Installing my new Performabuilt level II tranny and 9.5inch 3200rmp stall.

Kudo's to Frank at Performabuilt. We had a question at 9:45pm CST and he picked up and tried to help us out. That's the kind of customer service that creates brand loyalty.

Here is the old one that doesn't have reverse, 2nd, 4th and I barely had 3rd.
I pushed it out of the garage, drove through the yard in 1st and limped it the 10 miles to the shop.


The 55 Chevy is a project car that my buddy it just picked up to restore.

I hunted pretty hard on friday to get the Torx TP50 bit that is needed to remove the bell housing bolts from the old tranny and install it on the new. Thank God I was able to get one on Saturday.

Any significance to a 4L60F?




New tranny ready to go back in. Converter is seated fully.


New ARP flex plate bolts. I figured what the hell I might as well replace them while I'm in there.


The coolant lines that go into the tranny were a bitch. Got them installed like the directions say but we came to find out that the new O rings seemed to be just a bit smaller then needed to be. When we shoved the lines in, it cleaved part of the O ring. It made for a couple nice bleeders after the initial start up. Had to pull the tranny cross member and exhaust to let everything sag down so we could get at the connectors are install the old O rings.

Here is how much space we had to work with. We pulled the E clip on the top line and took the line out.







Got that issue figure out and now have to track down another leak. We are thinking the pan gasket or front seal. Pulled the inspection cover and the converter is dry and clean and the front seal on the tranny looks to be the same.

Torque converter is freaking sweet. It makes the care feel like it has power now. Even with 2.73 gears in it still, the damn thing will blow the tires off on launch. I haven't hammered it on the road yet because I'm not sure if there is a break in period or not.
I'm going to drive it like it is for a week or two and make sure all the install bugs are worked out if there are any and then put the 3.42's in.

The things I immediately noticed on the first test drive was that I had to give it a couple hundred more rpm to move. Take offs seem smoother and once at cruising speed and the converter locks you can't tell a difference.

I'm pretty happy so far, just need to find this f'n leak and fix it and get the car scanned because I've got a SES light on now after the install.

 

Changing those orings can be a PITA. I like to replace them with new fittings. The best way I have found is to replace the orings is to use the back side of a drill bit , or something round and smooth, to push/roll them in place once in the groove inside the fitting. Make sure that they are fully seated and use a little grease on the oring before installing the line. Always install the clip on the fitting before installing the lines. The lines will simply snap into the fitting and makes for a very easy install. Your "leak" might be oil that was leaking from the cooler lines. Make sure to brake clean everything up good and blow it dry with compressed air if you have it available to you. This should help narrow down the leak if in fact there is one. Like I said it might be from the cooler lines leaking. The code that you have could be caused by the new stall converter. Get a scan tool on the vehicle and look for codes. This is not uncommon if you had a factory piece in there before hand. If you have a code P0751 or P0757 you will have some tuning to do. This can be done by clearing the code and then deleting the test in your computer with tuning. If you have tuning software or have a tuner close to you, this is an easy fix. Get the vehicle scanned and go from there. Good luck with the new combo. Vince

 

Vince is very correct on the high stall converter particularly with 273 gear the PCM is probably unhappy with what its seeing engine RPM to Output speed wise.
I sent you some info in PM on what to do so we can determine the leak origin.
Glad you like how it feels and works .
Frank

 

We did actually have a little grease on the oring and the clip in place. We pressed the lines in as best as we could and they seemed to be seated.
Put everything together and did the initial start up with 6 quarts in it. It started pissing out those lines and ultimately we removed them, put the old o rings in put the lines in and slid the clips back on.
I have double and triple checked them and they are sealed now.

Doing further inspections based on Franks instructions.

 

Slowly figuring out what is going on.

 

The gap between the flexplate and the converter was .265


We added 2 washers between the converter and flex plate for each bolt to bring us within
tolerance of the .60 to .187.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic-transmission/821738-torque-converter-installations.html





Each washer set was .150 in thickness.
So .265 - .150 = 115 Well within the tolerance.

It only leaked after I drove it. I'm getting drops from the pan and the bell housing inspection plates.



On the test drive I did a half throttle acceleration and in 3rd gear at 4k it just revved up like it was partially in neutral. light throttle it shifts fine.

From what i have been told that is going to have to be fixed by tuning.

 

There are only six things I can think of about that fluid in the bellhousing.
1. Pump o-ring nicked -- not very common especially since those are built with the bellhousing removed (unlike some hack shops)
2. The pump seal - thats what I'd assume because the converter can nick it I guess.
3. The pump bolt o-rings - not very common at all unless they were left out, even then they still might not leak.
4. Converter defect - either a leak in a weld or the runout is off, if the runout is off it will take out the pump bushing and seal at the minimum.
5. Pump bushing walking out and opening up the seal - not common on these either.
6. Fluid build up that spilled out of the converter during installation.

 

We will be pulling it out tonight.

It sucks but new parts can be faulty and **** happens.

I'm that guy who people always say, "if it is going to happen it will happen to Shawn".

 

We are having the transmission picked up and returned to us for repair of the leak. Sucks when things like this happen. But we are gonna take care of it

 

Despite the issue, Frank has been a good guy to deal with.
No hassle or BS, just great customer support that they are known for.
Which is a good thing when dealing with major purchases like this and having lots of $$$$ sunk into it.

The installer and I should have an idea as to whats wrong tonight when we pull it.

 

Why does the verter have a ring around it?

I would be carefull about adding a washer, if you dont have enough thread, its going to twist that sucker out or loosen up and oval out the flywheel holes. Might look into getting a longer bolt if you are going to reuse stock bolts with a washer.

But Shawn, is that your buddy with the nice camaro I met at the dyno day in the background? Tell him to get a new hat!! LOL Looks like you guys have a nice place to do all your work in. It sure beats my little *** one stall garage.

 

That is the guy, i will let him know your bustin on his hat. hahaha

I wish I got free shop time but he said that hes got to make a payment some how, and my car will be taking up a stall for a couple weeks during this turn around process.

 

Thats how they adapt V6 and 4cly converters to LS1 flexplates.
Some companies weld brackets on, some use billet front covers.

 

We have both for a price

 

Can they with stand the HP?

 

Is that a performabuilt stall?

 

That is a PBuilt stall.

 

Items were boxed up and UPS picked them up last night.



Frank said that the replacement converter and transmission would go out late yesterday or today.
Hopefully I get a tracking number today.

 

New Transmission is in. Also installed a Auto Meter trans temp gauge. Took it easy on it last night, put on 20 miles to see how it would act.
So far so good, headed back out to the shop in an hour to check fluid level, mount the gauge better and then test the stall out properly.

Just driving around the temp is about 155-160, it will be interesting to see how hot it gets after its been stalled a couple times.

 

awesome. i just ordered pretty much the same trans from them 2 days ago. you wouldnt happen to have any pictures of that torx TP50 socket would ya?