right now my turbo 400 shifts like a cadillac and i hate it. you cant even feel it when it shifts. its completely stock with stock convertor right now my engine is real mild for now so i dont think it needs to be gone through yet and i will just save my money for other things. i was just wondering how much a shift kit would help how it runs. if i put a shift kit in it and not a manual valve body for now since i have a column shift but planning on using a floor shift. would i have to rebuy a shift kit for manual valve body later or can i just get a shift kit now with automatic valve body and modify it later for manual. i plan on using a 2500ish stall since it will be a daily driver. or... should i just stick with an automatic valve body and adjust my trans and let it shift itself?
I did a B & M shift kit on my th350 behind my 455 and love it. It shifts hard and crisp. Then I put in a B & M governor recaliberation kit and dialed in the shift points to where I wanted them...it only took 16 tries It is much more fun to drive when you break the tires loose when you shift!
whats the part number on that shift kit that you got? and can you explain the governor recalibration kit? im not to up on trans knowledge. would like to dial in my shift points automatically also
The part number for the B&M transpack shift kit for my TH350 is 30228. The kit for the TH400 is 20228 and is about $70.00 from Summit. I did the stage 2 which is a stiffer shift, but stage 1 and 2 parts are both included in the kit. The governor recaliberation kit is B&M part # 20248 and is the same for both the TH 350 and 400. It comes with weights and springs and new pins with e clips for easy changes. It also has new gaskets. It let's you dial in your shift points and individually tune your 1-2 and 2-3 shifts. I have been under my car more times than I want to admit. All the combos I tried are writted down if you are interested.
im interested for any information. our combos are somewhat similiar also so maybe it could make things go faster for me. do you have to modify the valve body at all or do you just move some of the check balls around? ive never put a shift kit in myself but ive heard its pretty easy. thanks, Lonnie
I've used both Transgo and B&M kits. Hard to say which I liked better. Both produced second-gear scratch results. I got lots of rubber going into third with my '66 Le Mans. Though I will admit that the 400 engine/400 trans/3.55 rear gears had a bit to do with that. That was with the Transgo kit. I could get second gear scratch with a Vega (3-speed auto) with the B&M kit. Neither were that difficult to install. You just have to pay attention to where you're putting the check balls.
I used to install shift kits for friends after I did my first one. They are pretty simple if you can read directions and have basic wrench skills. Just take your time and you should be fine. The worst part is draining the fluid. After that, it is all good. Of course use a new filter if you hadn't already planned to do that.
how much does a governor from JW cost? and whats the deal with it. does he set it up before he sends it?
A TH400 generally won't hit shifts as hard at a given level of modification as a TH350. Most people I know still in the mechanic buisness like the Trans-GO kits. Trans-GO also has a nice governor modification kit with springs and weights along with instructions on which ones to use for given WOT shift points. good luck.
Whats nice about some shift kits is that they are manual/automatic. Put it in drive and it will act normal but drop it down to 2 or 1 anytime you like just be mindful of your rpms:Brow:. One thing I am curious about though is if the shiftkits reduce transmission braking when downshifting as I can't imagine enjoying a neck snapping clunk if I shift into first before stopping
Most shift kits I dealt with didn't cause a clunk on downshift unless it would do it prior to the shift kit as well. Another thing is a turbo 400 will "blow" itself into second gear unless you plug a hole in the valve body as part of the shift kit. I think the B&M kit used to come with the plug and leave it to you as to whether you used it or not. Mine would blow itself into 2nd at 5800 as indicated on the tach. If memory serves, part of that is due to the fact a turbo 400 takes more power to turn and the same converter often will stall higher in a t400 over a t350. With a torqued up BB Buick, I've found that 2nd and 3rd hit about as hard in a t400 as a t350. As a matter of fact, I cannot remember getting 3rd gear rubber in my '75 Skylark 455/t350/3.08 gears at any speed but the same motor in my GS/t400/3.73 gears would bark 3rd at 35 MPH. The turbo 350 felt firm at 3rd but no bark. In contrast, my new t200-4R will bark 2nd any time I'm above cruise with a 2200 stall and only get's third if I'm really in it above 4000 RPM when it shifts.
