Mark A Shields

I just had 3:73's installed along with a posi unit. I can notice a bit more acceleration, but it's not near what I expected. I thought I would be chirpin 2nd gear, but it's not happening. Tomorrow night I was going to G-Tech it to actually see how much the gears helped, but I just don't see that it was worth the money and gas it's going to cost me. Oh and in my sig. it says I have the vette servo and .500 boost valve but the guy didn't have time to install it so just ignore it. I have been having weird tranny problems though. If I punch it off the line in D the rpm's won't raise above 3000rpm's. The only way I can get the car to above that is manually shifting it. I just had a rebuild not too long ago and someone said something about the governor. How do I check this? If anyone has any other ideas as to why I don't see the performance gains I thought I would let me know.

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'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
FLOWMASTER, NO CAT
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4 vette servo and .500 boost valve
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite
Soon to be installed
3" Hooker Aero Chamber

GMTech

Unless you are putting out alot of horsepower, you probably won't "chirp" second w/o the servo.
Not getting past 3K isn't helping either. Mine shifts at 4500 and it "scratches" second so hard I have almost lost control of the car a few times and had to get out of the gas. Thats w/ the anemic 305 in my sig.
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'87 Trans Am
S/D TPI retrofit including functional PassKey,
22# injectors,
Whatever chip I feel like burning,
JET AFPR, Ported Plenum,
TB Coolant Bypass, Custom Cold Air,
SSM SFC, KYB Shocks, Boxed LCAs, Wonder Bar,
8mm Accel wires,
Flowmaster Exhaust,
16" GTA rims,
Corvette Servo,
3.73 Posi
4wheel Disc Brakes
Summit 1-5/8" headers, 2.5" Dynomax catback.

Best 1/8: 9.519@72.74

'97 Bonneville SSE

[This message has been edited by GMTech (edited August 31, 2001).]

transfixleo

Sounds like your TV Cable is too loose.

To adjust the TV Cable skip the book method and do this: Press the D button on the adjuster and loosen the cable setting. Now, have someone floor the gas pedal while you check to see if the throttle plate is open all the way. Usually they are off a little and will wiggle. Do whatever you have to do to get it open solid. Now, with the pedal still floored, press the D button and pull the cable casing (the black tube) back as hard as you can and release the button. You now have the engine, tranny and gas pedal all in sync at WOT. Mark the cable so if for some reason it gets moved you can know where to put it again. The problem with the 'self adjust method' is that it bends things and puts them permanently out of whack. It is also the full TV setting, which is theoretically what the GM method does.

Mark A Shields

The guy who installed the gears readjusted the cable and my shifts seem a lot firmer, before the tranny was slipping. The casing that the cable goes into where the D button is somehow broke I believe because I have the throttle return spring hooked to the back of it so it doesn't slide anywhere. Is this hurting anything.

------------------
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
FLOWMASTER, NO CAT
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4 vette servo and .500 boost valve
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite
Soon to be installed
3" Hooker Aero Chamber

Mark A Shields

The shifts aren't soft I can feel a jerking when the car shifts, so the cable shouldn't be causing low pressure should it.

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'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

Jay 727

You really should lighten the inner governor weights to put your shift points back to original mph. The governor is driven off the tailshaft, if you change from say 3.08 to 3.73 the governor still shifts at the same driveshaft rpm which would now be at a lower mph.

Mark A Shields

How do I go about doing that. Can it be done with the tranny in the car?

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'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
3" Hooker CatBack w/Aero Chamber muffler
EDELBROCK 600CFM CARB.
KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
3:73 Posi
Rebuilt 700R4
B&M Megashifter, 5" Autometer Tach w/shift lite

Jay 727

Yes it can be done with the trans in the car.
You need to remove the governor which is under the drivers side floorboard, right in front of the speedo cable there is a round cover, remove it without damaging the cover.
This tip came from an article I read written by Gil Younger of TransGo. Cut the pins that hold the weights in, grind a little off the sides of the inner weights, I'd say about 1/16 inch to start, clean it all and reassemble it using #6 finishing nails (they look like the original pins), crimp the ends with vise grips, reinstall and test drive.
Only problem is if you remove too much material you'll need to find a new governor to work with so go slow with the grinding, another problem may be getting the cover back on for the governor, it may seem impossible at some point but it can usually be done.
For spare governors, th350 and 700R4's are the same, th400's are too except for the gear.

[This message has been edited by Jay 727 (edited September 01, 2001).]

Mark A Shields

Since I can manually shift my car and hold to any rpm is changing the governor going to be worth it.

ryn28

iTrader: (1)

The governor change will allow you to have the car shift at a higher rpm when not flooring it. When you do floor it, it will also be slightly higher but if you manually shift you can still hold the gear longer then the tranny would normally on it's own if you want to. There is an inexpensive kit from B&M. It has the weights, springs, new "nails", and directions. Ask Summit for the B&M Governor Re-Calibration Kit #20248 I found the hardest part being to get the clip back on that holds the govenor cover on. After a few times doing it it becomes much easier.

Jay 727

I like to manually shift when I race, for this reason I calibrate my governor for a lower rpm shift, say something streetable a few hundred below my drag racing shift points. The B&M kit is ok but the only problem is waiting for it, you can go out and calibrate your governor right now with just a grinder and a few nails. I have about 25 governors on my spare parts shelf for this reason.