New transmission arrived today.

[1970pelle]

Now its time to get to work. TCI sure packs there trannys good, it took two of us to open the box. They even sprayed the foam filler into the box to keep everything still. The unit i bought was the Street Fighter Turbo 400 with a 2500 stall converter. So lets hope I can round up all the little items I need to have this truck going by the weekend.

Ken

[Shugalou]

Nice! Gotta love shiny new parts.

Do you have more details so a transmission newb can appreciate this more.

I'm not familiar with stall converters and their ratings...I'm still getting familiar with the brake system before I move onto the next item.

How much power can it hold?

[Jrgunn5150]

The last TCI trans I bought was just strapped to a pallet lol. But, I did pick it up at Summit.

You'll enjoy it for sure, it's a nice, solid combo.

Shugalou, 2500 rpm is about 800 higher than stock, it will provide a nice boost in acceleration and throttle response. A Streetfighter should be good to around 450 hp

[Shugalou]

Thanks for the info Jrgunn - I'll have to file a mental note on this tranny if (hopefully not for a while) I need a new one.

[1970pelle]

The TCI Street Fight will handle up to 725 HP on pump gas the details say. Its a very pretty unit, I'm going to clear it before I installing to help keep it cleaner and looking good for a longer period of time.

TCI Street Fighter details, I was able to get a better price on the trans with converter than what's shown on there add page.

http://www.tciauto.com/tc/streetfigh...lock-chevyhtml

[Valarius_Starchaser]

Originally Posted by 1970pelle

Now its time to get to work. TCI sure packs there trannys good, it took two of us to open the box. They even sprayed the foam filler into the box to keep everything still. The unit i bought was the Street Fighter Turbo 400 with a 2500 stall converter. So lets hope I can round up all the little items I need to have this truck going by the weekend.

Ken

Nice! I saw your 700r4 backwards valve issue (I think that was you anyways) glad to see it didn't slow you down keep us posted!

[Jrgunn5150]

Originally Posted by 1970pelle

The TCI Street Fight will handle up to 725 HP on pump gas the details say. Its a very pretty unit, I'm going to clear it before I installing to help keep it cleaner and looking good for a longer period of time.

TCI Street Fighter details, I was able to get a better price on the trans with converter than what's shown on there add page.

http://www.tciauto.com/tc/streetfigh...lock-chevyhtml

Ooh you got the TH400, my reading comprehension failed me there!

[Jake Wade]

[1970pelle]

After many delay's, honey do's the Turbo 400 is in the truck finally. Next was drive shaft. After exhausting all the searching I could possibly do on the internet. Checking E-bay, searching Craigslist nation wide, no front drive shaft for a turbo 400 to be had. So off to Drive Line Service of Jacksonville Fl. its been a good 25 years since I have needed any custom driveshaft work. What a surprise I was in for, to have my front shaft remade about 3 inches longer. Replace the three U-joints and carrier bearing. Then balance the two shafts.
Almost $500.00 I'll get change back to go out for dinner for one.
I'll post pictures tomorrow when I pick it up, its suppose to be ready.

Ken

[1970pelle]

Pictures of my rebuilt two piece drive shaft. Three new U-joints, carrier bearing,
new front shaft & Turbo 400 slip yoke. Straightened and balanced. I painted myself. And it cost a bunch.

Also Pic's of a new shop tool, I picked up last week. Goes with my South Bend.

Ken

[1970pelle]

I found out today that there is two different size turbo 400 slip yokes. And new one doesn't fit my new trans. I did some checking and found the sizes are OD 1.886 and 1.500. I have the 1.886 yoke it goes in about 1 1/2 and stops solid, its hitting the tail shaft bushing.
I have to wait till Monday to get anything done, nobody works on Saturday. I don't have any problems with that. I have other stuff to take care of. Maybe a Salvage yard day trip.

Ken

[cadillac_al]

Originally Posted by 1970pelle

I found out today that there is two different size turbo 400 slip yokes. And new one doesn't fit my new trans. I did some checking and found the sizes are OD 1.886 and 1.500. I have the 1.886 yoke it goes in about 1 1/2 and stops solid, its hitting the tail shaft bushing.
I have to wait till Monday to get anything done, nobody works on Saturday. I don't have any problems with that. I have other stuff to take care of. Maybe a Salvage yard day trip.

Ken

That's weird but not surprising. I suppose the bean counters always want to make stuff just strong enough and no more. I wonder when they made the change?

[1970pelle]

I'm just hoping the outfit that built the driveshaft will have the correct one. If not give me a refund, I paid cash for the job. Then buy the correct one from TCI for $125.00.


ken

[Houston Ben]

Sound like a nice trans! I feel your pain on the drive-shaft. I had a new DS built and the guy did tell me to make sure to grease the u-joints but I never did and just had to replace them yesterday...It started to have a very bad vibrations at around 65-70 and just got worse from there.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by 1970pelle

I'm just hoping the outfit that built the driveshaft will have the correct one. If not give me a refund, I paid cash for the job. Then buy the correct one from TCI for $125.00.

ken

Let us know how it turns out.

[1970pelle]

I talked with the tech guys at TCI this AM. And the deal is after fretting a big ordeal over this slip yoke not slipping. My transmission was built with a Turbo 400 tail shaft that uses a bolt on yoke. So all I need to do is remove the tail housing and knock off a spacer/bushing. No problem.
I have one small petty grip. TCI looks to put out a very good product, they supply you with VERY thorough instructions. But fail to mention this, when the Tech rep says this happens often. I know its whinny, I'm done moving on.

On a side note. Anyone watch the Rolex 24 at Daytona??? Being I'm just down the road, its was our 10th year. My boys and a load of the friends had a big time. We have it figured out how to last the whole race. There is some much to see and do, they have really improved Daytona Speedway. It took a few years going to get it figured out how to last the 24 hours, where to sit,hide out, catch some ZZ. The Chevys put on a show.

Ken

[Valarius_Starchaser]

kind of odd that if he says it happens often that they wouldn't change the instructions but at least you got it figured out

[1970pelle]

Been dragging my feet on this truck build. The weather has been nice and the bike bug has bitten me. Bike Week is coming quick, I always have a bike ready for a couple of the shows. So its been bike stuff lately.
But as far as my C20 goes, the turbo 400 is installed and buttoned up. Driveshaft issues out of the way. Looks good underneath the truck with all the new parts and fresh paint.
I decided to up grade the Summit HEI dist. I had bought first thing when I picked this truck up. At that time I just dropped it in and got the truck driveable. So I had picked up a higher powered coil, a MSD cap,rotor, set of spark plug wires and a dist curve kit. I decided to install the cure kit and other parts tonight. I found out right away, the MSD curve kit weights,and center plate do not fit my Summit Dist. No way No How!
So I take the weights from the kit and get my shipping scale and weigh the weights from the kit first. Then the stock weights. Then I take the stock weights and drill 3 small holes in each weight, reweigh. I'm almost there, redrill the three holes a size larger and reweigh. A bit closer, after the third time and some buffing on the belt sander. I have my matched set of weights.
I install everything and use the middle set of springs. I also cleaned up all the edges on the weights and center piece, making the three pieces move much smoother than before. Also adding a small amount of super slick grease that doesn't fad away quickly. I'll now more tomorrow after my test drives.

Ken

[Oldriginal86]

Just an observation of the nice new parts. With a 2 piece drive shaft, the slip yoke is on the rear shaft just past the carrier bearing. The forward most u-joint should be to a bolt on yoke at the trans. Shouldn't have 2points of fore/aft movement in the driveline. The carrier bearing rubber won't last long. Only time a slip yoke at the trans is used is with a single piece driveline. The yoke that you have, will it accept u bolts or straps? Does it have a hole in the end to put a bolt through to the output shaft of the trans?

Sorry, late to the party. Glad to hear all is well.

[1970pelle]

Why would the turbo 400 be that much different than the 700R4? The only difference is 2 inches.
I'm quite sure that TCI who built the transmission, knew the set up I was running. Would have said something if there was a issue of a weakness in the driveshaft set up. After a number of phone call on the issue.
And Drive line Service of Jacksonville, which is a very large company with more than 30 years experience. Would have question what I was doing, and not built a drive shaft that would fail.

Not trying to start anything, just saying. I have gone to great lengths to make sure everything was do right. Plus there are square trucks that came out of the box like this.

Ken

[cadillac_al]

Originally Posted by Oldriginal86

Just an observation of the nice new parts. With a 2 piece drive shaft, the slip yoke is on the rear shaft just past the carrier bearing. The forward most u-joint should be to a bolt on yoke at the trans. Shouldn't have 2points of fore/aft movement in the driveline. The carrier bearing rubber won't last long. Only time a slip yoke at the trans is used is with a single piece driveline. The yoke that you have, will it accept u bolts or straps? Does it have a hole in the end to put a bolt through to the output shaft of the trans?

Sorry, late to the party. Glad to hear all is well.

Good catch. I work on cars so much I was assuming this was a one piece driveshaft even though both of my C10's are two piece. Did GM go to one piece driveshafts by 86?

[1970pelle]

I don't know for sure, but after owning a number of 1981-87 trucks. And a few of the next generation which had one piece drive shafts. But that doesn't make it fact, just a guess on my part.

Ken

[GRADYS Performance]

The 2 piece drive shaft should use a bolt on yoke. Not the fault of TCI they provided the correct transmission.

[1970pelle]

TCI didn't have any idea what the trans was going in, till I talked with them after the fact.

Ken

[1970pelle]

This drive shaft issue is very frustrating to because of the money spent. And what I feel is a couple of poor decisions on my part. I failed to do the correct amount of home work on which transmission I should have purchased.
In hind sight(20/20) I should have went with a Turbo 350 over the 400. I would have saved myself a load of money,time and the driveshaft headaches.

So I checked today on switching over to a bolt on Yoke on the rear of the Turbo 400 and still being able to use my golden drive shaft. It will work with everything I have, a positive for me. So if a issue shows itself, I'll know what to do to fix.

So thank you guys for pointing out such things. Your never to old to learn something. I never claimed to know it all. But give me a Harley Davidson Shovelhead, and we may have some trouble.

Ken