[TRADERMIKE 2012]

I just came in from the shed where the TH 400 Pontiac Trans. is on the stand being prepped, a little more cast flashing at the two halves when they poured the mold is being ground as we speak. The Aluminum actually looks buffed with sand paper up to 300 grit. there are no low spots, therefore we need only prime the Trans. case with non-sand-able primer prior to finish painting.

Now that I have had time to reason more clearly about how the accident affected the damage to the Pontiac TH 400 in the first place: The Trans. pan was dented in the middle and I don't think the Metal cover under the Torque Converter ever got hit, because it is metal and it is not dent damaged. The Trans. was lifted up and attached to the Bell housing to motor and the various mounts were raised simultaneously. The Torque Converters Stator, being hung off the Input Shaft, was abruptly moved inside by shock. The Turbine suffered inadvertently being attached as well, causing the Hub bushing leak in the Torque Converters Hub by such an upward movement. The two metal rings on the back of the Pumps Cover Stator that seal the Forward Drum oil, one broke in half and the other unclamped. Most likely my continuous driving contributed to the damage to the sealing rings between the Forward Drum and rear Pump supply oil to the (first) Forward Clutches and then Direct Clutches and finally, the Center supports Intermediate Clutches. The Trans. was leaking from the Torque Converters forward Hub a dime size chunk missing, broken bushing. So, I put a diaper in the Flywheel Pan, that captured the fluid, but kept driving, while testing and diagnosing the Trans. Issue. The second, internal leak, was not discovered until dissassembly. By then all the Clutches and Steels were toasted. It is Ironic that I was able to salvage all the Hard parts in this Trans. by coincidence, with returning some parts and other parts not arriving, we ended up polishing and sanding the Drums and Front and Direct Hubs and putting them back into service.

Cost is a new B+M rebuild kit plus many upgrades, this Trans was down shifting from third to second and back to third prior to the accident. I believe that my cleaning of the fluid, filters and valve body plus the two accumulators, solved that issue. It also turns out that the kick down Detent Solenoid needed repair and that is why I thought I might need to go back to my old type Cam, but that is not necessary anymore. I did Install a 041 Cam and new adjustable timing chain and gears that are adjustable. I can't wait to see this engine go into passing gear again. When we had the Detent Solenoid apart, we found the faulty wiring and were able to rebuild it and added a new gasket. We added the original Valve body plate with new gaskets because the plate had been drilled for a B+M street/strip kit using only 5 balls in the Valve body Maze area. I added the Sonnax Rear Accumulator adjustable kit and their Pump Booster/Regulator kit. We purchased a remanufactured Pump as well. We added upgraded springs to the Clutches and filled the holes as per direction along with the new rubber Piston seals. Complete Bushing replacements makes this a new Transmission. I added a large Truck deep pan with Studs and nuts using the best Gasket, plus we added an oil drain kit to the pan. B+M makes an adaptor to add to the (can type) 1967 filter I use, so the oil pick-up will be closer to the bottom of the pan, I have to order this part next.