glad to be gettin some work done on the ol project truck. the other day i bought a shift "Improver" kit for my 77. gonna put it in when i change the filter and gasket. any body got any quick tips or tricks to use when installing one of these??? have to pull valve body i believe. never installed one of these before, so its gonna be a new experience

Thanks

 

Follow the instructions! Have a clean work area. I like to lay everything out on a white sheet on the bench. Take the valves out of the body from one end to the other, keep them in order, and don't turn them around. For the most part they only go in 1 way but you can mix up springs and check ***** if you're not careful. I once put a valve in backwards in my C6 and it wouldn't go into 3rd without playing with the shifter. Moral of the story? Take your time and be organized.

 

Oh yeah. The valves are spring loaded so be careful when you remove the plate that holds them in. They always disapear in the garage when they go flying.

 

Biggest word of advice, if it doesnt work correctly after putting it in, put it back to stock, and think about how to do it correctly. I installed a shift kit in my old transmission that would almost snap my neck... sadly , it also snapped one of the drums into pieces and ruined my transmission in the process.

I would advise leaving the valve body that is in your transmission right now stock, and finding one in the junkyard to put the kit into. If you have problems, put the stock one back in and trash the stock one. For some reason i can install a shift kit in a chevy trans and do it correctly, but i have had trouble with ford transmissions.

 

I would pull the valve body off and put it on a clean bench as others have posted. Take your time and look at the directions several times before tearing into it. I would do one valve/spring at a time verses tearing the whole thing apart at one time, this will make putting it back together correctly easier. Most shift kits I am aware of come with two stages.

First stage makes firmer shifts and ect..... and usually only require you to swap out a few springs in the valve body.

Second stage makes really firm shifts, also requires changing springs and some times they are stiffer yet than stage one springs, sometimes you put then in other valves above what you did in stage one and most times it requires you to drill out a hole on the valve body seperator plate to a larger size. Drill bit will come in the kit. That was the part I did not like was looking at all them holes on the seperator plate to find the correct one, since once you drill you can not go back.

I installed a stage 2 kit in a C6 I rebuilt years ago and it shifted rather harsh. Unless you plan to drag race I would not install stage two of the kit. For every day driving it can be a head banger in the cab when it shifts and it wears parts out faster for no reason. For every day driving I would go with the first stage of the kit.

Jeff

 

ok, thank you guys for all of ur help. will probably dive into it sometime within a week. if there is anything else u can think of...just let me know. will be on a clean work bench for sure!

 

I think the instructions show the location of the check ***** but be aware when you seperate the two halves the ***** don't fall out of the one on top pick the top part up with the seperator plate under it and turn it over. and be glad your working on a ford because chevys the other half of the valve body is on the transmission you be doing this laying on the floor! LOL good luck its not hard