904 Transmission Stopped Going Into Gear

First timers might be overwhelmed by all those different parts. Rebuilding a 904 is a good experience for the first time, but that much disassembly is more than I would recommend for the first timer. I wouldn't remove the governor support or rear band anchor or even the tailshaft housing. And I wouldn't disassemble the valve body either. 9 out of 10 904 trans lose third gear and have a delayed reverse. Or they slip going forward. Those two drums are the first out after the pump. And for a /6 904, I would seriously consider installing V8 drums, or at least use lower ribbed forward pressure plates as top plates on both drums. And when you assemble the pump, use a giant adjustable hose clamp to align the two sections.

It's definitely involved but I dont think I have a choice in this case. One of the trans coolant lines on this car was twisted shut and had starved the trans of cool fluid for an unknown number of years. The heavy resulting wear on the bands and drums shed off a lot of fine metal particles that got sucked into everything including the valve body. So I'm going to take it all apart, clean, inspect, and reassemble.

This is my first time but I'm a hands on learner and like the challenge.

Also, are the V8 drums a bit sturdier? Can I use any drum from any v8 904? Im not quite sure what you mean about the ribbed pressure plates or large hose clamp on the pump, I have not gotten to those sub assemblies yet...

Thanks for the input.