This all started when I blew my tranny two weeks ago. I started researching my options and looking at the different sponsors as well as local builders. I had looked into one local guy that's supposed to be pretty good, but he wouldn't tell me what he used in his units. He just told me to pay up and I'd have a good tranny. Sorry, but I like to know what I'm paying for.

Enter Vince at FLT. From the beginning, he's taken time out of his schedule to answer all my questions and respond to all my concerns about these trannies. I've made numerous phone calls and he always answers or gets back to me within hours. And of course their 10% off sale was the icing on the cake. So I made arrangements to pick up my new tranny and drop off my old one since I'd be in the area.

Enter wow factor!! I arrived when they opened this past Tuesday morning and got to meet both Vince and Chuck. They had my new tranny warming up on their dyno, so while we were waiting they took me around the shop and showed me everything! They showed me where they do their machine work, where they keep all the new parts, they even showed me their performance components compared to stock components. I was blown away. They showed me everything that went in to my tranny. I looked at the web page, and they don't list half the goodies that these trannies get.

Enter dyno time! That machine is amazing. They showed me how they can adjust line pressure, then ran my tranny through shift cycle three separate times at low throttle, half throttle and full throttle. It was really neat to see it shifting when he commanded it to. Very smooth and lightning fast!

After all this, I was feeling very good about my purchase and thinking this is as good as it gets. Wrong.....Vince offered to tear apart my old tranny so we could see how it failed! I couldn't believe this. In about ten minutes time, he had pulled it apart and inspected every nook and cranny. He showed me typical failure points and what they do to improve on them. He told me my old tranny failed basically because of improper assembly. Not being familiar with internal tranny parts, hopefully Vince will chime in and explain it better than I did. He showed me the failure area and it made perfect sense, but I can't remember all the jargon . I got to see a unit that's in for a refresh that has 4 years and ~650 horsepower on it. The internals looked pretty damn new to my untrained eye. Vince showed me some components that were worn, but they all looked way better than my old tranny internals.....and my old tranny went in this past January.

In conclusion, I got to spend 2 hours with Vince and Chuck and see one of the neatest operations I've ever seen. Those guys take their trannies very seriously and it shows. I've never been treated like that as a customer and I must say it has left a lasting impression. I wish I had bought from them a long time ago. My wife was with me, and normally she could care less about this stuff, but Vince sparked her interest and answered all her questions too. She was almost as excited as me when we left. It was an awesome experience and FLT has nailed it with their customer service. I'll post a review once the tranny is in, but after seeing it on the dyno I can already tell it's going to perform flawlessly.

My hats off to both Chuck and Vince. You have quite an operation and it's pretty obvious to me now why so many claim you are the best in the business. Thank you both so much for an amazing and very educational experience. I'll be in touch! Here's all the pictures I took.

 

Ben first off I want to say thank you for the kind words here. Your post here truly made my day. I look at it like this, you have done your homework and I truly believe that when you left the shop, there was no doubt in your mind that that the trip to Chicago was well worth it. I figured as you went through all this trouble and started this thread I owed you one. Here are a couple photo's I shot for you tonight to show you some of what is inside of your transmission. I will post up some more tomorrow. If I have time. Vince


This first picture is a picture of an FLT pump prior ro bolting the pump halves to gether.

This picture is a complete break down of an FLT pump assembly. It includes a completely in house machined pump. Meaning that we surface all of our pumps to verify flatness to eliminate cross leaks and imperfections. This is done with our lathe and a fixture that we own for a percision surface. These are the parts that go into this bad *** pump. A new ac-delco 13 vane pump rotor, slide, vane, guide and ring kit. Over sized Sonnax PR valve. Trans-go or Sonnax boost valve. Trans go pressure regulator springs. A Sonnax hi-rev pump slide spring. New bushings, rings and seals.

This picture is a picture of the reverse input drum and the clutches for it. Also you can see a picture of the wide band that we use in our level 5 units. This is the carbon lined band. A very nice piece.

Picture below is of the input drum with the internal pistons and spring cages already installed. Also the 3/4 clutches, over run and forward clutches have been laid out with the pressure plates and the sprag assembly.

Picture below is a picture of a fully assembled input drum.


More photos coming so check back often. Feel free to ask a question or if there is something you would like to see post it. Enjoy Vince

 

A couple more photo's for you guy's. The first pic is of the case with the servo bore buffed with scotch bright and ready for assembly of the servo. Also you can see the way we return our cases back to the original virgin aluminum finish. It's not paint it's raw!


This second picture is a front shot of the case. Flat stoned sanded and also the 3-4 accumulator bore has been prepped with scotch bright as well.

Third picture here is another photo of a new reverse input drum, frictions and steels. Most of our units come with a new drum or a very good looking used one. I check these drums for wear on the inside and also verify that the band surface is flat. If it does not meet my standards it gets thrown away.


More photos coming so check back often. Feel free to ask a question or if there is something you would like to see post it. Enjoy Vince

 

What does the number 43 denote on the side of the tranny? Mine says 33 I believe. Is there a difference?

 

That is just a number of the mold or something. Not very important as far as I'm concerned. More photo's coming. Vince

 

Well Matt you know first hand as to the hours I put in every week to give you just what you payed for. The best that there is. Chuck and myself work very hard to keep that quality up to the highest standards in the industry and that will never change. Quality control comes before production around here. We also probably give you the customer more in parts than anyone else out there. Our level 4 unit exceeds most of the competition in the new parts alone. I guarantee it. Not to mention the years of RND behind a well known proven product. I know you have seen it for yourself as you did ask to sit in when I built your unit. Thank you for the kind words as always. Vince

Chuck the owner of FLT has been a sponsor here for almost as long as this board has been around. ProStockJohn can confirm that. We will be here when you are ready. Thank you for considering FLT. Vince

I did send you a PM to discuss your situation. Thank you for your time. Vince

 

Well my story goes like this:

My trans was shifting perfectely fine when i bought my car so i was just gonna throw a shift kit in it. Then after taking the time of pulling my trans i thought other wise. Checked out a few local shops then called FLT. Vince told me if i wanted to, to just stop in and check out a few things and go from there. Stopped in there one morning and stayed there bullshittin for about a hour or so. And yes, they tell you EVERYTHING! there is to know about them, lol. After that i was getting mine built up. BEST shop iv ever been in and not worried about chillin in the shop while they take you to school on trannys. Everyone these days are all about taking your money and pushing you out the door, well not Vince or Chuck. They were chillin and talkin before i even said i was gonna build my trans, that says a lot about them. There on the look out for the customer first, then business later. All in all 2 of the best guys iv ever spent my money with!!

Vote FLT for president!!!

 

Thanks Jerry for the feedback here. I know what you are saying about taking the money and pushing out the door. We are just not like that and I truly enjoy our customers. You guys deserve the services that we provide and that will never change. I know being able to see what we do is very neat for you guys and leaves a great impression of what we are really about. Thanks again and thank you for choosing FLT. Vince

 

Yes we did, give us a call when your ready.

 

I just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here as well.

This thread is a perfect example of how Chuck and Vince work. You post to say how pleased you were with what they've done, and then they go and do even more!!

I've spent literally hours and hours on the phone with Chuck. I bought one 65E from him way back when (before he even started FLT!!) and he serviced that tranny for me over and over, and even helped me get it sold to another member when I needed to step up to the 80E (which Chuck and Vince built for me, of course). Chuck even talked me through changing out some parts by phone when a faulty install side-lined my 65E (and though I've forgotten what the heck the part was, Chuck probably remembers lol). At first you might think, wow that's great customer service! And it really is... But now remember that I didn't even pay FLT (paid another company) for that 65E (although Chuck built it for me).

That is a testament to these guy's motives and intentions right there. That's why I say the only way I'll ever go somewhere else for a performance tranny is if Chuck and Vince tell me they can't or don't want to build that kind of tranny.

 

Eric thank you for the kind words. You know first hand as to how real of a deal we are and thank you for sharing it with others. Vince

Damn Gil I never looked at it like that. Oval office....builders room...humm...I'm in!

 

Vince, I just got done with the tune on Ben's (99Hawk262) car. Wow, that transmission feels great, and shifts when it's commanded to shift. Ben used an old fuel pump of mine when flushing his cooler out, and got it all together the other day. Mainly we were battling drivability bugs, which I think are gone now, but tonight was the first time since he's had the cam that he has been able to take 2nd gear all the way to the shift. We shifted the car as high as 6700, but I lowered the points to about 6500 or so. The car starts to fall off a little at 6600+. Anyways, another vote for FLT, great product. Hopefulley get to meet up with you around the holidays!

 

https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic-transmission/806603-flt-level-4-yank-pt4400-full-review.html

My full review!

 

Nice to hear feedback from a tuner! I will hopefully be down for Christmas and maybe you can show me your magic.

Good to hear all is going well with the car Ron. Not sure that the trans will outlive the car but we will see. Thanks for the kind words guy's. Vince

 

This first picture here is a trans ready to have the valve body installed. I have out lined the two holes in red that are required to align the separator plate, valve body/case gaskets, valve body, 1-2 accumulator housing and the spacer plate support. These pictures were taking when refreshing a unit for a customer. This a vacuum modulated unit.

I install these two bolts first to get the spacer plate and gaskets aligned using grease to stick the gaskets to the plate. Here is the Photo.

Then I install the the spacer plate support with the three bolts in the rear of the case along with the 1-2 accumulator housing. Here is the photo.

Then torque the bolts to 8ftlbs. Here is the photo.

ATSG (Automatic Transmission Service Group)recommends using this same procedure and then install the valve body after cleaning. Then I will remove the two alignment bolts and install the valve body. Make sure to install your wiring harness into the case first and also the lockup solenoid in to the pump. Torque the bolts for the LU solenoid to 8ftlbs. Then install the valve body using the two correct valve body bolts to align the valve body.

Making sure to install the two alignment bolts first, along with the three bolts that have 8mm heads in the correct position.

The bolt second from the right is the one to really watch out for here. These are the ones if they are in the wrong position will lock the gear train. Here is a picture of the different length bolts.

Picture of all bolts placed in the proper positions.

After lightly tightening your bolts down don't forget to do this. 8ftlbs



More photos coming so check back often. Feel free to ask a question or if there is something you would like to see post it. Enjoy Vince

 

Yes I have been busy. The sale has been good to us and my board is pretty full these days. I will continue what I do here for you guy's because I love doing it. Stay tuned! Vince

Thanks Bill. If you find you need anything else for your project you know how to find me. Vince

In fact I'm heading to the shop in a few minutes here to do some testing on a few topic's that have surfaced here on tech. I think I have the answer but I want to perform the real world test first. Always nice when you can back up the facts. If I remember correctly you are probably talking about a certain old school Chevy. From our conversations that sounds like a real fun project with like years of history! IIRC second owner of a car that was made in the 50's and purchased then as well. Very cool bud. Give me a call some time about the camera thing. I will admit it has taken some time to learn how to use it but then again I am just a dumb tranny guy!

 

I'm glad that you are going above and beyond Vince. Many people appreciate what you're doing with the pics and explanations, and know that they are putting their hard earned money towards a quality product that you stand by 100%.

Hope you had a good weekend!

 

This first picture is of one of our valve bodies totally disassembled. We do this on every unit that we build.



Here are some random photos of one of our valve bodies assembled.





More photos coming so check back often. Feel free to ask a question or if there is something you would like to see post it. Enjoy Vince

 

I like the idea as well. Make this a sticky!!! I will continue to add photo's as I get a chance to edit them. I have a bunch of pic's of the internal hard parts that I have been taking. On a side note here are some pic's of a finished trans along with a couple pic's of the dyno. I will put up some more photo's of the dyno in the next couple days. Vince


These are all pictures as to exactly what our transmissions look like when you receive them.

As you can see the unit comes complete ready to be installed. The only things that need to be transferred are any brackets, mounts and the speed sensor.

Here is a picture of a LS1 300mm bell, 300mm pump/stator and 300mm input shaft. Our units to come with the bell installed for you.

As you can see in these photo's of the transmissions, they are built like new right down to the oil pan. Every piece is addressed on every unit we build. This is just the way I believe it should be done.

This is where we put our ID mark. It includes the date the trans was built, the builder and what level it is. We have been doing this for the past couple of years.

Here is a photo of the transmissions cooler fittings. We install these for you before the transmission leaves FLT. They are a push in style fitting. Which means all you need to do is to push the lines into them until they snap in place. Always make sure that the clips are on the fittings before doing this. The bottom line is the cooler pressure out to cooler and the top line is the return from the cooler.

This is a picture of the 4th servo cover. This is where the 2nd and 4th servos are located on the transmission. The servos are what is used to apply the band in 2nd and 4th gears.

This is a picture of the transmission case connector for the 4l60e. We use new harnesses in every unit we build new.

All 2wd Drive units come with the correct tail housing. This is a picture of a F-Body tail.

All units come with the correct linkage. Either new or like new.


Couple pictures of the Dyno.


This last picture is one that is on our machine that I find funny. Enjoy Vince


More photos coming so check back often. Feel free to ask a question or if there is something you would like to see post it. Enjoy Vince.

 

Hopefully it's not a trade secret, but Vince told me that with all of the machining, assembly and dyno time, it required something like 10 hours or longer to build one tranny. My last tranny was thrown together in one hour while I watched. What's that tell you!