You can buy a kit from TCI, Bowtie Overdrives and I'm sure there are others.

Most kits will lock the converter as soon as the trans shifts into 4th/OD. Which may or may not be a good thing for your setup.

It is really not hard to do it yourself and have a lot more flexibility with your lock up.

What rear gear ratio?
How tall are your tires?
What engine?
Does the engine have a "big" cam?
What is idle RPM?
Are you going to put a shift kit in the trans?

 

All of your questions (6) at the bottom of page I'll have to get back with you if you are going to do some kind of calculation for me since the truck isn't running at the moment would be much later, but if it was just "food for thought" then will be taken into consideration, thank you.

 

Check out this thread.

The problem you may run into is when the vacuum of the engine gets low enough to unlock the converter, it will lockup again as soon as the vacuum is above the unlock setting.

Called cycling, and will do that till you let off the gas or till engine vacuum stays higher than the unlock setting.

There needs to be a delay in there to hold off lockup, effectively stopping the cycling.

 

Since this trans has nothing to do with a computer too run it the above things you described doesn't make sense to me. Why can't the trans being its transplanted into my 68 C10 just lockup by its self like it would have did in its Donor vehicle ? Am I missing something?

 

1. 3.73 no posi but will get one

2. 15" stock steelies, tires not bought, might be around 28"-29" tall

3. 1989 305 Firebird LB9 w/o TPI. HP @ 190-230, TQ @ 275-300

4. stock eng & stock cam, Holley 600 vac sec, Edelbrock Performer, Accel HEI dizzy super coil 140003

5.RPM @ idle don't have Tack yet

6. No shift kit, but thinking of a Corvette Shift Servo for tighter shifts

Truck was bought this way, not my idea of parts but it does run great when running, not running now.

And the truck is a C10, I forgot the year, but probably weighs in around 4000-4500 pounds.

The 3.73 gear set is a good thing, but the 28-29 inch tires will offset the benefits of the 3.73 gears a little.

The 305 with the TPI had good torque down low. The 600 carb and performer is a decent combination, very streetable, but won't be as torquey as the TPI set up.

So with this combination assuming you run 29" tires, at 60MPH without OD you would be somewhere about 2600RPM

With a 700R4, 29" tires, at 60MPH, in 4th(OD), converter locked, RPM would be about 1850RPM.

The 305 would pull this along fine in the Firebird, but with the extra weight of the C10 and aerodynamics of a box, I'm not sure how it would handle the C10.

About all you can do is try it.

What trans is in it now?

The corvette servo is a good idea, but there are several things that need to be done to the 700R4 to beef it up.

Go to the places that sell beefed up 700R4s and read what all they do to them. That will give you a good idea what you might want to do to yours.

Monster

Probuilt

Getting the TV cable set correctly is crucial, and installing a decent size cooler in front of the radiator is a must.

If you decide to run a simple lockup on 4th gear pressure, you can always just use manual 3rd till you get up to a speed the 305 is happy. Then pop it to 4th, cruising like a big dog.

Let us know how it all shakes down for you.

 

1. 3.73 no posi but will get one

2. 15" stock steelies, tires not bought, might be around 28"-29" tall

3. 1989 305 Firebird LB9 w/o TPI. HP @ 190-230, TQ @ 275-300

4. stock eng & stock cam, Holley 600 vac sec, Edelbrock Performer, Accel HEI dizzy super coil 140003

5.RPM @ idle don't have Tack yet

6. No shift kit, but thinking of a Corvette Shift Servo for tighter shifts

Truck was bought this way, not my idea of parts but it does run great when running, not running now.

And the truck is a C10, I forgot the year, but probably weighs in around 4000-4500 pounds.

The 3.73 gear set is a good thing, but the 28-29 inch tires will offset the benefits of the 3.73 gears a little.

The 305 with the TPI had good torque down low. The 600 carb and performer is a decent combination, very streetable, but won't be as torquey as the TPI set up.

So with this combination assuming you run 29" tires, at 60MPH without OD you would be somewhere about 2600RPM

With a 700R4, 29" tires, at 60MPH, in 4th(OD), converter locked, RPM would be about 1850RPM.

The 305 would pull this along fine in the Firebird, but with the extra weight of the C10 and aerodynamics of a box, I'm not sure how it would handle the C10.

About all you can do is try it.

What trans is in it now?

The corvette servo is a good idea, but there are several things that need to be done to the 700R4 to beef it up.

Go to the places that sell beefed up 700R4s and read what all they do to them. That will give you a good idea what you might want to do to yours.

Monster

Probuilt

Getting the TV cable set correctly is crucial, and installing a decent size cooler in front of the radiator is a must.

If you decide to run a simple lockup on 4th gear pressure, you can always just use manual 3rd till you get up to a speed the 305 is happy. Then pop it to 4th, cruising like a big dog.

Let us know how it all shakes down for you.

Truck weights in right about 3500.
Haven't bought tires yet but will be using stock wheels 15". truck will be lowered by 2/4 from coils.
Carb & manifold will stay.
1992 4L60 in it now and always has been.
Why does the trans (4L60) have to be beefed up for the Corvette servo.
TV cable is hooked up to a Holley 600 vac sec with the geometry Corrector bracket & the correct Throttle cable bracket modified for my 68 C10.
For the present time No hauling any trailers.

As for Monster I have heard & read bad things about there trans rebuild warranty deals and as well with there Customer Service Dept bad attitude for Returns.
I will look into Probuilt for some info.

thanks, Marvin

 

Here's a parts list of what I consider a decent performance occasional track 700R4/4L60 (no E) build.

My performance street builds include:

- Raybestos Z pack single sided clutch packs
- TCI 10 vane pump, (minium) the pumps on 700R4/4L60E's when overheated will leak pressure oil into the vent system, given you have to pull the tranny to get at it the pump for me this is a standard replacement item. Even a rebuilt pump with appropriate mods is better than just reusing your old pump even with a valve build up on it.
- 500 Boost Valve several manufacturers like Sonnex and Transgo available.
- Beast sun shell the GM shell just isn't up to performance use including towing.
- If it doesn't have one get a 5 pinion planetary replacement it is always a good idea even with the factory 5 pinion as the wear on the thrust surfaces greatly degrades the planets ability to hold torque loads without failure.
- Corvette Servo several manufacturers to choose from.
- TCI Red Eagle band if you're gonna do downshifting this adds a lot of life to band and shell.
- TCI 29 element forward sprag clutch, this is up to a lot of beatings.
- Transgo stage 2 shift kit is pretty good for performance street and some track use.
- Converter stall to suit the cam and gearing.

This builds a pretty decent performance/towing 700R4/4L60, in stock form they are not up to performance use that includes towing.

Cooling is a huge problem with these transmissions use an addon cooler that is as big as you can find space for preferably with its own fan. Lots of 4th gear use, and high stall converters really run the oil temps way up. Surprisingly stop and go city traffic is the worst situation the oil temps off the converter would easily do French fries. Next worse is mountain driving especially if towing. A high stall converter is always a problem in hilly to mountainous terrain when pulling a grade you will see the stall increase with load if you use a tach with your speedometer, the slip always results with increased oil temps.

Bogie

 

Bogie I am Not in the process of rebuilding this trans it is in a running truck, but at the moment its not running for I'm installing a Power Steering System but having some pulley alignment problems. All I want is to have a easy setup for the lockup part of the trans. Any and all aftermarket kits sound good but they kinda add more to it than it would be in its Donor car/truck system. Just something simple is what I would like, adding a dashboard toggle switch and forgetting its on sounds dangerous if having to stop abruptly and the trans goes into a bind.

 

Simple lock up kit. TCI is the one I used. But you still need the brake switch.

2004R / 700R4 Lockup Wiring Kit - TCI® Auto

More Information for STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS SLS110T

Buy one or pick and pull (if you can find a vehicle) the prats you need.
It's a bit of work but well worth the effort.

Set it and forget it. I had the vacuum switch method in my 76 C10 until I installed the TPI. I now have an extra tranny plug hanging under the truck beside the tranny as the ECM now controls lock up.

Your 305 should be fine in 3500 LBS.
My 283 in 4500 LBS did lug and gave me 11 MPG.

 

How are you locking the converter now?

You don't have to put a corvette servo on it. The servo just improves the band clamping/holding ability in 2nd and 4th gears, among other duties.

If you are satisfied with how it is working now. Leave it alone till you have to rebuild, then beef up.

The 92 year 700R4s had most of the near 100s of factory updates and were very robust if kept cool. Not saying they couldn't be improved upon.

 

Actually the truck is down for installing a power steering gear box, belt pulleys, a auto steering column re-configured/modified (shift gate) inside the tube for 4 gear gate instead of the original th350 selector. But when it was running (only putting 200 miles on up & down hills) it did go through the gears much better after the New Parts,TV cable & Carb was up dated with new Geometry Corrector lever & TV cable correct bracket.
& the TV cable adjuster properly.

**Now for your first questions answer, with all that was said above here is the "Kicker" the trans has NO wires going into or out of the trans at all, nothing, nada. In short of taking the pan off to see whats inside it has me stumped . Any suggestions???

 

Was the converter clutch ever locking up?

I do believe some of the 700R4s could be set up to lock up hydraulically. No wires needed.

But I don't know anything about it, just read that some where.

I'm sure some one on this forum knows what I'm talking about.

Hopefully they will explain.

 

1. All I can say is the trans shifted into all four gears, other than that I don't know how to tell if it was locked up.

2. I just might be interested in this hyd sw deal. Some where I think I also have heard/read that some kind of a hyd. sw was used in some vehicles but don't know which ones.

3. It would be nice as to what that hyd. sw. looks like?

thanks, OD

 

Here you go Pugsy. This is what you see when looking at it, just an empty plug. Its been like this for me ( only 200 miles driving time) and from there on back to other owners I really couldn't say.

 

I started with the TCI kit, then kept adding on to make it as automatic and user friendly as possible. My wife drives the car some and she doesn't like to fiddle with anything.

If your brake light switch has four terminals you are good to go as is with the TCI kit.

Two terminals normally closed, for the TCC.

Two normally open for the brake lights.

But if your brake light switch only has two terminals, you will need a relay.

Here is a TCI kit with a two terminal brake light switch and a relay to operate the TCC.

Or you could go out and find a brake light switch with four terminals. I'm sure they are out there.

Either way it will work just fine.

 

OD, So you did start with this TCI #376600 kit and built on/to it from there? (what other parts were added) ? (complete drawing please). Your right the wife Has to be able to drive the vehicle (got to be a no Brainer) also the less I even have to think of it while driving in the Conditions we all have too do would be great also for me.

A four terminal brake light switch isn't to hard to find it would be application wise for cruise control vehicles.

I don't want to use a relay, that keeps adding to the problem at hand.

Thanks again for being so patient with me. Just because I am somewhat of a Joker I'll share this with you and this forum, I still got my bag of marbles pic below proves it, LOL. Marvin

 

I added a lot. With just a vacuum switch, I found when passing a car or going up an incline, if the engine vacuum got low enough to unlock the converter it would cycle unlock-lock-unlock till I let off or disengaged the cruise control.

The vacuum switch does not have enough span between the lockup and unlock points. So it will cycle until you stop it. Very unnerving.

So I put a on-delay relay in the circuit to delay the lock up point by 10 seconds. And this actually fixed two drivability problems.

It eliminated the cycling. It also slows lock up when you hit the brakes to slow down for a car turning, when the RPM drops below the lugging speed, which on my car it's 40MPH or about 1400RPM, that's in 4th. More times than not it's just enough delay to get the RPM back up.

Then, when I would go through a small town the delay was not long enough so I would pull it down into 3rd gear.

So to be able to leave it in 4th I added a latching relay to the circuit. With a momentary push-button on the shifter tee-handle so I can toggle the circuit on or off.

All this does add a couple of layers of complexity, but it works very well and the wife has no problem pushing the button on the shifter when she hears the 454 complain. And I enjoy tinkering with this kind of stuff.

The ideal solution would be to have a speed lock out, so the TCC would not lock till, you are in 4th gear and at a set speed, like 45 or 50MPH, or whatever works the best for the vehicle.

So here is the circuit as I run today, with a 10 second delay.

And then the original set up I used with just the TCI kit and a Bosch relay because I only have a two terminal brake switch.

I also have a switch on the dash that will disable the TCC. I retained it as it has a small blue light in it that indicates power being applied to the TCC solenoid. In either circuit, it's not absolutely necessary, one can always shift to 3rd.

 

Marvin,
I must add that both of the circuits I posted rely on two things.

The TTC solenoid must be of the 2 wire version. There is a one wire version that ground is supplied through the mounting.

And the 4th gear pressure switch is the two terminal NO variety.

Both circuits could be modified to operate with either.

BTW, I lost my marbles years ago.