turbo 350 Rebuild Need help?????

[bigmtboy19]

Ok so I was putting the rebuilt transmission and the engine back in my truck when the engine lift tipped over and the engine and tranny fell and broke the tranny case. I had a 2wd turbo 350 at my house. So I am just swapping the parts from the rebuilt (broke) tranny to the 2wd case. But after installing the low-reverse clutch plates and the low-reverse roller clutch support. I cannot get the retaining ring to go into the groove of the transmission case. I didn't remove the low- reverse piston from the 2wd transmission. I was wondering if that would make a difference...??????????

Also the number of clutch plates and steel plates in the 2wd was only 4 each. and 5 each in the broke transmission case. I would appreciate any advice anyone could give me.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Yes it can make a difference. Pull the 1st/reverse piston from the case and compare it to the one from the rebuilt trans, I am betting it will be taller, basically limiting the clutch pack to 4 instead of 5 (ask me how I know this! LOL).

 

[bigmtboy19]

ok thank you, I have to fabricate the spring compressor tool. hopefully it works.

 

[crazy4offroad]

I had to fabricate one too, I used a couple of pieces of angle iron and a piece of allthread.

 

[HotRodPC]

You'll want to replace you're piston anyway since it's a rebuilt and has newer seals. Those 3 seals on that drum are the seals that tolerate the most heat in the back of the case, so it's common they are brittle as hell.
The reason the piston is taller, it most likely because the Th350 case you're transfering the parts to was a V6 transmission. Which is fine, just so long as the case you're now using does not have an adjustable band nut on the outside of the case, which would mean it's a Th250 usually used in 4 cylinders like Monza's and Vegas.

 

[HotRodPC]

I better add, drink you a biggo tall glass of patience, or go buy some before you start trying to put that piston back in the case. It's not an easy task for the begginer if you haven't done it before.

 

[89Suburban]

 

[bigmtboy19]

Well the piston and springs were a breeze. everything went back together very well on the lower end. Now I cannot get the output shaft retaining ring on. I have set the tranny up where its sitting on the tailshaft giving me an extra 1/8 of an inch but the groove is still not visible. any suggestions?

 

[bigmtboy19]

thank you all for the help, I am sure I will have plenty more. This is my 1st time breaking into a automatic transmission.

 

[bigmtboy19]

alright got the retaining ring to finally seat, I was getting aggravated and had to take a couple of minutes and come back to it. Hopefully everything else goes smoother than that

 

[HotRodPC]

I was wondering which snap ring you were talking about. The big one for the clutch pack or the small one on end of the output shaft holding the planetary gearset on the shaft?

 

[bigmtboy19]

the small one on the end of the output shaft...it was a real pain in the ass. but I got the whole transmission back together. I just hope I did everything right, and I do not have to take it out and repeat this. It was however a lot easier than I thought it was. Thank all of you for your help.

 

[HotRodPC]

the small one on the end of the output shaft...it was a real pain in the ass. but I got the whole transmission back together. I just hope I did everything right, and I do not have to take it out and repeat this. It was however a lot easier than I thought it was. Thank all of you for your help.

Getting it on isn't all that bad, but getting that bitch off is a real chore. You can't get snap ring pliers in there, so you're forced to use another method on that one. I use a pick and one of those small pocket screwdrivers with a notch ground into it with a bench grinder.


Good Job, having the balls to tackle it yourself. Just don't get to cocky yet. All you really did was transfer parts and didn't rebuild drums and seals, but what you did is a great experience and know what to expect when building one. Now you see how important it is to keep thrust washers, snap rings, torrington roller bearings, proper thickness of steels etc etc in the correct place. And you got to see how important it is to know about part's interchange too, ie.. the Low/Reverse piston being taller for 1 less clutch and steel. Now you also get the idea of what has to be done if you want ot add another clutch or steel to a clutch pack to get more clamping force. Mill down the piston and make room for another clutch and steel. Just so long as the extra parts don't encroach on another part. For example, you see in that drum, if you take to much off, you will have a steel in the way of the parking pawl and then you can't have park. So what you do then, is use thinner steels take off a little more, and you can still get an extra clutch in there and still have park too.

 

[bigmtboy19]

What will the extra clutch and steel do for me? I didn't know you could mill down the piston????? Well now that I know it isn't as bad as I was always told. But it does take a lot of patience, and that is something I am really short on. But is something that I would do in the future, instead of paying all the money to get it done by someone else. I do have another question how much more difficult are the 700r4 and the 4l60 to rebuild compared to a Turbo 350 and 400????