Re-sealing, maintaining the TH400....basic questions:

[COBALT]

OK. I've got the front-end rebuilt, the rear-end suspension goes back together this weekend, and it's now time to drop that tranny while the driveline is out, and reseal the transmission. I've got the "pre transmission work" jitters. I just want to make sure I don't do anything dumb, or put it back in the truck without doing something vital.

I've got the new seals, new pan gasket, filler plug kit, new filter and parts. I have a bushing kit on the way + an extra Th400 pump bushing in case for some damn reason it's not in the kit. I think I have all the tools I need. All the bases covered.

Questions...I know the front seal is leaking. That's a no-brainer. So is the pan gasket and filter. I know I need to inspect the torque converter for excessive wear, so the front pump bushing is what I'm really wondering about:

1. Will the state of the torque converter be an indicator of what's going on with the pump (I assume so)?

2. How do I know whether or not the bushing in the pump is bad and/or just needs replacing? Will the kneck on the converter show excessive wear?

Even if I don't find excessive wear I figure it's probably a good idea to just replace the bushing anyway, so I assume I need to take the pump apart, inspect the pump gears, and since I'm in there just replace the bushing as a matter of course (basically do everything short of pulling the front clutch drum and do a complete rebuild). So, do I:

3. Drive out and put the new one in with a std. bushing driver for that size?

4. What's the size of the bushing?

Anything else I should be putting on the checklist???

I'm pretty confident that I can handle just about anything. I've got another Th400 I'm actually going to do a rebuild on here pretty soon, so I have no fear! (at least not yet).