I have never had this problem before, but I got these sexy Corvette wheels, and the 235 tires that came on them rubbed bad on the slightest corner. I really enjoyed this video, and trying to seat the tire, I am glad it worked out.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Astro Van Diesel
This is the diesel I got for the Astro van, basically free, with the 700R4 transmission. Which ironically turned out to be a great transmission, the only one of three that has a good fourth gear, but I rebuilt it anyway. Who knew a 30 year old automatic could still be sweet inside.
I have unsiezed this diesel engine like this three times now. It obviously has some internal problems. So its on the list to get a tear down and rebuild, right after the Ranger is back together. It takes about an hour or more to get this motor turning over 360 deg. Then it won't quite fire, but makes little smoke puffs.
The starter in the 6.2 diesel has some serious torque, sucks the battery voltage down and makes a tremendous amount of heat. It still takes an hour of cranking an eighth of an inch at a time.
I have unsiezed this diesel engine like this three times now. It obviously has some internal problems. So its on the list to get a tear down and rebuild, right after the Ranger is back together. It takes about an hour or more to get this motor turning over 360 deg. Then it won't quite fire, but makes little smoke puffs.
The starter in the 6.2 diesel has some serious torque, sucks the battery voltage down and makes a tremendous amount of heat. It still takes an hour of cranking an eighth of an inch at a time.
Torque Converter Myth
I got my new built transmission in my van. Haven't done all the tests yet, but it worked sweet around the block. Everything is as expected, shift points are perhaps a tad higher. It slams into gear, to get rid of the "slush box" automatic feel, and make me more aware of what gear I'm in.
I was actually looking forward to cutting my original torque converter open, to see how burnt up it is. It is my theory that most of the heat on the highway was coming from the torque converter. My testing proved it did not lock up as it should have. When I told the transmission shop I was going to open the old converter, they were taken aback, "oooh, you have a metal lathe?" they said. I was like "no I'm just going to open it w a grinder". And they told me its so thick, like 1/4" thats a lot of work, and waste of time. I actually listened to them and didn't open it up, for a few days. Then I remembered I own a plasma cutter.
I was totally disappointed in the results. It seemed to me like there was nothing in the torque converter to wear out. Maybe it is a steel clutch of sorts that doesn't have the strength to lock up under the load I put on it, I may never know, but I have put the question out there.
http://youtu.be/qY3PThQszTE
I was actually looking forward to cutting my original torque converter open, to see how burnt up it is. It is my theory that most of the heat on the highway was coming from the torque converter. My testing proved it did not lock up as it should have. When I told the transmission shop I was going to open the old converter, they were taken aback, "oooh, you have a metal lathe?" they said. I was like "no I'm just going to open it w a grinder". And they told me its so thick, like 1/4" thats a lot of work, and waste of time. I actually listened to them and didn't open it up, for a few days. Then I remembered I own a plasma cutter.
I was totally disappointed in the results. It seemed to me like there was nothing in the torque converter to wear out. Maybe it is a steel clutch of sorts that doesn't have the strength to lock up under the load I put on it, I may never know, but I have put the question out there.
http://youtu.be/qY3PThQszTE
Friday, March 9, 2012
700R4 upgrades
I've learned a lot over the winter rebuilding my Chevy automatic transmissions. Thanks a bunch to Michelle for letting me take over the basement all winter and putting up with the musk of burnt tranny fluid. I feel much better about my automatic Astro van now, knowing I can fix the transmission, should I burn it out. Before it was like "when's this trans going to go?" and I would always be on the look out for a new van, or have a back up truck ready to go. Now I will have a back up automatic transmission built and ready to install.
I didn't really film the rebuilding, cause honestly I didn't know what I was doing, and it took about 6 months, hour here, hour there. Next one I will film, with short cuts, to show what you most likely get with a $800 rebuild.
I did a few mods to the automatic transmission to make it hold up better towing the 4500lb electrical trailer. Those mods are going to cost me more work on the install, because I will have to mess about pulling the governor, and modifying the governor, to get the shift rpms back to where they were before the higher pressures and bigger valves. I have 2 videos covering the mods I did here.
I didn't really film the rebuilding, cause honestly I didn't know what I was doing, and it took about 6 months, hour here, hour there. Next one I will film, with short cuts, to show what you most likely get with a $800 rebuild.
I did a few mods to the automatic transmission to make it hold up better towing the 4500lb electrical trailer. Those mods are going to cost me more work on the install, because I will have to mess about pulling the governor, and modifying the governor, to get the shift rpms back to where they were before the higher pressures and bigger valves. I have 2 videos covering the mods I did here.
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