Rebuilding the trani

[RDF]

Ok, so I decided to give this a go.  I'll be tearing down my 727 and attempting to rebuild it myself.  Tactransman said he could help me with some pointers and directed me to a good book, so I feel confident that I can do this.  I'll try to post pictures/progress but it may be slow.  I only have a couple of hours a night to work on this.

Tonight I got my car on 4 jack stands and disconnected the headers from the exhaust.  Tomorrow I plan to drain the coolant and take the headers and starter off.  I loosened the header bolts on the intake already, so they are good to go.

[Rev-It-Up]

I am going to enjoy this thread!  To me, transmissions are an enigma...too many tiny little parts and the workings just have never made sense to me.  I hope to learn a lot from this one! Thanks RDF!

[The A-Body Guy]

I think you'll find it to be quite simple! Internally, 727's are quite easy to rebuild. 2 sets of drums with sun gears, a front pump (you'll need a set of slide hammers to get that out), and a rear sprag setup. The tailshaft is an important area to keep an eye on. The output shaft has your governor (which contains a valve setup), and it also has the splines for your speedometer gear. I've rebuilt a couple of Mopar transmissions and the one seal that always leaks on me is the output shaft seal where the driveshaft yoke goes in. Not sure why, but hopefully Tactransman has a good tip for you so it doesn't leak there.

Just take your time and keep everything organized. The main guts of the trans can only go back together one way - hopefully that's reassuring!

You going to dig into your valvebody at all?

TABG

[RDF]

I think you'll find it to be quite simple! Internally, 727's are quite easy to rebuild. 2 sets of drums with sun gears, a front pump (you'll need a set of slide hammers to get that out), and a rear sprag setup. The tailshaft is an important area to keep an eye on. The output shaft has your governor (which contains a valve setup), and it also has the splines for your speedometer gear. I've rebuilt a couple of Mopar transmissions and the one seal that always leaks on me is the output shaft seal where the driveshaft yoke goes in. Not sure why, but hopefully Tactransman has a good tip for you so it doesn't leak there.

Just take your time and keep everything organized. The main guts of the trans can only go back together one way - hopefully that's reassuring!

You going to dig into your valvebody at all?

TABG

Yeah, I think I'm going to order a shift-kit for it.  I think that requires drilling the valvebody, correct?    At any rate, I'm pretty excited about trying this.  I hope it goes off without a hitch.  Any particular slide hammer set I should get?

[The A-Body Guy]

Yeah, I think I'm going to order a shift-kit for it.  I think that requires drilling the valvebody, correct?    At any rate, I'm pretty excited about trying this.  I hope it goes off without a hitch.  Any particular slide hammer set I should get?

Good for you! Once it's apart, you'll be amazed at how lightweight the housing of the trans is. Different shift kits require different things to happen inside the valve body. I've installed a B&M Stage 2 and a couple of Trans-Go kits. The B&M was quite easy, but didn't give a tight enough shift. The Trans-Go is more in depth on various parts of the valve body and what you have to do to them. I've ridden in a couple cars that I've put the TG in, and when you hear the tires chirp hitting 3rd, it brings a big smile across your face! I'd spring for a Trans-Go if I were you.

Slide hammers are slide hammers. Get something that's decent quality. If that trans has never been apart, that front pump is going to be a devil to get out. Some auto parts stores rent them, I'd look into that.

[RDF]

Good for you! Once it's apart, you'll be amazed at how lightweight the housing of the trans is. Different shift kits require different things to happen inside the valve body. I've installed a B&M Stage 2 and a couple of Trans-Go kits. The B&M was quite easy, but didn't give a tight enough shift. The Trans-Go is more in depth on various parts of the valve body and what you have to do to them. I've ridden in a couple cars that I've put the TG in, and when you hear the tires chirp hitting 3rd, it brings a big smile across your face! I'd spring for a Trans-Go if I were you.

Slide hammers are slide hammers. Get something that's decent quality. If that trans has never been apart, that front pump is going to be a devil to get out. Some auto parts stores rent them, I'd look into that.

Yeah, I'd like to get something that chips 2nd.  #rd would be nice, but I don't know how much they cost, so I may have to settle for just 2nd chipness now. 

[The A-Body Guy]

Yeah, I'd like to get something that chips 2nd.  #rd would be nice, but I don't know how much they cost, so I may have to settle for just 2nd chipness now. 

Here's where I get my Trans-Go's from... never had a problem and it's a full, complete kit!

http://www.bulkpart.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=2&Product_Code=T22171

You want the kit for the TF-2 - and yes, it's a reprogramming kit. You're going to reprogram the valve body to shift like crazy. One word of advice, follow the instructions to the T! With this kit, you can make your trans shift so hard, it will blow itself apart. This little warning came from a Mopar friend of mine that does a lot of racing and runs one of these kits. I'm thinking he's talking from experience, but I never did ask him.

[RDF]

Here's where I get my Trans-Go's from... never had a problem and it's a full, complete kit!

http://www.bulkpart.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=2&Product_Code=T22171

You want the kit for the TF-2 - and yes, it's a reprogramming kit. You're going to reprogram the valve body to shift like crazy. One word of advice, follow the instructions to the T! With this kit, you can make your trans shift so hard, it will blow itself apart. This little warning came from a Mopar friend of mine that does a lot of racing and runs one of these kits. I'm thinking he's talking from experience, but I never did ask him.

SWEET!  Thanks for the info. Seeing as how I've never done one, I'll be sure to follow the instructions. 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I wish I knew more about trannys. In my 6 years of owning my car, that is the only thing I had to take to a professional to have rebuilt. I had the Trans-Go shift kit put in. I recommend it. It is amazing to play around with it. I just move my kick-down linkage 1/8", and there is a major difference in shifting. You can have the snap your neck type of shifting, or softer. I call it fun!!  


  Mike

[RDF]

oK, So after watching Overhaulin', I got inspired at 10pm to do some work.  Allbeit shot-lived, I took the passenger side headers off tonight.  Got some pics below.  I held up the back end of the exhaust with small bungee cords and then drained the coolant.  You can see one of the header bolts is really jammed up against the exhaust pipe coming out of the head.  I was lucky to get it off.     I tried to get the driver's side off but one bolt seems stuck and I don't want to snap it off. 

Does anyone know if I can drop the trani by just taking out the pass. side headers?    As you can see in one of the pics, I've got limited space, so I'm trying to clean my garage while doing this as well so I will have more room. 

[Street_Challenged73]

I've never tried dropping a transmission without both headers out of the way, so I don't know if you'd have enough room to get it out with just one header removed.  I'm pretty sure you'll need both out of the way as it'd be rather hard trying to get the bellhousing dropped down and positioned well enough to get it around the driver's side header.  To get that other header out of the way, pick up some PB Blaster penetrating spray and give the bolt that's being tricky a liberal spray with it.  Let it soak in a couple minutes then you should be able to get it out.  If at any time it begins to get rough moving again, stop torquing on it and give it some more PB t make sure it doesn't break on you.  I had a similar problem with my K-frame bolt as it didn't want to move at all and I feared I'd break the internal nut inside the frame or bust the bolt and have a big problem.  PB blasted it and it came out like it was a new bolt hand tightened onto a hex nut.

As for the transmission rebuild, it is quite a bit of tedious work, but as The A-Body Guy mentioned just take your time, follow the manual, and you should be alright.

[RDF]

I've never tried dropping a transmission without both headers out of the way, so I don't know if you'd have enough room to get it out with just one header removed.  I'm pretty sure you'll need both out of the way as it'd be rather hard trying to get the bellhousing dropped down and positioned well enough to get it around the driver's side header.  To get that other header out of the way, pick up some PB Blaster penetrating spray and give the bolt that's being tricky a liberal spray with it.  Let it soak in a couple minutes then you should be able to get it out.  If at any time it begins to get rough moving again, stop torquing on it and give it some more PB t make sure it doesn't break on you.  I had a similar problem with my K-frame bolt as it didn't want to move at all and I feared I'd break the internal nut inside the frame or bust the bolt and have a big problem.  PB blasted it and it came out like it was a new bolt hand tightened onto a hex nut.

As for the transmission rebuild, it is quite a bit of tedious work, but as The A-Body Guy mentioned just take your time, follow the manual, and you should be alright.

'precaite the info.....one of the biggest problems with the driver side headers is that the bolt is much like the last pic in the above post.  The exhaust is stopping it from coming out.  I have no clue  how they got it in there in the first place, but I'll give it another whirl tonight and see what I can get done.  I used WD-40 on all the bolts and like you said, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then came back and they all came off without a problem with the exception of the one on the driver's side.

[The A-Body Guy]

I used WD-40 on all the bolts and like you said, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then came back and they all came off without a problem with the exception of the one on the driver's side.

If you're going to be fighting anymore rusty bolts, I would suggest upgrading to PB Blaster. Stuff is so potent it'll eat through a styrofoam cup. The demonstration is on the can! Smells a little different the WD-40, but just don't sniff it too much!

[MEK-Dangerfield]

'precaite the info.....one of the biggest problems with the driver side headers is that the bolt is much like the last pic in the above post.  The exhaust is stopping it from coming out.  I have no clue  how they got it in there in the first place, but I'll give it another whirl tonight and see what I can get done.  I used WD-40 on all the bolts and like you said, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then came back and they all came off without a problem with the exception of the one on the driver's side.

RDF,

  I don't know the headers you have, but I can see an indentation on that tube to the troublesome bolt. It takes a little squirming to get the bolt in there at the right angle. I just had a wrench to get mine loose again. Hit it(the wrench) with a hammer if you have to. 


  Mike

[RDF]

Ok, headers unbolted, still having a tough time getting them down.  I'll prob. have to take off one of the pitman arms to drop the driver's side.  the pass. side won't come down unless I drop the oil filter housing, yuck.

Drive shaft is out, starter is out and trani-pan has been dropped!  Tomorrow I'll undo the linkage and minor stuff, then hope to pull it out on Sunday (got a x-mas party to go to tomorrow at 4pm).  I'll get some pics tomorrow of my progress.