mopardude318 said

Also what might be a possibility is we tore the seal during installation, and the air pressure test we performed wasn't enough pressure to blow through the seal, but when it came time to run the trans the actual fluid pressure could have been much higher to break the seal completely. But either way, we broke it. lol

Yeah their pretty fragile. I too like steel rings cause it's extremely rare to have an issue with them.

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I talked to my local trans shop where I got my front pump from. He said I'll be just fine with the steel rings, so that's what I'll use. A few others I've talked to also agree to use the steel rings.

Well, I ended up pulling the tail shaft just to clean everything. The rear band was just fine, as was everything else. There was friction material everywhere, so I cleaned everything up with kerosine.

good call. If it was that bad I'd take the planetaries apart and clean them too. Dunking and swishing won't get them completely clean.

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Now about that front band, I also discussed with my local trans shop, he believes it was adjusted too tight, and this would cause it to take off in 2nd gear...-Which it did, -only sometimes.....I noticed sometimes I would have a 1 to 2 shift, and come to a stop and there would be no 2nd gear shift, like I was starting out in 2nd gear. And it did this a few times...But thats weird because I followed the specs in the ATSG service manual...It was something like 72 inch pounds then back it off 2.5 turns...The rear band was backed 4 turns from 72 inch pounds. In the "How to rebuild a 727" rebuild book it states for a trango shift kit with a 4.2 lever, (which I have a 4.2 lever) it needs to be backed off 2.25 turns from 72 inch pounds. The shift kit recommended tighten it snug with a short wrench and back it off 2 turns. The transGo 2 kit instructions werent real specific. What was also stated was, If I had less than a 4.0 lever, back it off 2.5 turns from 72 inch pounds, a 4.2 and 4.25 lever is 2.25 turns from 72 inch pounds and a 5.0 lever is 2 turns backed from 72 in. pounds. it if was unknown then back it off 2.25 turns. So with all these damn variables, what do you recommend, with my 4.2 lever??

With the 4.2 lever I back them off 2.25~2.5 turns from 72 inch lbs. and have never had a issue. As for the rear band adjustment, is that a double wrap band? If it is, backed off 4 turns is correct, if it's a single wrap band back it off 2.25 turns. This is assuming your torqueing them to 72 inch lbs. to start. If you don't have a torque wrench you can use the method of tightening each band down snug (until you can't turn the drum by hand) then back it off until you feel the drum spinning freely by hand (no drag at all) then back off another 1/2~3/4 turn and lock it down making sure the adjuster don't turn. I haven't noticed any difference in the 1-2 shift when the band is backed off an extra .25 turn and if anything it'll make for a cleaner 2-3 shift. Same goes for the rear band. As for taking of in 2nd, the band hanging up can cause that but so can the governor if it sticks and since everything was so burned up and it had trash in the case it's quite possible a piece of trash got into the governor not letting it move free. It doesn't take much to cause it to stick. I'd take it apart and make sure there is no burrs or trash that can cause it to hang. Same goes for the valve body. Any trash in it can cause problems so take it apart and clean it. And 68GTS's recommendation of flushing the converter and cooler is good. NAPA has trans. cooler flush.

I also mentioned this to my trans shop, and he said I shouldn't necessarily block it, but if I prefer to do so, he recommends putting in an even stiffer spring than what it came with. So either I'll have an accumulator with a really stiff spring or completely blocked...What are your thoughts on the stiffer spring idea?

thanks very much for your help this far! Whats a good clutch pack clearance you recommend? I only have 4 clutches in each drum.

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All I can do is theorize because I haven't tried experimenting with different rate springs, but I'd think that unless it's as stiff as a board it would soften the 1-2 shift even more cause any dampening effect will slow down the application of the front band. Think of the accumulator as a shock absorber. An old worn out shock does very little dampening so it lets you feel every bump, but it reacts quicker. At the same time if you do use a spring a stiffer one would probably make the 2-3 shift cleaner cause it'll let the accumulator bleed off quicker possibly eliminating any 2-3 overlap. Again this is just my thinking as I haven't actually tried different springs so it's possible my theory isn't correct. Maybe one of the other trans. guys has actual experience and can comment on it.

I shoot for .060~.075" clearance for the front clutch pack and .040-.050" for the rear pack. That's measured dry of course.

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