm unsure if I need something specific for the shift kit that's in it. The car weighs maybe 2000lbs with me in it and has 3.55 gears with 29" rear tires. Anyone have any thoughts?
Sounds like you need a little higher stall convertor or smaller cam. Big cams and stock convertors don't play well together. I would weigh the car and give a convertor company that info along with what you know about the motor. They can recommend or build a convertor to work better.
With no wires to the trans, I would say your torque converter does not have the lockup feature, which is fine. My rod is set up like that. Not sure why that was chosen. If you order a new torque converter, I'd suggest you get the lockup feature. Also need to hook that up so it locks in O/D and unlocks when it shifts out of O/D.
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