Mad1stGen
Registered
My transmission story:
Few months ago I bought this 98 CE from Jeff. It came loaded with a Dennis Reinhart built transmission. During a testdrive I noticed the trans didn't shift to my liking. At that time I blamed poor tuning and stock gearing.
Few days later the car was re-tuned by Lidio, and while not overwhelming, it definitely shifted a little better. There were big plans for the car, so I just let it go. Lidio also noted that the trans shifted very soft for being built.
The new motor went into the car couple months ago, and it was time to dynotune it. After couple pulls the motor tune was done, no big surprises there.
However, during the test drive my jaw dropped. The car wouldn’t shift 1-2 at all under WOT; it would over rev the shift and slip like crazy. All right, let’s try pure 2nd gear. From 2.5k RPMs we would get clutch chatter beyond my understanding. 2-3 was equally weak and over revved. OD wouldn’t engage under anything other that light throttle. Can you say slippage?
I didn’t know what to think then. I called Jeff to question the transmission he installed in the car. Everything checked out and I was back to now “my” problem.
I pulled the trans the next day, and took it all apart with a friend’s supervision. What we found was very, very surprising.
The trans was built in a really old 94 style case (very bad), using stock (??) alto rebuilt kits for clutch packs, stock 94 one way roller (instead of mechanical diode clutch), old design intermediate shaft, and topped off with a shift kit made by TRANSGO . The frictions were worn completely, the OD band was worn to the rivets, all in 10k miles. We were lost for words. Jeff paid almost $2200 for this performance built transmission. It performed worse than a stock 98 trans would.
I decided to let this one go, as almost all parts would need to be replaced with updated 98+ style parts. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking what a rip off this really was. I will refrain from using foul language, but you can imagine what was going thru my mind. :fart
I picked up a 2001 core and decided to rebuild it. Friend of mine put me in touch with a old Ford trans builder, who didn’t mind my endless questions while the trans was being built to MY specs.
We have 01 core, with mechanical OWC, spiral lock kit, 4 frictions in the intermediate, 7 frictions in the direct, and 6 frictions in the forward. Valve body has been drilled to highest specs, and only top 1-2 brown spring was used. OD servo was updated as well as other miscellaneous upgrades were performed. All was done in one day without any problems.
The result? 1-2 shift is brutal ! It burns 315/35 Drag Radials thru the shift . The 2-3 is even better, as the car twists from the TQ. I hope to back down some pressure via the tune to soften up partial throttle shifts. I waited long for this day though when I can finally go fast again !
Overall, these transmissions are not built by rocket scientists. Yet, the DR trans was definitely a work of (con) art !
Thanx for reading
Few months ago I bought this 98 CE from Jeff. It came loaded with a Dennis Reinhart built transmission. During a testdrive I noticed the trans didn't shift to my liking. At that time I blamed poor tuning and stock gearing.
Few days later the car was re-tuned by Lidio, and while not overwhelming, it definitely shifted a little better. There were big plans for the car, so I just let it go. Lidio also noted that the trans shifted very soft for being built.
The new motor went into the car couple months ago, and it was time to dynotune it. After couple pulls the motor tune was done, no big surprises there.
However, during the test drive my jaw dropped. The car wouldn’t shift 1-2 at all under WOT; it would over rev the shift and slip like crazy. All right, let’s try pure 2nd gear. From 2.5k RPMs we would get clutch chatter beyond my understanding. 2-3 was equally weak and over revved. OD wouldn’t engage under anything other that light throttle. Can you say slippage?
I didn’t know what to think then. I called Jeff to question the transmission he installed in the car. Everything checked out and I was back to now “my” problem.
I pulled the trans the next day, and took it all apart with a friend’s supervision. What we found was very, very surprising.
The trans was built in a really old 94 style case (very bad), using stock (??) alto rebuilt kits for clutch packs, stock 94 one way roller (instead of mechanical diode clutch), old design intermediate shaft, and topped off with a shift kit made by TRANSGO . The frictions were worn completely, the OD band was worn to the rivets, all in 10k miles. We were lost for words. Jeff paid almost $2200 for this performance built transmission. It performed worse than a stock 98 trans would.
I decided to let this one go, as almost all parts would need to be replaced with updated 98+ style parts. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking what a rip off this really was. I will refrain from using foul language, but you can imagine what was going thru my mind. :fart
I picked up a 2001 core and decided to rebuild it. Friend of mine put me in touch with a old Ford trans builder, who didn’t mind my endless questions while the trans was being built to MY specs.
We have 01 core, with mechanical OWC, spiral lock kit, 4 frictions in the intermediate, 7 frictions in the direct, and 6 frictions in the forward. Valve body has been drilled to highest specs, and only top 1-2 brown spring was used. OD servo was updated as well as other miscellaneous upgrades were performed. All was done in one day without any problems.
The result? 1-2 shift is brutal ! It burns 315/35 Drag Radials thru the shift . The 2-3 is even better, as the car twists from the TQ. I hope to back down some pressure via the tune to soften up partial throttle shifts. I waited long for this day though when I can finally go fast again !
Overall, these transmissions are not built by rocket scientists. Yet, the DR trans was definitely a work of (con) art !
Thanx for reading