727 torque convertor swap

[smokinnjokin]

Friends,
I finally ordered a custom dynamic 9.5" convertor for my satellite (360/727) and have the car up on ramps and jack stands in the garage, I plan to drop the trans and do the swap as a winter project (still have a couple months of winter here in WI). I'm using the B&M external balance flex plate.
My question for the brain trust is, while I have the transmission down to install the new torque convertor is there any other chores I should plan on doing? Im thinking I will touch up any floorpan surface rust above the trans... can't think of anything else that would need done. I have never removed the transmission, so this will be a new experience. Was planning on supporting it with the floor jack and plywood under the pan. I assume I will lose quite a bit of transmission fluid.
Thanks,
Andrew

 

[junkyardhero]

drain the trans (and converter if it has a drain) before you yoink it out.

check to be sure all of your linkage is good and you don't need any bushings or clips. check your trans lines and make sure they're all decent-- not kinked or leaking.

i'd do a new filter/gasket as well as the shifter seal if it was the least bit suspect.

now's the time to add a shift kit or a trans cooler if you're thinking of doing so.

 

[doug 371]

Front seal would be a good idea also

 

[JDMopar]

You can use a spare slip yoke to plug up the tail shaft. Have it ready and stick it in there a split second after you remove the driveshaft. If you do that, and use some appropriately sized vacuum caps on the lines and fittings, you will lose hardly any fluid if you can't drain it beforehand. Bend a piece of sheet metal or aluminum about an inch wide, drill a hole in it to run a bolt thru to hold your converter in while you're removing the 727. You can use a box end wrench bolted to the trans to do the same thing. Watch your dipstick tube and don't hang it up on something on the way down with the jack. When you get it sitting down, zip tie the tube bracket thru the bolt hole to keep it in place until you get the trans out from under the car. Your plan with the floor jack and small piece of plywood works fine....I've done it a thousand times! Depending on how high the bottom of the car is off the floor, you may have to drop the trans off the jack and drag it out by the tail shaft housing if it won't clear the rocker panel while on the jack. Wrestling it back onto the jack going the other way is the hard part....lol. Good luck to you.

 

[moparlvr166]

If you don't know the history of the trans, I would remove the pan first for inspection & to drain fluid before you put a new T/C in, if looks good install a shift kit and replace all external seals when it's out, flush the trans cooler & lines, if you find debris in the pan it's time for a rebuild with your new T/C.
One more thing use some blue lock-tight on the T/C bolts and torque them to specification. I learned from that mistake back when I was 17.

 

[Kendog 170]

Maybe pick up a new pan that has a drain plug for in the future? Also pop off the distributor cap in case you need to let the motor lean back a little for better bolt access. I know dizzy is close to firewall on Darts. Not sure on a Satellite.

 

[smokinnjokin]

Thanks all for the good advice! I did recently freshen up the trans in car, has deep pan with drain bolt and shift kit, did a fresh tailshaft bushing.. but I will absolutely take the opportunity to do the front seal and shift shaft seal. And I have a spare slip yoke to pop in there, good idea.

You can use a spare slip yoke to plug up the tail shaft. Have it ready and stick it in there a split second after you remove the driveshaft. If you do that, and use some appropriately sized vacuum caps on the lines and fittings, you will lose hardly any fluid if you can't drain it beforehand. Bend a piece of sheet metal or aluminum about an inch wide, drill a hole in it to run a bolt thru to hold your converter in while you're removing the 727. You can use a box end wrench bolted to the trans to do the same thing. Watch your dipstick tube and don't hang it up on something on the way down with the jack. When you get it sitting down, zip tie the tube bracket thru the bolt hole to keep it in place until you get the trans out from under the car. Your plan with the floor jack and small piece of plywood works fine....I've done it a thousand times! Depending on how high the bottom of the car is off the floor, you may have to drop the trans off the jack and drag it out by the tail shaft housing if it won't clear the rocker panel while on the jack. Wrestling it back onto the jack going the other way is the hard part....lol. Good luck to you.

Just so I understand, is this just too keep the converter from falling out while I am wrestling with/balancing the transmission on the jack... then when I get it in position and ready to mate back up, I remove the bolt?

 

[JDMopar]

Yep, when you get the transmission back in place with a few bolts in the bellhousing, you can take the wrench or fabbed up piece off because the converter can't slip out anymore. Clean your spare slip yoke real well before using it so it doesn't mess up your rear seal. Since your trans is pretty fresh, if you use a real clean drain pan to catch the fluid, you can reuse the fluid and save some money.

 

[smokinnjokin]

Ok, dumb question but with B&M flex plate 10236 (for external balanced 360 using non-weighted convertor) there is a big half moon cutout... what is the purpose of this cutout, does it need to be oriented a certain way? All the B&M instructions talk about is bell housing alignment. Crickets about flex plate orientation.

 

[smokinnjokin]

Im assuming TC drain plug access?

 

[JDMopar]

That offset puts the balance for the 360 onto the flex plate, instead of the torque converter having a chunk of weight welded to it. It allows you to use a neutral balance converter that works well with your motor and not have to worry about adding a weight to any new converter with that motor. The flex plate will still have the offset bolt pattern where the converter bolts to the flex plate. Mark one bolt hole location, both on the flex plate and converter to make reassembly easier. I usually just hit that one area with a shot of bright colored spray bomb.

 

[volaredon]

You can balance by removing as well as balance by adding weight.
And the indexing is self taken care of, as the pattern on the back of the crank only lines up one way and with the one offset hole on the face of the converter it can only bolt up the right way.

 

[smokinnjokin]

Got the transmission out, what a pain. TTI headers and H-pipe hug very close and required some acrobatics to tilt transmission out without taking the entire exhaust system off.

 

[TrailBeast]

Thanks all for the good advice! I did recently freshen up the trans in car, has deep pan with drain bolt and shift kit, did a fresh tailshaft bushing.. but I will absolutely take the opportunity to do the front seal and shift shaft seal. And I have a spare slip yoke to pop in there, good idea.


Just so I understand, is this just too keep the converter from falling out while I am wrestling with/balancing the transmission on the jack... then when I get it in position and ready to mate back up, I remove the bolt?

I see you got this question answered.
A 1/2 or 9/16 box end wrench bolted to one of the bell housing bolt holes works perfect to keep the converter from accidentally falling out while moving it around.

One other thing is to pack some assembly grease or even vaseline into the back of the front seal before it goes in.
This keeps the spring inside the seal from jumping out on installation.
Or, at least check after it’s installed to make sure the spring isn’t hanging around the stator before the converter goes in.
Seen that trash a pump in a hurry.

Got the transmission out, what a pain. TTI headers and H-pipe hug very close and required some acrobatics to tilt transmission out without taking the entire exhaust system off.

Just a FYI.
A new pump bushing is always recommended with a new converter.

 

[-Boosted-]

Rather than using a floor jack with a block of wood, rent a transmission jack and use it. Way easier and well worth the cost.

 

[smokinnjokin]

yeah if i can get one with an easy tilt adjustment, thats all i need that my jack can’t do.

 

[smokinnjokin]

Job complete, thanks all for the tips, helped greatly. WHOA what a difference from the stock convertor to the custom 9.5, the car feels like it has double the power and wants to lay rubber.... 6.9 second 0-60 burning a lot of rubber.. that's fast for a low-comp 360 with 3.23 gears! Shoulda done this years ago.

 

[transman]

Front seal would be a good idea also

And front pump gasket and oring. Also have a very close look at the pump bushing.

 

[1971 CY Dodge Dart]

WHOA what a difference from the stock convertor to the custom 9.5, the car feels like it has double the power and wants to lay rubber.... 6.9 second 0-60 burning a lot of rubber.. that's fast for a low-comp 360 with 3.23 gears! Shoulda done this years ago.

What is the new converter stalling at?

 

[smokinnjokin]

poking around it stalls at 2k, when i romp on it, jumps to 4.