727 band adjustment appearance ?

[Swampwing2]

I rebuilt a 68, 727 myself, with no issues replacing anything and no obvious damaged or worn parts inside. I replaced all the clutches,  bands, seals, rings and everything that came in the rebuild kit except the bushings and the shift kit. None of the bushings had excessive wear marks and I don't have the specialized tools to do that. I figured I wanted to rebuild it stock first and then add a shift kit once I knew everything worked. I used Munroe's book as a reference during the rebuild.

Should I upgrade any of the pistons (to sonnex or similar) to avoid the cocking in the bore issue I have read about or is that on other year transmissions or only high performance applications? This is lightly driven street car.

Edited original post as I found my answer on Youtube for what the bands should look and feel like when they are properly torqued.

[John_Kunkel]

Which video? There is some really bad advice on YouTube.

The billet servos are nice but not really necessary; the TransGo TF-2 kit show you how to modify the rear servo piston to prevent cocking.

[Swampwing2]

Thanks John. 

No one particular video, just looked at a few until I figured out what I did wrong.

My original post was a long description of how the car went into reverse only once and shifted normally in all 3 forward gears a couple times before I parked it.  I thought I had an adjustment issue, as it just did not make any sense when I torqued the band and there was no way for the piston to move the band.

I admit, I installed the reverse band piston and spring upside down and therefore defeated it. I have not put it back together yet, but will confess here if it still has a problem. Hopefully, I did not damage anything in the process.

I really appreciate your replies. It's comforting to know guys like you, who help those of us who take stuff apart and then try to figure out what we did wrong.    

[c00nhunterjoe]

For future reference, dont delete the origonal question once you find the answer. That way if someone else has the same problem, they can view the results on here as well.

[Bronzedodge]

Which video? There is some really bad advice on YouTube.

Not to hijack the thread, but could you give some examples, John?  Maybe some do's and don'ts?

[John_Kunkel]

Best advice is to do it by the book. Kickdown band adjustment (number of turns out) is dependent on the lever ratio installed.

[Swampwing2]

I put the car back together and reverse works fine.  The car shifts very nicely when left in drive, good shift points, firm shifts, no delay, no noises or shudder. Downshifts when coming to a stop and works like it should. There is a few second delay for putting the car in gear initially, but only overnight and less than 10 seconds. I would consider that to be "normal" and acceptable.

Only thing I am concerned about is shifting manually. It will stay in first or second gear as it should, when the shifter is left in either position. However, when shifting from manual 1 to 2, there is about a 1/2 second shudder/delay, where it feels like its in both gears internally fighting itself while it shifts. The higher speed you shift at, the worse it gets. I did not do anything stupid like try shifting with anything more than light throttle pressure, and relatively low RPM, when checking it out. It was far worse the very first time I drove the car, and seems to be less delayed after putting about 10 easy miles on it. Looking in the Munroe book did not have anything like this, I saw, so I am thinking it is a valve body issue.

I have a Superior TF/TC shift kit, (came with the master rebuild kit) but when I had the transmission apart, it appeared that only a couple of the steps applied to this transmission since it is a 68 with no partial throttle kick down. The hole sizes on the separator plate were already the size that the shift kit said to make them, so I am wondering how to tell if there is already some type of kit or modifications made. The springs were not color coded on the valve body as the replacement ones were.  The passages in the casting were not drilled like the instructions say. The Superior kit only includes some drill bits and springs, no valves. I decided to put it back together as it came, since I am aware the TF2 kit is the preferred kit and a shift kit can be installed with the transmission in the car.

Any thoughts on the manual 1-2 shift shudder? Am I safe to drive the car in drive and not damage anything? Will the TF2 kit address the manual shifting issue and the little bit of (guessing the converter) leak down or is that just normal?

[c00nhunterjoe]

If its fine in drive, but binds in manual, sounds like band overlap. Did you modify the valve body? 1st thing would be reverify band adjustment based on your lever ratio. Could be that simple. From there its valve body or cut seal/ line pressure problem.

[Swampwing2]

No, I purposely did not do anything to the valve body, except clean it, just to narrow down any troubleshooting if there was a problem. I know I have a 3.8 ratio lever arm so I will recheck the bands since I put a few miles on it now.

Thanks.

[John_Kunkel]

However, when shifting from manual 1 to 2, there is about a 1/2 second shudder/delay, where it feels like its in both gears internally fighting itself while it shifts.

That's exactly what's happening. On a manual 1-2 upshift the rear servo releases the band under spring pressure alone; the stock servo and return spring don't release the band as quickly as the front band applies so there is an overlap where it's actually in two gears at once. The Superior TF/TC shift kit doesn't address this problem but the Transgo TF-2 does. Since you already have the Superior TF/TC shift kit installed, a billet servo/spring kit will help and it can be installed with the trans in situ.

Since the rear band isn't applied in Drive, there is no overlap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MOPAR-727-518-46RH-46RE-TRANSMISSION-BILLET-REAR-SERVO-KIT-DODGE-PLYMOUTH-HEMI/112030171248

[Swampwing2]

Good to know I didn't screw anything else up. I will get the kit and go from there.

Thanks again.