Slight performance build on a 518

It's all together. I'm very pleased with the shift kit and converter.

I need to get a real driveshaft made, wire up 4th, hook up the speedometer, and make satisfactory cooler lines yet.

If anyone is thinking about trying it, just do it. Prior to January, I'd never done more than change the filter. I bought a manual and read the 47RH/RE sticky a few times and it appears to have worked.
 
Well, I got the trans pulled on my buddies truck last night. We've been thinking that the pump was out, and that's exactly what it looks like. The previous owner installed the thicker flexplate and didn't have clearance between TC and flexplate. Converter was pushed into pump, seal is destroyed and metal in fluid. We should tear down tonight and i'll post pics.
 
Are you doing any upgrades besides a converter and shift kit?

I bought my trans as a core and the front clutch was junk. The frictions were burned up and the friction material was sticking to the steels, half of which were warped. Fun times :lolly:
 
Well the story on this trans is it was rebuilt, drove for a while, shattered flex plate, replaced with hd plate, trans fluid started leaking, then wouldn't go any more.
As soon as we pulled it, I figured out exactly what happened. There wasn't enough clearance, TC was pushed into pump and messed seal and pump up.
 
We tore down last night to see what everything looked like. I still need to build a tool to put in my press to disassemble OD section, but here's what we found so far.
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Pump housing is in bad shape, outside of gears have grooves, but lobes look decent.

I think this is the forward most drum, has damage to splines. Probably reusable tho.
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Little bit of heat. These are from the forward/direct clutch pack, I believe.
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Low/reverse drum? The rear band is bad off
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For the O/D section, I took a big heavy cold chisel and laid it on its side to compress the spring. The down side with that is that you have to cut down an intermediate shift to put it back together.

The story on it makes sense though. Everything looks new, but trashed.
 
So what do y'all think about the rear drum that's discolored? Can I reuse, and just replace the band?

Just FYI: this is going back in a stock truck. Will not be raced, tow heavy, etc. They need another truck in a bad way, but it'll be strictly a commuter. I think we can reuse most of it.

So far I need: pump assembly, rear band, and seal kit. Bearings feel perfect. Oh, and I need to get a bell housing spacer from patc.
 
I'm no expert, but the 1st gen section is so slow, I'll answer LOL

My rear drum had some discoloring on it. I don't remember what the old rear band looked like. Does it have grooves worn in it? Can you feel ridges on it?

My rear drum was discolored, but I don't recall any bad grooves.
 
Try hitting the rear drum with scotchbrite, I'd imagine it will get rid of most of that discoloring. I'd reuse it if so.
 
Lay a straight edge over the band surface (in three or four places) and make sure it's not bellied. If it's flat,sand it down with some 220 grit paper and reuse it.
 
He means on the drum where it rides. If you have uneven wear on the drum, it'll just chew up the new band all the faster.
 
I'm no automatic transmission guru, but the pump stuff and the splines that are pictured would be scrap metal IMO.
I know how sensitive these slush boxes are to foreign material and it seems that the torque of a Cummins has a propensity of finding the weak link, ANY weak link, in these torqueflites.

They do a hell of a number on the manuals, too. :D

Mark.
 
Which shift kit should I go with? It's going in a pretty stock truck but figured i should get a transgo. They list a shift correction kit, reprogramming kit, and then the TFOD kit.
 
Also, does anyone know of a decent converter for a stock build that won't kill the wallet. 90% of the trucks I deal with won't be like this, but this is a sub 200hp truck and I don't see the need to spend the big bucks on a single disc billet major name converter.
 
diesel_importer said:
Also, does anyone know of a decent converter for a stock build that won't kill the wallet. 90% of the trucks I deal with won't be like this, but this is a sub 200hp truck and I don't see the need to spend the big bucks on a single disc billet major name converter.
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Transtar has a couple of cheaper converter. I run one now that has a billet cover and a single clutch,it cost 280$ a couple of years ago.
 
Phil might be able to hook you up with a cheap reman. I've used the $375 Wittrans TC's in lockup transmissions with good luck to. As for vb kit I always use the TFOD diesel kits.
 
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