I have never seen one of those fail. IMO putting a torington in this location is a waste of time and effort being that the forward clutch is on in all forward gears. Any pic's of what you found?

 

Did you re-use the torque converter after the last trans broke??? If not were did the torque converter come from???

 

I heard that this should be upgraded because the drum and the direct clutch can reach as high as 11000 rpm when engine speed is close to 6k in first gear. Maybe I have it confused with the thrust washer that sits on the other side of the forward clutch hub? Here is the link:

https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...es-pan-501510/


No Joseph, I used a reworked TCS verter with zero miles. I was initially thinking it was verter material that i saw in the pan. What are you thinking?

 

ALso I forgot to mention the two thrust washers that have the four tangs showed "stress cracks" on the bends of the tangs. These washers were replaced when doing the rebuild. I would think that this would be due to incorrect end play but as I said before I did get the end play within specs. I am curious if when I removed some of the parts after I checked endplay if something fell out of place?

OOOOr possibly because I used the output carrier from a different (used) unit and put it in this one. I would think that the planetaries might have a different wear pattern causing them to not fully seat or something onto the rear internal gear or the planetaries from the reaction drum not "meshing" with the teeth from the output carrier.

 

It looks like this guy had similar problems to me regarding the tangs I mentioned in the previous post above this one. Unfortunately there was no solution or reason why on his thread:

Sallee Chevrolet Discussion Board: Thrust washers in turbo 400

 

Well I went digging through some old parts from 2 previous 80e's and saw that all thrust washer's tangs' had the cracks in them so I am going to guess that this is normal. Anybody think otherwise?

 

Haveing any luck???

 

Yes that's normal. Its from when they are made. I normally do not use them in performance builds. I like to install a th350 pump torrington in the rear of the case and then I use a nylon washer out of a 2004R in between the planets. I think what might have happened in your case is the washer was not greased in place when the hub was placed in the forward drum. I honestly have never had this issue on one of these units or in a TH400.

 

Not to as why the thrust washer went to **** other than Vince's guess below.

Side note. No calls so far on that craigs posting we recently talked about. Is you have pics I will post them up with the ad. That should help.

Vince:

Ok I now see what you are talking about regarding the hairline cracks on the tangs. I just picked up a thrust washer kit and I do see they look the same.

Regarding the Hub Washer, I think your guess sounds right. I did lube it up but with minimal Vaseline (which btw I read on someones post. They said it can be used in place of the Tranny assembly lube).

As for the new build:

I just got my rollerized or roller clutch hub and rear roller parts from Jakes. (thanks Mike for the info and help). Any tips on how much the output shaft bushing needs to protrude into the case? Should the bushing be flush with the Torrington bearing and shim/s?

I also got some Green Assembly Goo (130 degree). I guess I will apply a lot more lube this time around.


And again thank you guys for all your knowledge.

 

Found this from another website:

"TH350 pump bearing and TH400 case bushing.Be sure to have the bushing protrude .120 to .130" into the case so the bearing can locate on it and the lube hole in the case fed oil from the vb pipe doesnt get restricted.On the early cases where the whole rear geartrain is lubed thru the larger pipe,not the small pipe with signal oil used on later units,go in and clearance the bushing where it interferes with the entrance of the oil exiting the pipe if you want to get crazy.You can also grind 2 notches in the bushing where it sticks into the case so the lube oil that travels thru the bushing grooves exits before it hits the output shaft flange.This will keep plenty of oil there.I havent installed the 3 tab and 4 tab washers there for the last 20 years."

I would assume I would need to press the bushing in more depending on the th350 pump shims. Also lets say I use a few shims to get my acquired end play and now the bushing is protruding inside the trans considerably leaving a small amount of case to bushing contact, would getting a wider bushing be a good choice? A wider or longer bushing, whatever you want to call it would seem to be a good choice.