Newb questions about th400 and torque converter

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Frankenchevy

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I slid my torque converter out of my transmission to clean the inside of the bell housing. The truck is on a very slight downhill and the transmission may have also been pointing even more downhill as it is currently being held up by a ratchet strap. A small Dribble of transmission fluid came from around the shaft where the torque converter slides on, but subsided after giving the ratchet strap a few clicks to get it pointed back uphill. I imagine this is normal to fill the tc with fluid, but I just wanted to make sure.

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I am happy with the way this torque converter feels for lack of a better term, but I was curious if anyone could identify it and might possibly know what stall it may be. It has a sticker with an M on the transmission side and also a sticker on the flexplate side that says 4M and then in a smaller portion of the front sticker the numbers 8655 017. All the way around the perimeter it has a stamping of ‘D 4’ and as you can see from the pictures, it is a 6 bolt converter.

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Thanks in advance!
 

Frankenchevy

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Also, I am looking for transmission mounts. When I input K 30 at rock auto or summit racing I do not come up with anything that looks like what I have. Attached are the only two photos that I have of what I need on my truck. The photos are kind of dark as I took them earlier on a rainy day. Only the 2 C shaped pieces that straddle the crossmember are rubber.
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DoubleDingo

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Those mounts look similar to the bell housing mounts on my '65. Let me see if I can dig up a photo so you can compare.

Didn't have a photo of those mounts.
 
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DoubleDingo

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You're welcome. Must be a heavy duty setup. I know my engine and transmission DO NOT budge while under load. With the engine mounts and bell housing mounts they are solid to the frame. I bet yours doesn't rotate much under load either, those mounts have to hold it all in place a little better than the TH400 or TH350 mounts.
 

Frankenchevy

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You're welcome. Must be a heavy duty setup. I know my engine and transmission DO NOT budge while under load. With the engine mounts and bell housing mounts they are solid to the frame. I bet yours doesn't rotate much under load either, those mounts have to hold it all in place a little better than the TH400 or TH350 mounts.

Maybe a CUCV thing. I’ve heard that even 85 and 86 cucv trucks use a lot of 84 parts. Needless to say, it gets confusing sometimes.

What is your setup originally intended for?
 

DoubleDingo

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These old trucks all came like that. They were designed to work. I think even down to the C10's the mounts were like that. Engine mounts, bell housing mounts, and no transmission mounts, the transmission floats off the back. I don't think any came with an automatic transmission, if so I've never seen one unless it was swapped in. @HotRodPC can clarify because he had a '64 back in his racing days.
 

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I guess “they don’t build them like they used to” kinda applies here
 

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These old trucks all came like that. They were designed to work. I think even down to the C10's the mounts were like that. Engine mounts, bell housing mounts, and no transmission mounts, the transmission floats off the back. I don't think any came with an automatic transmission, if so I've never seen one unless it was swapped in. @HotRodPC can clarify because he had a '64 back in his racing days.

I know exactly what you're talking about. The crossmember was riveted into the frame. The cast iron bellhousing mounted to that crossmember with mounts and pads similar to an NP203 or NP205 transfer case mounts. The 64 up for sure did have Auto trans available. You could easily tell an auto trans truck because it did NOT have the riveted in crossmember for the bellhousing. You see you have a crossmember back there anyway though and it's for your Park brake linkage with the swivel arm that pulls the cable on both rear wheels. Well, it you had an auto trans, the crossmember was dual purpose for both the rear trans mount and the park brake linkage.

The beauty in my 64 GMC and why I was able to have many combinations is because the Th350 short tail was the same length as the bellhousing and a Muncie M20, M21 and M22 4 speeds. So when I used an M22 Rockcrusher, all I had to do was switch the yoke on the driveshaft. But the Th350 and Muncie M21 used the same crossmember and the same driveshaft. I used a Hurst Comp Plus for the Muncies and a B&M Quicksilver for the Autos. So in the swap, all I have to do was hang or hung the clutch pedal and reinstall or uninstall the Z bar clutch linkage. I had that truck set up nicely to run whatever combo I wanted in it. I had a small box of parts I kept together with the clutch pedal and linkage, 3 different throttle linkage rods, for 6 cyl, small and big block. The Th350 Detent cable bracket was also in that box with the Auto shifter if I was running the Muncie 4 speed. Guys cracked the hell up. I could show up to race 1 Friday night and be a Th350 with a 427 and the next Friday be a Muncie 4 speed with a small block. Then one week showed up and even had a 230 Inline 6 with a Muncie 4 speed. They freaked. Nope, not racing this weekend, freshening up my engine. I'll be ready next Friday though. Every combo under the sun in that truck and all bolt in parts. No cutting or welding or micky mouse ********. It was a 2pc driveshaft even, so I had 2 different front halfs. 1 front half was for the Th350 and Muncies, the other front half for for Th400's. I just took the rear section down to the driveline shop and told them what I needed for fixed yoke Th400 and they balanced those 2 pcs and I made then use the same REAR pc mark as my mark for the other front section so all I had to do with slip the rear pc off and line up the arrows and good to go.
 

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I know exactly what you're talking about. The crossmember was riveted into the frame. The cast iron bellhousing mounted to that crossmember with mounts and pads similar to an NP203 or NP205 transfer case mounts. The 64 up for sure did have Auto trans available. You could easily tell an auto trans truck because it did NOT have the riveted in crossmember for the bellhousing. You see you have a crossmember back there anyway though and it's for your Park brake linkage with the swivel arm that pulls the cable on both rear wheels. Well, it you had an auto trans, the crossmember was dual purpose for both the rear trans mount and the park brake linkage.

The beauty in my 64 GMC and why I was able to have many combinations is because the Th350 short tail was the same length as the bellhousing and a Muncie M20, M21 and M22 4 speeds. So when I used an M22 Rockcrusher, all I had to do was switch the yoke on the driveshaft. But the Th350 and Muncie M21 used the same crossmember and the same driveshaft. I used a Hurst Comp Plus for the Muncies and a B&M Quicksilver for the Autos. So in the swap, all I have to do was hang or hung the clutch pedal and reinstall or uninstall the Z bar clutch linkage. I had that truck set up nicely to run whatever combo I wanted in it. I had a small box of parts I kept together with the clutch pedal and linkage, 3 different throttle linkage rods, for 6 cyl, small and big block. The Th350 Detent cable bracket was also in that box with the Auto shifter if I was running the Muncie 4 speed. Guys cracked the hell up. I could show up to race 1 Friday night and be a Th350 with a 427 and the next Friday be a Muncie 4 speed with a small block. Then one week showed up and even had a 230 Inline 6 with a Muncie 4 speed. They freaked. Nope, not racing this weekend, freshening up my engine. I'll be ready next Friday though. Every combo under the sun in that truck and all bolt in parts. No cutting or welding or micky mouse ********. It was a 2pc driveshaft even, so I had 2 different front halfs. 1 front half was for the Th350 and Muncies, the other front half for for Th400's. I just took the rear section down to the driveline shop and told them what I needed for fixed yoke Th400 and they balanced those 2 pcs and I made then use the same REAR pc mark as my mark for the other front section so all I had to do with slip the rear pc off and line up the arrows and good to go.

Any input on my first post about my trans and torque converter? Thanks for stopping by either way!
 

DoubleDingo

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I don't know about the torque converter, but I know one of these guys around here does.
 

HotRodPC

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Any input on my first post about my trans and torque converter? Thanks for stopping by either way!
Are you talking about the dribble of fluid? I'd say it's nothing to worry about if it was a tablespoon or 2. It was probably just fluid left in the area from the last time it ran.
 

Frankenchevy

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Are you talking about the dribble of fluid? I'd say it's nothing to worry about if it was a tablespoon or 2. It was probably just fluid left in the area from the last time it ran.
it was probably closer to a quarter of a cup. jacking the nose up less that a half inch subsided the dribble. I think it was just pointed downhill a little.

any suggestions on a good compatible trans fluid. I say compatible because I don't know whats in there now. I have a new lube locker gasket waiting to do multiple pan drop/swaps spaced about 500 miles apart.
 

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You're probably OK. I have a feeling it's just residual fluid in the pump gear section right behind the converter.

The best fluid for a Th400 is probably the cheapest stuff you can buy. I usually go with the gallon jug of Super Tech at Walmart. The Dextron/Mercon fluid. So long as it meets Dexton ll specs or better then go with it. I'd avoid the synthetics for an older used transmission.
 

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