My NEW Transmission/Converter *Pics*

[Mtn8er]

Well after my recent transmission problem that I was having I decided to take it in to a well known transmission shop here in Portland to get it diagnosed . My transmission wasn't shifting from 1-2 unless I got the RPM up to around 3000 then let up on the gas or did it manually. When it would shift to 2nd it felt like it would take a second or two then it would grab, almost like it was slipping. So I took it in and the transmission shop test drove it and then hooked it up to a machine and sure enough I had clutch slippage. With the mileage it had (120K) it was time for a new rebuilt tranny. So, I could have rebuilt it with all stock and basic parts or go all out and spend the extra money for the high performance stuff. Of course I had to go high performance. So I dropped my vehicle off last Monday and I picked it up on Friday. All I can say is WOW! Probably the best mod I have done yet next to the TM headers. When you give it gas she goes! Very quick and snappy shifts. The 1-2 shift is pretty firm but not neck snapping. It shifts hard enough to make all my change rattle in my cup holder though when I really get on it. I'm more than happy with everything and how it turned out. I actually went back to the shop on Tuesday to give them my Amsoil ATF to put in and my new aluminum FMS tranny pan to put on. He took me back into the shop and showed me exactly what went bad. They already had my transmission out and sitting there on the counter completely gutted, it was just the housing. They even heated the tranny up and painted it silver to look factory new again. Anyways, every single part in my transmission is brand new. I have to take it back in 10 days for a quick check-up to make sure nothing is leaking (which it's not) and to make sure it's working OK. It also has a 1 year 12,000 mile warranty so if there's any problems I bring it back and they fix it.

After I got my vehicle back with the new transmission it was time to drop my front bumber and hook up my 2nd tranny cooler with a B&M cooler and a remote mount filter with an Amsoil oil filter. Thanks to Aldive's thread that he got from MONMIX for the mounting ideas. Everything turned out great though. As for the transmission and the parts that went into it, here's the list:

- 4R70W automatic overdrive complete rebuild
- TransGo HD2 Reprogramming Kit (stage II) not the shift kit. The Reprogramming kit & the Performance Shift kit use the same parts, except that the Reprogramming kit has an HD clutch spring pack that requires that the transmission be disassembled...which is what I got.
- Alto Redline High Energy clutch
- Alto Kevlar front band
- Kolene Steels in intermediate drum
- Complete Sonnax kit w/additional Sonnax parts that they used that weren't in the kit
- Updated servo pin
- H.D. retainer ring
- 2000 stall Police Interceptor torque converter. If I would have went with a 2500 stall (which I almost did) he said I would have lost power. The 2000 stall was a perfect choice and will still be good when I throw in a cam because my overall HP/Torque even with a cam wont put me at the point for a higher stall.
- All new Amsoil ATF
- Ford Racing aluminum transmission pan which holds an extra 2-3 quarts with a FilterMag transmission magnet. I had them epoxy it in my new pan, that sucker is powerful!
- B&M transmission cooler
- Perma-Cool remote mount filter with Amsoil oil filter

Total Cost = lol you don't want to know

Here are some pics:

New B&M cooler and remote filter. You can see the cooler/filter through my lower grill, plenty of airflow.

Turdle's very nicely powdercoated 5.0L plaque which has nothing to do with the tranny. Thought I would show him..

 

[CDW6212R]

Very nice Mike, all of it. I hope that the trans will last for as long as you own it. I like the intake still, that's the color I'm planning on. I did think that you had the 5.0 done in black though?

 

[Mtn8er]

Very nice Mike, all of it. I hope that the trans will last for as long as you own it. I like the intake still, that's the color I'm planning on. I did think that you had the 5.0 done in black though?

Thanks Don, yeah my trans should be good to go. In the future when i DO put a stroker in it and I'm running more HP/Torque I'll swap my converter out for a higher stall. Other than that...for what I have now and even if I put a cam in, my 2000 stall converter should do just fine. My transmission guy was telling me that he see's a huge problem with people running too high of a stall. He said that alot of people think their engine produces more HP/Torque than what it really does and people put too high of a stall which robs power.

Yeah, Jon tried doing the 5.0 (lettering) in black but was having problems. He actually warped my original one because he had to heat it up twice, once for the chrome and once for the black, and had to find me another plaque. He finally gave up and we just decided to do it all chrome.

 

[Turdle]

Let's stick to transmissions here--

That transmission sounds like a bad mother. I'm glad you are happy with it--

 

[xFatcatx]

I was curious what Transmission Shop you went to? I took my Ex into Tri County, Larry & Sons, and Oregon Transmission (all in Portland area) and all three were drooling to steal my hard earned money. Oregon was the best and actually talked to me about my VB but in the end all quoted me $1800-$2500 for rebuilds (I am sure it would have been $2500-$3500 in the end.....), all were firm that it had to be rebuilt. I had the 2-3 flare and I am sure all three were familiar with the problem, I fixed it myself with all the wonderful help from this site for under $500, it would have been $250 except for trial and error. All of these shops left a very bad taste in my mouth with transmission shops in general. I know there are honest people out there but where to look? In my opinion these people would take my moms last .50 cents if they could get there hands on it. Nice lookin Mounty by the way!

p.s. Total Cost= everyone wants to know.........lol

 

[Mtn8er]

I was curious what Transmission Shop you went to? I took my Ex into Tri County, Larry & Sons, and Oregon Transmission (all in Portland area) and all three were drooling to steal my hard earned money. Oregon was the best and actually talked to me about my VB but in the end all quoted me $1800-$2500 for rebuilds (I am sure it would have been $2500-$3500 in the end.....), all were firm that it had to be rebuilt. I had the 2-3 flare and I am sure all three were familiar with the problem, I fixed it myself with all the wonderful help from this site for under $500, it would have been $250 except for trial and error. All of these shops left a very bad taste in my mouth with transmission shops in general. I know there are honest people out there but where to look? In my opinion these people would take my moms last .50 cents if they could get there hands on it. Nice lookin Mounty by the way!

p.s. Total Cost= everyone wants to know.........lol

Hey another Portlander! Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with transmission shops. I went to Tim's AATCO Transmissions located in Beaverton right off T.V. Highway. There's an import shop right next to it. Tim the owner is a real nice guy, very honest. I drove clear across town just to go to him. They also have the highest rating and most reviews if you look up transmissions under Portland City Search. You tell him what you want and he'll build it for you. They also do the transmissions on all the Beaverton Police cars. When I was there in fact a police officer was dropping off his car...of course every knows how hard they are on those trannys. That should tell you something right there...if the city takes their patrol cars there then they must be good. I did a little research though before I made my decision on where to take it. As far as cost, he basically told me I could rebuild it anywhere from $1500 to $3000 just depends on how extreme you want to go with high performance parts. I wanted the best everything so that's what he built me.

 

[reserved50]

I would just take it there because the cop cars have the same trans and he knows what works instead of pulling phrases and terms out of his ass on what it might and might not need.

I really like that pan on your truck, I went cheap and re-used my stock one and just brazed a drain plug near the back of the pan. How much was it?

BTW that ingersoll 1/2" drive titanium gun is nice in the first pic, if you get the "quiet" version you lose about 30% power, eventhough they say they are rated the same. The quiet one sounds like a hair dryer on high (really quiet).

heres mine untouched

heres mine with new paint, I was thinking I should have fixed the broken parts inside it also?

 

[CDW6212R]

Much better, pretty.

 

[Mtn8er]

I really like that pan on your truck, I went cheap and re-used my stock one and just brazed a drain plug near the back of the pan. How much was it?

Believe it or not I found it on Ebay and got the last one like it that I could find. I think I paid like $170 for it? Normaly they're $200. I originally ordered it from a Mustang website and they got back to me saying that Ford discontinued them. I almost went with a PML tranny pan but I didn't like how the drain plug was on the passenger side were the fluid would squirt out all over the exhaust pipe...makes more sense to get a cover with a drain plug on the bottom so the fluid goes down.

 

[reserved50]

they were probably worried it would get whacked off by the ground clearance. I was going to put it on the little pocket where the filter picks up oil but was worried if it hung low, in-case some clown decided it was funny to unscrew it or an object might hit it, jack etc.

 

[CDW6212R]

I have two drain plug kits that are unused. That they can be damaged and sometimes leak, I stopped installing them. I do plan to get a nice pan though some day for these.

 

[reserved50]

I brazed mine in place without the top nut and add a flange sealant or silicone to the pipe plug. Even soldering them in without the plastic washer works, or a copper or aluminum washer with Loc-Tite instead of the plastic washers (did I mention I hate plastic washers).

 

[CDW6212R]

The kits are a nice first design, but not really practical for use.

 

[scruff]

MadMike,

Can you tell us more about that converter ?
What year crown vics are they from ?
Did you get it new or used ? How much ?

Is all this back in the truck yet ? Let us know how it feels.

 

[302nitrous]

I’m in the process of a build. 2 door sport, 302, HO cam, headers, and a 150 shot with other supporting mods. I’ve been researching a better converter.

Now the question

Someone told me that the cvpi converter won’t bolt up too the expo flex plate. He said that it’s different bolt hole positions then the 4.6 can anyone shine some light on this?