Most of us truckers are a "can-do" bunch who aren't afraid to tackle the majority of things involved in building or maintaining our pick 'em ups, but out of this bunch not too many of us are proficient enough to build our own automatic transmissions, are we? It might be easy enough to clean up a swap meet or junkyard tranny and put a new converter and shift kit in it, but even then you don't know if you'll have to pull it out in a month because it was shot to begin with.
Well, it doesn't pay to gamble with things of this nature. There are pros out there for a reason! The professionals at TCI Automotive eat, breathe, and sleep ATF, and we can benefit from their expertise by enjoying the end result of their hard work and engineering. They have recently made it that much easier to get your tires spinning with one of their Streetfighter transmission packages. This includes a triple-tested TCI tranny, a precision-tuned TCI converter, 3 gallons of TCI RTF fluid, and a universal tranny cooler. The Streetfighter trannies are great for normally aspirated engines cranking out 450 horsepower on pump gas, and TCI has them in many different GM, Ford, and Chrysler configurations to suit your needs. Not only do the TCI trannies feature special clutches, bands, and improved lubrication that brings up the line pressure, resulting in firmer shifts, but each unit is blueprinted and dynoed before it leaves their building.
It just so happens the Smeding 392 Ford in the '60 F-100 we've been working on registered a cool 457 horsepower and needed a C-4 to transfer its ponies to the ground. The manual/automatic valve body-equipped '72-80 large-bellhousing C-4 we received came ready to go minus a kickdown cable and a shift linkage, which was easy enough to order from Lokar. Since the F-100 had a mid-engine/trans-mount stock, we got a new tubular crossmember from Classic Performance Products. CPP's crossmember only needed four holes drilled into the bottom of the frame and it was golden. The last thing we needed was a driveshaft, which we ordered from Inland Empire Driveline. It was ready a few days later.
One thing we deviated from on the TCI package was the use of a remote transmission cooler and fan combo from Flex-a-lite. This would eliminate the need to mount the cooler in a place to catch the wind so we could stick it easily up under the truck. If you use an existing cooler, you'll need to back-flush it to prevent contamination of the new system. Also, it's very important to adjust the kickdown cable according to the directions to avoid the wrong operating pressure under hard acceleration. It is also a good idea to start the vehicle up on jackstands until you confirm everything is adjusted correctly, and you can always call TCI at 662-224-8972 with any concerns. Follow along as we walk through all this shifty business
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First things first-don't forget to install the torque converter! I know it's a simple step, but I have the attention span of a gnat. And before that, top it off with fluid. Jason slides the TCI Breakaway converter onto the tranny while turning it back and forth to seat it all the way into place. |
This simple piece of stamped sheetmetal seems to be somewhat of a mystery. Not only does it act as a dust cover, but it also serves as a spacer to keep the torque converter from pushing into the tranny too far and damaging the whole shebang. We got this one from a local parts store, but beware, there are at least three part numbers for a 351 to a C-4 application, and we've yet to get to the bottom of it; not even the "seasoned" parts guy at the dealership knew how to help us. If you don't have a stock one and are so inclined, you can modify (cut up) one to work. | |