Initial inspection of A500

TrailBeast said
At the very least a new seal should be put in the pump while it's accessible.
The shift shaft seals are hard to get to in the car just so you know.
If it looks wet or like it's collecting dirt around the shift shaft seal it would be a lot easier to do it before it goes in.

Also note that the A500 uses 3/8 cooler lines and the 904/727 uses 5/16 and the fittings are different.
On mine I swapped to the 3/8 all the way up to the radiator by using compression union to pipe thread fittings in the trans case.
It just made sense to keep it all 3/8 cooler line, though I'm not sure what the cooler coils in the radiator are.
You could also use 5/16 compression union to pipe thread to keep your existing lines I guess, but I figured what the heck and swapped it all.
One thing I noticed was once the unions were in and run for a couple of days they needed to be re tightened because they seeped a little, but after that one re tightening they have been fine.

View attachment 1715309013
Click to expand...
TrailBeast said
At the very least a new seal should be put in the pump while it's accessible.
The shift shaft seals are hard to get to in the car just so you know.
If it looks wet or like it's collecting dirt around the shift shaft seal it would be a lot easier to do it before it goes in.

Also note that the A500 uses 3/8 cooler lines and the 904/727 uses 5/16 and the fittings are different.
On mine I swapped to the 3/8 all the way up to the radiator by using compression union to pipe thread fittings in the trans case.
It just made sense to keep it all 3/8 cooler line, though I'm not sure what the cooler coils in the radiator are.
You could also use 5/16 compression union to pipe thread to keep your existing lines I guess, but I figured what the heck and swapped it all.
One thing I noticed was once the unions were in and run for a couple of days they needed to be re tightened because they seeped a little, but after that one re tightening they have been fine.

View attachment 1715309013
Click to expand...

Great advise....I will change both seals for the pump and tail shaft while it is out. I do have a few more questions if you don’t mind answering them for me

1) What do you like for a tranny pan gasket? Cork or composite? Do you use and sealants like RTV or gasket tack?
2) Would you replace the solinoid pack while I have access?
3) are any of the shift kits a must have when running a mild 340 stroker for basic street use?
4) which cooler port is the (hot) discharge and (cool) return between the front and rear ports.
5) any thing else you can think of???

Car set up 340 stroker, 650 avs2, eddy cylinder heads, 340 exhaust manifolds and 3.55 rear ended ratio. The tranny will be plumbed with 3/8 lines to an external filter then to the external tranny thermostat and to a plate and frame cooler and back.

Thanks in advance for your time.