Th-350 Questions

Metto

Metto

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Cornelius, NC
well after toasting my forward gears in Uwharrie last weekend (dont ask, ill tell about it later), i need to rebuild my th350. what i am looking for:
1-who makes a good rebuild kit
2-who makes a good shift kit
3-should i go full manual reverse pattern valve body
4-^ratchet shifter?
5-whats the best place to get a good price on this stuff?
6-is ebay a good source for parts (i searched and came up with a lot on ebay parts, but i want to know if it will be quality stuff)
7-where can i get a good rebuild manual and movie?
thanks
metto
8-edit-what other misc items should i buy/any other advice?
 
well cross out 7, i ordered the movie and rebuild manual last night. still debating on the manual VB
 
Pull it out and I will be glad to give you some pointers here at the house.....
I get the rebuild kits from NAPA for like 70.00 and use a trans-go(good) or a BM shift improver kit.Ive never driven a rig with a manual valve body but a lot of guys run em and like em.The first th350 I rebuilt i used the book from Barnes and Noble.Never had a problem with any of them......Ive done several. :huggy:
 
so the B&M kit is pretty decent? they have them at pep boys.... another question my boss raised today is do i need to put a new torque converter in while i have it apart or should i leave it alone till it gives me trouble?
 
i put a B&M stage II shift kit in mine, $30 and VERY easy... but now its useless with my manny VB :D

one thing about the manny... aside from the cost; you dont need this, but it is recomended and im going to use it is an "R" code servo (another $150). im not sure if its the same for chevys but they recomend that because it is a lot stronger, aside from that it is a completely bolt in mod.

oh, ADP Transmission downtown near Broughton. they will have everything you need.
 
on the servo, i believe a corvette servo is a pretty common upgrade. or for some gm autos anyway, i'm not an auto trans or gm expert though.
 
Although I am not an expert on the TH350, I will throw in a few tidbits here.... The manual VB is an excellent setup for crawling, giving you the ability of being in the gear you want when you want it. Yes, on the street it becomes a manual shift minus the clutch, but for me (personal opinion) that is definitly not a drawback. My own rig is a YJ with an LT1 and a TH700r4, full manual shift with a ratchet shifter. TCI and B&M both have excellent kits available. The books from ATSG are about the best you will ever find. The "corvette servo" mentioned above, I believe, is for TH700r4's, I am not sure, but I don't think there is such a piece available for the TH350. Look at TCI's website, as they have an excellent listing of available parts and pieces and will sell direct to you, or through a retailer such as summit or jeg's if you prefer. If your auto has blown up, DEFINITLY replace the convertor, and flush the cooler. If the only pieces in the pan are friction material, no metal, you can get away with flushing the convertor. The BEST method of flushing everything is to first drain the convertor by setting upside down on a 5 gallon bucket, refilling, drain again, then when you get it back together, put the return line from the cooler into a bucket, have someone pouring in fluid and run it untill the fluid comes out clean from the return hose. Do not be afraid to put a few extra quarts through even after it is clean, fluid is cheap, rebuilding it again isn't!!!

Wow, I didn't mean to be that long winded!!!! Final words, if you would like to test drive a full manual and are anywhere near roxboro, look me up, I would be happy to let you take a test drive.

Hope that helps!
Rodney
 
Rodney made some excellent points about the flushing that I've picked up on during my Dodge tranny saga...

I'll drive to Roxboro just to take a spin in a LT-1 powered anything, even if it is a Heep.. :flipoff2: I'm, uh, considering a valve body for my 700R4, that's why i wanna drive it...yeah, that's the ticket... :D
 
by blow up i mean i drove it through rocky mountain loop at 1mph running 2 quarts low on fluid. oops
 
ok i think im going to go buy the napa kit, its so easy to disassemble this thing that if i decide i want HD clutches or anything i can do it in a few hours. VB is also easy beacause i can do it while the trans is still in the truck. i picked up a BM kit today, any disadvantages to drilling it out to stage 2? also will i have comp braking with the shift kit? and who makes a reverse pattern VB with comp braking in all gears? looked around and cant find anything
 
my art carr VB has comp braking.

i drilled out the stage two kit on mine. when you do it, it stays in gear a lot longer and shifts very hard. i personally liked it but you might not like the hard shifts for daily driving.
 
yea i know art carr has a manual VB with comp braking for a C-6, but i dont see one for a TH350...
 
Hey Rich, look me up, I'll be happy to let you test drive the heep. The LT1's aren't all that impressive, they are only 300hp, and I haven't even hopped it up..... yet.

Sounds like we could share stories for a while... I had a dodge too. Wore out the bolts taking the trans in and out every 3rd day, got sick of the steering box issues after the 3rd one, the doors looked funny after being replaced for the the "rotted to the window sill" issue..... :flipoff2: Dodge! I also had a landcruiser, gave up on that years ago, they're for kids! :D Ok, so I wish I still had a cruiser, but the heep bodies are so much cheaper, and that is about the only heep piece I am using on this one. But wait till you get a glimpse of the new one I am dreaming up!

RB
 
Something I didn't see mentioned - yet.

Flush the cooler BEFORE you reinstall tranny.
Plugged coolers are a common cause of premature tranny failure.

You can buy special stuff to flush the cooler, but here is what I do. Been doing this since I was the R&R man at a tranny shop... A long time ago in a land far away.

With the cooler lines disconnected. Stick the straw from a can of carb cleaner (The 99¢ stuff is fine) in one of the lines. Spray a few OZs in the line. With the other line pointed somewhere safe (Like into an empty gallon jug) blow through the line with shop air until nothing comes out. Switch lines and do the same from the other direction. Repeat until carb solvent comes out clean.

You will be amazed how much crap comes out the first couple times you do this. You will also find out if you have a plugged cooler this way.

Another thing you can do is drill the converter for a 1/4" NPT plug, while you have it out. That way when you do maintainence fluid changes you can drain the converter too.

There is a trick to where and how to drill the converter, that I won't attempt to explain here, but a good tranny shop should be able to show you or do it for you.
 
good idea on flushing the cooler, i didnt even think about that. i need new cooler lines though, twisted off one of the hard lines last week when i was unscrewing them. any negatives to running rubber cooler line as opposed to hardline? napa sells "transmission oil cooler line" by the foot, i was just going to use that and some barbed adapters and hose clamps. good/bad?
 
durable how? it will be zip tied to to the body and frame where ever possible and wont move very much. are you saying it wont take the pressure and heat?
 
Coming out of my TB350 are hard lines that go 1/2 way to the front, then I use the rubber hoses to the tranny cooler. No problems in 5 years.
.02

JB
 
well i broke the line about 2 inches before it goes into the tranny. i was going to cut off the twisted part, cut out the old hardline all the way to the cooler, and replace with rubber line. the hard line just seems too prone to kinking IMO
 
Run hard line for most of it. If for no other reason because it is cheaper. Also rubber line if not properly supported can collapse or kink at a bend and restrict the flow to the cooler.
Then connect the cooler to the hard lines with short pieces of hose. To allow for flex between the chassis, drive train & body.
Make sure the hose is rated for hydraulic/tranny fluid use. Not all hose will be compatible with the tranny fluid or pressure.
 
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