Drag Racing Online: The Magazine

7/7/06

Mike, I am rebuilding the TH350 in my 69 Camaro and would like some professional feed back on ideal components and modifications while I have it fully disassembled. I am not looking to run this car down a ¼ mile, as I have been waiting for over 20 years for my grand mother to gift this car to me, but I do want it to be all there @ the light. I have talked to the local transmission shop; they recommended a Torque Convert in the 2200 RPM range. (OEM vs. Performance?) I have purchased the B&M Shift Kit, but have been trying to research the “other” modifications to reliably support a stout 327 block w/ 350 heads. (Additional flow holes, enlarging flow paths, etc) I also want to replace the typical wear items (other than the clutches) and am thinking of the Bushing and Washer Kits. (Hughes Performance or other) Can think of any critical items or details that are missing from the Haynes technical manual?  (I did have one thing…the manual pictures the front pump w/ ~ 20 springs, my pump have 30.  Is there a reason or a purpose for less?) Your technical expertise and response are greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Tom Brown Gilbert, AZ

Tom,

The TH350 is a nice unit, of course there are some weak areas that need some help.  The second gear sprag is one of those areas.  We use one of two things to upgrade in this area.  A: For mid performance use we have a better steel outer race for the sprag.  B: A special drum with a larger 400TH type sprag assembly.  We sell rebuild kits custom built to your requests, we can put whatever components needed. 

You need to completely freshen and rebuild your transmission, clutches, seals, bushings, gaskets, etc. otherwise it is just a patch job.  Usually just a good shift kit and a good build on one of these units by an experience builder will work well.  As far as the torque converter, quality is everything you don’t want a mail order, mass produced cookie cutter torque converter.  You need style that will match your engine/car combination, something that compliments the engine torque curve. 

We custom build our torque converters to your car/engine combination.  You need to have your converter built by someone that actually cares about the finished product.  If you want a performance transmission or torque converter, quality and experience with high performance applications is the way to go when picking a builder.  We build some of the fastest and strongest transmissions around.

Thank you for your questions,

Mike

Mike’s Transmission
Lancaster CA
(661) 723-0081

 

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