Newbie with a 66 Chevy II and a new 200-4r. Questions..

[FunkyNova66]

OK fellas. My name is Dave and I have a 66 chevy II with a 406. I used to have a 2-spd powerglide with a transbrake and a 3500 stall converter. I broke the glide recently, bit the bullet and bought one of Bowtie Overdrives Level-3 200-4r complete conversion kit. I bought the extreme 2600 Street/Strip converter. It is brand new and I just finished installing it yesterday.

I checked all the line pressures in all the gearts at IDLE and 1500 RPMs before I test drove it. Every reading was right on the money. I adjusted the TV made EZ cable exactly like the instructions stated. Push it all the way in and pushed the pedal at WOT. and heard/saw all the clicks....so I took it out for a test drive. The car seemed to shift a little early at partial throttle. I was in overdrive/lock up at 35-40MPH at light throttle.

It would downshift pretty good from 2nd to 1st but it didn't seem like it wanted to downshift in 3rd or 4th especially if the tranny was in lock-up (even at WOT) it would just lug. It did eventually downshift from 4th after a several of tries. It just wasn't consistent.

...Now remember this overdrive tranny is a completely different monster for me...so bare with my questions.

1. My glide felt stronger "out of the hole" eventhough this 200-4r tranny is geared much lower. My glide 1st gear was 1.76 the 200-4r is 2.78! Any thoughts on this? Maybe its the smooth accleration and shifting of the 200 that is tricking my brain. My glide was brutal on my driveline and shifted violently. LOL. I just thought for sure it would pull a lot harder in 1st gear but it does pull nicely in 2nd and 3rd.

2. The car is shifting a little too early for me even though I adjusted the TV made EZ cable per specs. (Bottom the TV adjustment all the way back and push the pedal to WOT). I heard it click several times.

3. If I adjust the TV cable back towards the firewall a click at a time will this make the tranny shift firmer and hold the shifts out longer? Could this also help the downshifting be more consistent?

4. Does changing the spring pressure in the T.V limit valve effect WOT shifting only when the car is in the OVERDRIVE position?

5. Does the spring pressure of the small weight on the governor effect both WOT and partial throttle shifting in the OVERDRIVE position?

6. If I decide to wait a little while before I fix the WOT shifting can I manually shift my car at 6000 RPMs without damaging anything??.....assuming my upshifting and downshifting is correct at Partial thottle.

I have a pro rachet composite-X shifter that I can manually shift with ease so this wouldn't be a problem for me. I just don't want to burn up the transmission. I only ask these questions because I have only owned TH-350s, TH-400s and glides in the past. I don't want to make any assumptions and who better to ask than the Buick GN guys ....

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

[Lee Thompson]

#1 sluggish in 1st.

Assuming you are using D or OD--are you sure it is going into 1st. when coming to a stop. Reason I ask is it could be taking off in 2nd.

 

[FunkyNova66]

It's definately in first gear. I just pulled the cotter pin out of the cable at the tranny and checked.
Does it matter if I am in Drive or overdrive? I thought you can just put this car in Overdrive and it would shift the same as Drive through 1st, 2nd to 3rd. Am I not correct?

 

[FunkyNova66]

I adjusted the TV cable tonight and it turned out nicely. The car is now shifting pretty good in all gears. I guess I have to get used to this lock up converter. At light throttle it wants to shift into lockup at 40+ MPH.

I will say it pulls real nice through 1st, 2nd and 3rd when I manually shift. In overdrive the car shifts at 5,200. I need to be shifting at 6,200 so I guess I will change the springs out on the governer to get the WOT shifts to shift later.

Thanks for all the input guys. It really helped out alot.:redface:

Dave

 

[77 cruiser]

I wouldn't change the spring but you should lighten the small wt. maybe try a couple of 1/8 in. holes.

 

[FunkyNova66]

Not sure I'm following you.

....but you should lighten the small wt. maybe try a couple of 1/8 in. holes.

Can you elaborate? lighten the small wt? 1/8 in. holes where?

Excuse my stupidty...imagine I know nothing about overdrive trannys...

 

[77 cruiser]

Just drill some holes in the weight like this. Start small because it's trial & error.
If you do a search you'll fine more too I'm sure.
You likely won't have to go this extreme as my shift points started out @ 4000 now 6000.

 

[FunkyNova66]

Good info. Thanks Jim for the help.

Dave

 

[Jginger]

77 Cruiser, how much did that mod change your shift points? what size are those holes? assusming your using bfr spring.I need to do the same thing.

 

[Jginger]

Sorry I just reread your post, looks like it raised raised 2000 rpms.

 

[Lee Thompson]

If you have a gram scale

And this is pretty accurate---1 gram off = 200 rpm higher
I guess you can remove 1/2 to 1 coil off the spring but don't have any experience with that trick. Best of luck.

 

[64duece]

To help better understand the acceleration aspects, you mentioned you 1.76 Glide had a "3500 stall" speed rating, whereas the new converter is rated at 2600 rpm. Even with the effective gear ratio change, your old combination was hitting closer to peak torque.

Other things to consider are the overall size and/or type of stator in each converter. This will also affect the torque multiplication as well. HTH.