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Old Sep 12, 2013 | 09:42 PM
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Default TH400 Build Pics

I'm building a fairly serious TH400 for a 1800 HP combo and the customer wanted pics as it goes together for their build album/records.

So I've taken a couple of pics as we've prepped some of the pieces to build this one tomorrow.

Many of the internals on the bench:



Machining the case for a SFI bellhousing.


I'll try to remember to snap some pics tomorrow of things as they go together.

This is a fully rollerized unit with quite a few modifications, some seen here that I usually don't show...
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Old Sep 13, 2013 | 05:18 PM
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looks good continue with updates.
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Old Sep 16, 2013 | 12:01 PM
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Any more pics?
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Old Sep 16, 2013 | 04:17 PM
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Originally Posted by White.Lightning
Any more pics?
Not yet,
trying to get a few units dyno'd. We were short staffed end of last week.
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 06:53 PM
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300M intermediate shaft to replace the stock part. (Stock part is pretty strong).



Rollerized between the planetaries. Not always necessary but we do this on many of our higher end builds and special applications.



Billet forward hub. This is one of the pieces we do on all of our Stage 3 and up 400's and 4L80Es. This is not the common Sonnax part that many shops use. While the Sonnax piece is a decent one this one is stronger albeit slightly heavier.



NEW GM reaction carrier. Perfect band surface, no worn thrust washers.


Modified center support. I usually don't allow this to be seen in public but I'm going to let the cat out of the bag here and just say that this is something we do that very few shops would do or even understand the reasoning.


Checking front endplay.
Some of the modifications we do (we also rollerized the front pump to drum), allow us to run extremely close endplay. This does several things for the long term reliability and can become very critical when you start approaching the 2000 HP level.


This is the torrington bearing in the case. Normal mod that many builders have been doing for decades.
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 06:59 PM
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In the first picture you can see the aluminum direct drum with super sprag. This is a $1000 part that had to be machined today to be used.

Also seen is the Griner aluminum valve body. This is simply the fastest releasing transbrake offered for a TH400. It has very simple and effective circuits that can be seen in the picture somewhat. The beauty of this piece is not just what it does, but what it doesn't do.
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 07:12 PM
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The forward hub with the bearing that replaces a thrust washer. Another standard mod on ALL of our TH400 and 4L80E builds.


Same bearing from a different direction. It fits between the drum and hub once assembled.

And a teaser from one on the dyno.
TH400 automatic shift transbrake.
We're making some adjustments to the valve body.
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 07:44 PM
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Jake- You are the man! Seriously. You don't mislead people, you tell it how it is, and you put out proven products. I admire that as a consumer, and I'm sure others do as well.

Thanks for the pictures. It allows average Joe's like myself to see inside some high HP stuff.
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 08:31 PM
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Originally Posted by White.Lightning
Jake- You are the man! Seriously. You don't mislead people, you tell it how it is, and you put out proven products. I admire that as a consumer, and I'm sure others do as well.

Thanks for the pictures. It allows average Joe's like myself to see inside some high HP stuff.
Thanks,
It's been one of those weeks this week and last where I wonder why I even do this stuff. Short handed, everything is a fire to put out, etc.
I drove 100 miles round trip today to get two fittings that were $1.25 each because my local supplier couldn't get it done. Had I known I would have overnighted them last week. I needed them to reroute the lines for the TH400 brake shown above.
I have way more important stuff to do than drive to get two fittings but this unit should have been gone a week ago.

If I did normal cookie cutter builds like most shops and even performance shops, I could just order a part in, install it, and move to the next build.

There are only a handful of shops that do what we do and have the capability we do, and many of those that do, you aren't calling and getting to speak to the owner.

Pricing went up a couple of days ago to reflect what we actually do, the bad thing is, we are charging about what a GOOD local shop charges would a stock rebuild to do custom builds with quite a few upgrades.

That is part of the reason I posted a few things here I usually don't. To show what we are doing that isn't just another build and is above and beyond any of the shops out there except a very few shops that do really high end stuff.
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 09:24 PM
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Hi Jake,

Thanks for the photos! Very cool stuff, and since I've been in mine, I actually understand most of it.

My TH400 you helped me with is working flawlessly by the way!

Ron
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Old Sep 17, 2013 | 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by RonSSNova
Hi Jake,

Thanks for the photos! Very cool stuff, and since I've been in mine, I actually understand most of it.

My TH400 you helped me with is working flawlessly by the way!

Ron
Good deal Ron,
We have lots of stuff going fast out there and we've helped lots of people build their own stuff to go fast.

A TH400 is a pretty hard trans to beat.
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Old Sep 22, 2013 | 01:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Jake's Performance
[IMG]
And a teaser from one on the dyno.
TH400 automatic shift transbrake.
We're making some adjustments to the valve body.
Jake quick question for you. In the picture above I see two braided lines running to the front of the trans. As you know I installed one of these in a local guys trans that did not have these. Is this another generation of that valve body or did I miss-read your post?
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Old Sep 22, 2013 | 11:50 AM
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Essentially the same setu but I've gone to braided line. They hook to the VB, which is not pictured.
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Old Sep 23, 2013 | 06:02 AM
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Nice upgrade to the package!
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Old Feb 10, 2016 | 01:52 PM
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What oil should run with this awesome trans?
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