ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Well, i was cleaning out the garage after a 6.0 swap into my old 95 Z28 and when i went to move a spare engine hoist, the leg dropped down and smacked the bell housing of my TH400 TCI trans, my heart broke with the case:



I immediately called a neighbor that works as as welder and prayed he could help, so he did as he could and i am a happy camper, i was going to be PISSSSSSSSEEEEDDDDD if i had to shell out cash to swap cases:

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

looks like a solid fix, but honestly, you could cut that off and put on an ultra bell and never worry about it again...since the ultra bell is sfi approved to contain converter/flexplate explosions.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Hell yea, i have installed one in a TH350 before, those things are stout pieces and would have been the way to go if i wasnt broke from all the other parts i bought and a fire suit.

Just glad it was fixable, also not the sweet Ebay braided line dip stick for 20$, LOL, that and 2 LS1 engine dip sticks were 100-120 shipped, just some of the small stuff that broke the bank, LOL.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

Ya I run the ultra bell here with no complaints on my th400....definitely feel safer if anything lets loose

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Yea, probably going to run a shield when the turbo goes on if i dont get a new housing.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

wow, thats scary its that brittle... i need a shield on mine... i've heard what can happen when a converter lets go..local guy got a piece thru his leg. That scares me

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Yea, the shields are pretty cheep, so i will be getting one when it is time to start throwing more at the engine than it is supposed to handle, probably wouldnt hurt to get one on the 89 right now.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

if you're on yellow bullet search for my buddy "polish bull", he had a LARGE chunk come through the floor of his car and through the dash and stop where the HVAC should have been. Through the carpet as well His drum let loose at 7000+ rpm at the stripe

AlkyIROC

I still run a stock case Powerglide. I use a CSR one piece tranny/flexplate shield. It's a little more costly but fits tight against the case so it fits under the floor easier.

The shields just slow the the exploding parts down. They won't always stop the parts from getting into the car. I saw a dodge 727 tranny explode on the starting line a few years ago.

Clutch hub exploded. Went through the tranny case, kevlar shield, floor, then bounced off the passenger side door bar, through the door which exploded the window and sailed about 300' over the grandstand into a windshield. No injuries but what a mess.

This is the damage it caused.
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/f...explosion.html

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Holy crap, that is seriously massive failure, glad no one was hurt or killed, that is just crazy.

3rdGenFireFox

mopar


figures
course thread BS

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

I really didnt want to say it, guess someone was going to, lol.

Shagwell

The bellhousing area is a comon "weak point" but it will do it's job just fine. Added stress(such as chassis flex, or mount flex, or dropping cherry picker legs...) has been known to break them.

We've pushed over 1500hp through the stock 400 case, will soon be pushing even more. Up until this month, there were no other options for 400's; full stock of stock w/ ultra-bell(only works well on 8-bolt pump/cases, not the more comon 6-bolt). JW is releaseing a new ultra case this month, designed specifically to work with their ultra-bell, and eliminating many of the stock weaknesses/issues.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Going through all that and ending up 300 feet away doesnt sound like its worth the investment..... sounds like if its gonna blow, there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Fast 383

iTrader: (2)

Funny, some people go 1000 passes on the 400 case and some blow bells after 4. Guess it just depends on the life of the case. The Ultra bell is a really nice investment for a T-400. As stated the Ultra bell really should use the 8 bolt case that it was designed for. That case is harder to come by these days.

Shagwell

Almost all broken bell housings are due to improper mounting and/or chassis flex being transfered into the case.

Assuming the driver still has his legs as it sounds, then yes all the safety stuff was worth it.

Something very odd happened for the drum to come out as a whole like that. What the shields are for is to slow/stop the shrapnel when a drum explodes into pieces from over-speeding. - I'm glad I've never needed mine, but walking is worth far more to me than the safety stuff costs.

AlkyIROC

Since I redid my front and rear motor plates this winter, I've eliminated my transmission mount. The powerglide isn't that big or heavy. It's now just held on by the 6 bellhousing bolts. Any chassis flex won't affect the bellhousing. A TH400 would still need some support at the rear since it's a long and heavy transmission.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

For small shrapnel, i hope the shield stops it. Else whats the point if it cant stop the parts? If a part gets through the shield then it can still get through to you. I fail to see the benefit there if you still can get hit. Getting hit with a fast object or one thats slightly slower if they both can tear you apart...... If it cant stop the bullet whats the point in wearing the bullet-proof vest?

Now is that ultra-rare to have something get through the shield like that? I agree, having working legs is priceless, but its a mute point if the "protection" doesnt work.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

failures like seen in that mopar trans are rare. i'm putting a blanket on my car today actually.

Shagwell

Very rare for a large peice like that to come out; there's a chain of events or something surrounding that that we don't know. - It takes much more than just a drum failure for the complete assembly to get loose like that.

The shields are ment to slow/contain drum explosions, often caused by "neutraling" the trans. When a drum is "hyper-sped"(like when neutralled) it simply self-destructs due to being spun beyond it's "critical speed"(faster than the material can withstand per tha available balance). When this happens, fragments and pieces start scattering and the shields do a great job of making sure you still have legs when all is said and done.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Sounds good. I'll make sure I upgrade soon. I gotta change the speedo gears anyway, might as well get under there and do it all

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

now who wants to help me get this TCI drum shield to fit over my trans? Here's to hoping I have enough space in the floor to clear it. Only choice I have since I run the ultra bell and a trans blanket will cook the trans in street driving due to no air flow

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

whew, trans blanket just about whooped me...but it's on! freshly wrapped headers are painted and drying, bout to put them back on and get the exhaust back on the car. if i wasn't wrapping/painting the headers/exhaust then i'd have probably had this job done in about 2 hours, but that's just not the case, lol.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

I just got done finishing the long block and i think, if i get the funds, i will try to get a shield before the car is running, but i doubt i will have the cash before then. With a turbo going on, i would really like to have one now, but i know i will be removing the converter when the turbo goes on because i will need a better converter with the anti ballooning plate and one that will handle the power.

Still need to install the new aerocatch pins, braided steel dipstick and 50 cc acc pump on the 89, damn 86 has me side tracked, LOL. Oh yea, adjustable LCAs need to go on the 89 too....

Shagwell

good luck with that...lol.

Like I told Matt, if heat becomes an issue with the blanket, two smal pieces of flat strap bent to go around the top from pan rail to pan rail can be made to hold the blanket 1/2" or so off the case. - In reality though, the case is a far less effective cooler than the trans cooler. If you have heat issues due to the blanket then your cooler was already maxxed out; upgrade and you're good to go.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

I have a big ol plate style cooler. It keeps trans temps way down. After a 30 mile cruise I'm only at 155*. i'm interested to see just how much heat this thing produces with the blanket.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

I got one of B&M's biggest coolers up front but I have yet to beable to get the damn temperature gauge to work. I put the sensor in the pan straight down, and it broke off on the street. I cant believe it got that close to the ground. So i put a 90 deg bend and installed a new sensor and never got a temp reading on my gauge...not sure what happened there but that broke off when trying to get the car on the dyno....

I need to install a bung in the back of the pan, not on the bottom. I hope the cooler is good enough. After a good drive i took a laser heat gun and read the surface temps of the cooler and it wasnt that hot. I was surprised. I think it was only hot because the radiator was up to 200 deg. I think my rad is heating my tranny cooler...

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

My cooler is hung on it's own bracket about 4" in front of the radiator so they don't effect each other.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

yeah i may move mine more forward or attach it to the back of the intercooler as there it will see more airflow but i dont want it heating the intercooler. I got a lot of room between the rad and intercooler, so i can put the cooler anywhere.

Shagwell

Not any real street driving with mine anymore, but even with the blown combo the most I've seen was 180*, and that was when we hurt some high-gear clutches. It usually runs around 165-170, even when I'm playing the the brake and stalling up on it a bunch. That's with a 12x10 plate/fin cooler mounted on the passengers' floorboard with an 8" fan pulling through it underneath the car.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

cooler:


i'm pulling temperature from here:

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

And here i was wondering if my trans cooler was enough, it is slightly smaller than that one i think.