BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

[SuperBuickGuy]

sweet.... give you just enough time to decide you need another power adder than you start all over again.... oh wait, that's my MO.

[BBR]

Drove it to work and back yesterday with no real issues. Oil pressure was good, water temp was 185, oil looked good. I didn't get the manifold china rail sealed very good (big fat bead of rtv) right behind the disributor. It puked a little bit of oil out right there.

Today at lunch I will jack it up, drain the trans fluid and reseal the intake. Then, this evening I will swap in the new valve body.

I am considering removing the evacs and just running valve cover breathers. Reason: evacs are intended to work with open headers and not mufflers. If you pull one of the evac breathers while it is idling, you can feel the vacuum it is pulling, but I am beginning to doubt it pulls any at WOT due to the back pressure the 3" pipe and mufflers are sure to have when this sucker is at full song. I am going to stop by my storage unit and grab the plain ole vents at lunch and swap them on just as an experiment.

[milner351]

Would it be a giant PITA to run down the strip once with the breathers open, and once with the evacs and compare the oil "mist" evidence on the valve covers? I wonder if one run would be enough to see a difference.

Great progress man!

[BBR]

It wouldn't be a big deal. I am going to just pull out the evac breathers and zip tie them to the fenderwells and poke the regular breathers in.

[BBR]

C6 Transmissions 101 is now in session, please take your seats.

New valve body from Broader Performance showed up today. Went home after work, removed the 17 pan bolts, dropped the pan. Sure enough, I put the wrong filter on it the last time I changed it.

> C6's have 3 filters to choose from: short - for early shallow pans, medium - for deeper factory and aftermarket pans, long - for the deep 4x4 pans.

Not knowing the difference, I put a short one on. I now have the correct one for the pan I am running now (medium).

The valve body is super easy to remove. The TCI one has 6 bolts and it comes right out. Pulled it out, got the new one out of the box and lined up the gear selector arm and bolted it in with the factory 8 bolts. No sweat. Reinstalled the pan and proceeded to attach the shift cable.

Wait a sec...... why does the shift arm move back and forth without any detents?!?!? I crawl out and look at the TCI. Yep, it has the detents in the manual valve on the valve body. By this time I had to go in an fix dinner for the kiddos since Julie was at a meeting. After dinner I get in the computer and make a discovery.

>Early C6's have the shift positions controlled by detents on the manual valve in the valve body. Later C6's have them controlled by a rooster comb, spring & roller mounted in the transmission case.

Now, if you have a late model case, you can use either style of valve body. Just remove the case spring and roller if you are using an early valve body. BUT if you have an early case you MUST use the early style valve body because the case has no provision to mount the spring and roller. Ok, but what case do I have?!?! I didn't even think to look when I had it apart.



Julie gets home and we watch tv until she is about to fall asleep. She goes to bed and I head back out to the driveway (10:45-ish). Drop the pan again.... sure enough I have an early case. This valve body will not work at all with my transmission. Ca-raaaap. I drop the new vb and put the TCI back in. Bolt up the pan and readjust the shift cable. C6's are pretty finicky about shift cable adjustment. I did not feel like I have had it right since I put this car together mainly because I sometimes needed to bump the shifter to get it to go into a gear. Like going from 2nd back to 1st, I'd need to bonk it forward just a hair to make it go back to 1st. I took my time last night adjusting the shift cable and it is friggin' perfect.

Maybe that, combined with the correct filter will fix the 2-3 problem I have been having. I guess we'll see.... finger's crossed.

[squirrel]

I wonder if the valve body mounted detent was part of their popping out of park into reverse issue they had the recalls for in the 70s? although the main problem was not enough room between P and R.

Anyways, bummer about Ford's better ideas screwing with progress. Can you road test the full throttle 2-3 shift safely on public roads?

[SuperBuickGuy]

you'd figure that even with the possibility of getting something wrong; occasionally, the odds would work out and you'd get the right bit. of course (it appears) you'd be wrong - either that or it's my fault because I serve the Buick gods and we're just cursing you... sorry man.

I agree with John, you'll have a nice mist of oil over the motor with the breathers; why don't you like the evac lines? even if they don't draw at WOT they give a clean escape route for the oil mist

[BBR]

Can't really do a full blast 2-3 on the street. I guess I *could*, but I will not. I'll put fluid back in it at lunch and drive it back to work. It would flare into 3rd even when you were just moderately on the gas.

WOT is when I need the evac the most. So if they are not working then, I might as well just use the valve cover breathers.

[squirrel]

I agree with John, you'll have a nice mist of oil over the motor with the breathers; why don't you like the evac lines? even if they don't draw at WOT they give a clean escape route for the oil mist

I wonder sometimes why people work so hard to deal with the oil mist problem....then I remember that I have stock valve covers, with real baffles in them.....

[BBR]

Just got off the phone with Jay at Broader Performance and he told me I can just switch the manual valves between the two valve bodies w/o any issues. Whoo Hoo! Just pull the roll pin, drop out the spring and ball, slide the valve out and poke the other one back in.

Yeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!

[milner351]

Nice!

[BBR]

I actually considered doing it last night, but the only thread I saw that addressed that swap said it would not work. Grrr!

[milner351]

Ah the difference a day makes! At least you don't have to send it back and wait for it to be shipped back to you again....

You're going to be really good at draining the atf out of that thing.

[STINEY]

Someone I know used an electric vacuum pump from a late 90's GM something or other (thinking caprice?) for his PCV, he claimed it was a huge improvement over the open VC breathers with his wifes' hair scrunchies under them.

Looked pretty cool, regardless of how it worked.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Someone I know used an electric vacuum pump from a late 90's GM something or other (thinking caprice?) for his PCV, he claimed it was a huge improvement over the open VC breathers with his wifes' hair scrunchies under them.

Looked pretty cool, regardless of how it worked.

does your wife know you're using her scrunchies? do you really want the world to know that you know what a scrunchie is?