Anyone have any experience rebuilding a TH350 trans? If so, any pointers? I am attempting to rebuild my first starting this weekend or early next week. Wish me luck..oooh: :big_smile:
iys a lot less aggrivation toget a rebuilt one ,I used 350th in drag cars and rebuilt a couple ,its not to bad but alot easer to R&R
Yeah I could just get one but figured what the helk I'd use the opportunity to learn something new since I never have done one. I ordered a good book on them. Gotta pull it out of the camaro this weekend....unless the fishin is good then it will have to wait till Monday.
Mike best advice I can give you is to pay close attention to all snap rings and make sure you note if they are flat or concaved and make sure you get them in the right side up,and coat all o-rings with stp to help from not cutting them when installing,make sure all clutch packs are within tolerance after putting together,and make sure all parts are super clean,one small shaving or piece of grit will ruin your whole job,clean the valve body super clean with brake clean and make sure no valves are sticking,and when you put it together make sure all bolts are torqued properly,it is important--hope this helps you out and good luck ,you might want to check on a shift kit for better shift performance, it helps a lot and makes the shifts more positive,they cost around 60 to 80 bucks depending on what you want
while i have never rebuit a auto tranny, i have lil experience w/trans. I like to look at a digagram. of the trans. as i tear it down. This way i can pick out the parts and see if it shows which way everything fits together for reassembly, and it has helped jog my memory a time or two. i have run into books not showing a spacer or which way one goes. I have also run into shafts that u can't tell one end from the other, except for a minor difference, which usually results into a major difference if it gets swaped end to end. Paint markers come off to easlly and engraves can ruin some pieces. have also had to wash parts twice, changing solvent in between and some pices still look clean, but after a lil scrapping, more fine metal grindings still yet. anything that shares oil with the tranny ought to b cleaned so ur not wasting ur time and money. would love to see some pics, as i will eventually wind up working on one in the future.
Also keep a spray bottle with clean trans fluid in it during disassembly and reassembly.I have not done any Chevy trans but have done a few Ford AOD's and C4 C6 trans. A coffee can of trans fluid and a spray bottle of it will help as you go along.Another thing even better than the STP is Trans Jelly it dissolves readily in trans fluid and is designed specificly for rebuilds.(it is or used to be very inexpensive) Diagram everything as you take it apart as said before make notes as you go noting things like beveled snap rings and the seals. In my experience if you can read a Haynes or Chilton manual and overhaul an engine a Transmission isnt much different but as with engine rebuilds cleanliness is essential even more so with Transmissions. Good luck and have fun
Thanks for all the advice. I ended up pulling it and taking it to a local shop that builds alot of them and also builds alot of race trans. He only charged me $315 for a complete rebuild, new steels and all and a mild shift kit. I dropped it off at 1:00 in the afternoon and it was ready first thing in the morning. By the time I bought a full rebuild kit, a shift kit and a couple of the special tools I would need I would have spent over $200 anyway. So figured let the pro do it and get it back on the road since my son needed it to drive. It shifts awesome now, it really woke up the power on the car, must have been slipping alot before. I have a Turbo 400 in the garage that I may put in my monte carlo when I put the new motor in. Maybe I'll try to do that one since it won't be a rush job to get it on the road.
I've only rebuilt one automotive auto. Used to do Allyson AT, MT, AND HD's for a living though. Still have a capful of petroleum jelly in my tollbox for the o-rings. transjelly and petroleum jelly are the exact same thing. Both run cheap too. One other thing i noticed that no one else said yet is when you're torquing the valve body, do it in a circular pattern starting with the center-most bolt. Also, make sure you step up your torque. It'll probably be 10-12 lb*ft. so do them all at 8, then go through again and do them at 11. That's how I was taught in diesel school and when i worked at detriot diesel doing the allysons. And last but definitely not least, Good luck.:wink:
