Don - Thank you. I'll be happy when I can actually drive it. . .


Since I didn't have much left to do at work anyway I went ahead and left early. Been outside checking things over again.

Checking the servo movement, via pushing on the cover, today seemed to be much more in spec. I would say it's now around 1/4 in, before I would say it was more like 3/4 in. . . So the longer pin seems to have helped.

I drove it again, still seems to almost have 2nd, but no positive shift. I've been thinking about the billet servo, and did some searching. Found several accounts of people installing them and then losing 4th. . .also a lot of mentions of pro builders not recommending them.

Someone else had said it was way too much for trucks and to go sonnex or vette instead. . . . .

So with all this I'm really thinking about pulling the servo from the 2wd 4l60e sitting in my garage to scavenge parts to complete the oe corvette setup. Of course, now I'll need a o ring for the cover too. Maybe I'll start that in the morning. . . . would be nice to have a full day without being covered in ATF.

I guess it's also possible that the billet servo could have damaged/broken the band and/or drum.

After reviewing the service records with the car found I was mistaken. . . This trans was rebuilt only 20k miles ago, and about 6 years ago.

It should still be in pretty good shape then, but I did sometimes see rebuilds come in with low miles needing to be rebuilt again, when I worked at my familys old transmission shop.

Also investigated and looks like this is the original tranny, that was first rebuilt in 2003 by Trans Co Transmissions in Longwood, FL at 109,000 mi. . and lasted for about 100k mi before the last rebuild in 2011.

 

When it was changed 20k miles ago was it done by a shop? I know some places offer warranties around 30k - 50k.

 

Yes, from what I can gather, it was rebuilt for the 2nd time, 20k miles ago. It just says rebuilt by Curtiss Auto. They only tranny shop I found in FL with that name is about 20 min from my house. They do have decent reviews. It's 2 hrs from where the truck spent most of its life though, so not sure it's the same shop. It was also done 6 years, and at least 2 owners ago. Unfortunately, I didn't find any receipts for the tranny rebuild.

So even if I found the right place I doubt they would still honor a warranty.

My guess is, if it isn't electronic, or a servo engagement issue (will know that by end of the week) that it must have been rebuilt using a Kevlar band that's already burnt up. Haven't found a positive review of them yet, and found many accounts of kevlar bands burning up with far fewer than 20k miles.

If that's the case I'm hoping I can get by with just a new Alto Wide band, and drum if needed.

 

Will post a more detailed update later when I get home but I ended up ordering a complete re-manufactured Servo Assembly over the weekend. When that arrives I'll take it apart to swap out to the corvette parts, and put it all back in with the longer pin that's in there now. Decided to leave my spare 2wd trans alone, since couldn't find new servo o rings in stock anywhere anyway. I need to just sell that and get it out of my garage.

I'm getting a code 28 now, which is for the Trans Pressure switch. Have a new one of those and new trans internal harness so will put those in later this week. Trying to time it for the new servo so I don't waste any more ATF. . .lol I've already spent about $50 on ATF alone so far.

 

Just got home and thought I'd post the progress from the weekend. Spent most of Sat working on the control arm bushing. . . and came to the realization I need to organize/clean up my garage lol. Half the time I think I was looking for tools.

Here is it on the car.




Both of the upper bushings were trashed. . .almost no rubber left at all.

Removed





Old Bushings out



Didn't realize I needed the washers off the old bushing. . .should have finished reading the instructions I cut the smaller side to remove them.



Ended up going to oreilly's and getting a $9 oe replacement set to steal the washers. I also discovered that the new brass sleeves/inserts were too wide, so I heated up and used a punch to pop out the small cut up washers. Then reused the old sleeve, leaving the larger washer attached.



After that when I tried putting it back together I couldn't get the small washers to fit, so i installed without. Going to go back soon here and wrestle them in so the camber stays put.

Went for a test drive and no more clunks. .I need to install the Pass side now, but they will definitely be an improvement. I have the lowers to do as well but I'll worry about that after the trans is fixed. Definitely need new shocks as it bounces all over the place. The Poly FSB bushings should help with that too from what I've read.


I also did a little more detailing work over the weekend.

Took off all 3 wiper arms, scuffed, and painted satin black.

The fronts had almost no paint left on them.


Reinstalled. .


I also buffed and polished more. Finished the passenger side, did the hood, and driver fender. Starting to look nice. Now almost a mirror finish, where before you got no reflection at all.

 

are you going for a show ready finish? shes starting to look really good. hows the underside looking?

 

Thanks, amazing what can done with a little time and effort. No not trying to make it show perfect by any means, both bumpers have large dents and going to leave it that way for now.

Also trying to figure out what to do with the Grey vinyl stripes. Don't think I will be able to clean them up, so not sure if I want to remove, just leave them alone, or get replacements. I do kind of like the fade.

The paint itself just too nice to not shine it all up. Lol . .I am going to end up worrying about door dings on a 23 year old $1000 truck.

Underside is pretty good. very slight surface rust in a few areas. The worst spots are ends of the frame under the bumpers. I will need to get those cleaned up with rust converter and painted before it becomes more than cosmetic. I'll prob try to do the whole under carriage at some point, but looks like this got undercoating when it was new.

I will be using this to launch jet skis in salt water, but I always hose off everything after.

 

No work the last couple days. . .been waiting for parts. Yesterday my reman servo showed up, along with a few other odds and ends. Finally got the correct replacement Mirror Glass for the driver side, so I did stick that on yesterday.

Little cosmetic things, like the mirror, really start to add up. Since I painted the wiper arms I've been looking at my roof rack. Both cross bars are have peeling paint, so decided I'm going to pull the whole rack down to clean, scuff, and paint in the satin black as well. Once I do that, and the Rear window trims I should have all the faded black parts restored.

Going to try to get some more work done when I get home this afternoon. Will be working on installing the new Trans Harness, Servo, and picked up a new Trans Mount since mine is completely shot. Still trying to decide if I am going to stop and pick up a new pair of shift solenoids as well. I ohmed them when I did the shift kit, both were 20-30 ohms. I guess for $40 might as well while the pan is off again.

lol At this point it probably would have been faster for me to have just pulled the trans from the beginning. Will post back with my results. If it still doesn't work I could try the Sonnax servo pin. I really like the idea of it having added seals, but my guess is the band and drum are severely worn anyway if my longer pin still doesn't engage the band with the new servo.

I've also found more work for myself searching the forums. Found the nice little A/C mod on S10forum, so I've also added installing a Heater Core Bypass Valve, and Variable Orifice Tube to my list.

Noticed the other day that the compressor is leaking from the front of the housing so A/C system is going to get opened again for a new compressor anyway. I live in South FL so the AC is almost more important than 2nd or 4th gear lol.

 

I had to paint my roof rack last year. I got so sick of looking at the peeling paint. Good luck with the transmission.

 

Did you take it off, or paint on the car? I'm guessing not very difficult to remove/install. . . doesn't look like it should be.

Thanks. I have at least learned a lot more about the 4l60. Funny, I've learned more about how it all works through this process than when I worked at the Tranmission Shop. I almost want to get inside and look around, but would rather not have to.