As some of you have seen in my build thread, I'm having fits with my SB400/TH400 package which was rebuilt by the previous owner and has less than 50 miles on it. After pulling the setup during the restoration we noticed crankshaft end-play to the tune of about 100+ thousandths. The shop found that the thrust face of the crankshaft had been destroyed, something was pushing forward with extreme pressure. They also pointed out that the high dollar ATI converter was also showing signs of scaring on it's front surface. Worried about the tranny, I had it looked at as well. They found the front drive gear destroyed but it wasn't installed backwards. The trans otherwise checked out fine and they noted that it was built well. Both have since been repaired and are ready for installation.
However... The root cause is still undetermined. The converter could have been ballooning but it was brand new and high quality. I just sent it to a shop to have its stall modified and they passed it with colors. The front drive gear was not installed backwards. The previous owner who assembled it is an experienced hot rod builder certain that the converter was installed properly as he did it himself. Sure I could simply call BS and reinstall it but I'd prefer to exhaust all possibilities before rebuilding the truck to have the issue repeat itself costing thousands to repair. Again!
My engine builder nor the transmission shop can determine the cause definitively, no smoking gun! Anyone have any additional ideas before I just bolt it back in with my fingers crossed?
08-06-2017, 01:52 PM
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