Anyone in the USA wanna give me a hand?

[Russell]

Hey guys!

I'm planning to install a good 700r4 I just picked up into my 77 stepper. She's got a 9" tailshafted TH350, so it should be a bolt in swap.

I was reading Swervin Ervin's tutorial on how to do the lockup stuff on www.73-87.com but I've run into a bit of an issue.

He has two parts I need to buy from the GM dealership to complete the swap, one of which is the new pressure switch to go inside the transmission (GM # 8627332) and the other is a vaccum switch (GM # 14014519). I just got off the phone with the local stealership, and the guy there told me that they want $28.91, and $56.70 for each, respectively.

Can anyone say mild markup! Mike's article tells me that the pressure switch cost $10.37, and the vaccum switch cost $18.65 down there!

With prices like that, it is VERY well worth my time to get someone from the USA to pick these parts up for me, and ship them up to me, LOL

Anyone around here willing to call their local stealership, see if their prices are similar, and if so, buy me a pair then ship them up?

Of course, 'll pay all the shipping costs along with the cost of the switches

But, before we do anything, I'm gonna give my local Napa a call, and see if they have anything instead

[Captkaos]

List for me is 23.71 and 46.36 respectivley. IF they had them I could get them for 17.77 and 34.77. The closest place that shows them is Capital Chevrolet in South Carolina.

[Russell]

Ok, what are my other options here then? Cause those are basically the same prices as up here after a guy does the price conversion.

Those pressures switches inside the transmission -- What is the difference between the one you pull out and the new one you install?

Could a guy pull one of them from a parts transmission? I've got an 86 700r4 that is going into the 77, and a blown 89 transmission I can pick parts out of.

What about the vaccum switch, are there any I could find from a different vehicle somewhere?

[pjmoreland]

I installed an '88 700R4 in my truck and I didn't have to mess with the pressure switch inside the transmission at all. I just installed a jumper on the external connector as shown here (good info on pages 1 and too as well):

http://www.highperformancecars.com/crosley/lockup3.htm

I found a manifold vacuum switch in a mid-80s truck (mounted on the firewall above the distributor). There's a picture in this thread (also shows the vacuum delay valve):

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ad.php?t=33266

I also pulled a brake light switch out of a van that had two contacts in it, and used the second set of contacts for killing the TCC when I push my brakes.

[swervin ervin]

Russell,

prices at the dealerships have went up on stuff drastically in the last couple years. I can get them for the same price as Chis, 25% off list.

There are several years of these trannys. I'm quite sure you could possible find one somewhere but I wouldn't know what year tranny it would be in. Sorry, but I don't know enough technical tranny lingo to tell you what the difference is in the pressure switches. All I know is it controls 4th gear lockup. I'm assuming these things have different pressure points as too what point it works.

You can get by with a standard vacuum switch that comes on any stock truck with a 700R4 but it will lock and unlock at funky times because of the vacuum switching point. My stock vacuum switch let it unlock too easy going up hills and such. The whole point of having a OD tranny is keep it in OD for gas mileage. Yeah right. Like I worry about gas mileage.

I guess Jeff needs to update the articles I wrote and remove the prices since GM decided to rape everyone.

[Jonboy]

At those prices, it may be cheaper to just get the Painless wiring kit. It seems like mine was around $120 or so through Summit, and it comes with everything you need.

[Russell]

Well, I've had a few of these 700r4s apart, and from what I've learned through the links posted by pjmoreland, I've already got the pressure switches I need in the parts tranny (I tore it apart to replace the valvebody, and I know it has a silver pressure switch in it, which is the type that I need from what I can tell Also have the required brake light switch, and plenty of wiring.

So, just need one of those vac switches. I'll grab one off a junkyard car or truck for now, and find one of the 7.5" ones later.

In that case, I'll pull the transmission out of my 77 tommorow, and put the 700r4 in.

[Russell]

Alright, stopped at the local junkyard today, found an 86 half ton with OD, and got all it's lockup stuff. Also dropped the pan off one of the trannies sitting in their tranny pile, and got the lockup stuff I'd need if mine doesn't already have it.

Cost? 5 bucks, woo!

Should be able to get the 700r4 installed and working this afternoon I'll get a better vac switch aftermarket after everything is working properly

[WLPTMP]

i can get them at 10 over cost + shipping email me at wlptmp@verizon.net

[86k10]

I don't understand all this talk of needing a vacuum switch, for what? If you have a TCC throttle valve in the body, that takes care of your unlocking if it needs to. If you have a pre 87 unit, then you will have the TCC throttle valve so that's all you need, why put something on you don't need.

[pjmoreland]

When I first installed my 700R4 I didn't have a vacuum switch, so whenever the transmission was in OD, the TCC would lock. It would bog down the engine when going fairly slow up small hills at light throttle. I installed the vacuum switch which allows the TCC to unlock when in OD if the engine starts to bog down a little. It feels more like there are 5 speeds now (1st, 2nd, 3rd, OD w/o TCC, OD w/TCC).

[Russell]

Yep, reason for the vac switch is to cause the torque converter to unlock when the engine is under load.

Only issue with the stock switch is that it lets it unlock too easily, so the switch that is reccomended makes it so the truck has to be working fairly significantly harder to make the torque converter unlock.

[86k10]

Unlock going up a small hill? I guess use one if you think you need one, but those of us with enough muscle under the hood don't need it. Sounds to me that's all it would get done is lock and unlock and shorten it's lifespan. you certainly can't have it doing that if the truck has to actually work for a living or the trans wouldn't last.

[Russell]

Actually, I totally agree -- If you've got enough muscle under the hood that it won't bog down going up a hill, then yeah, you don't need a vac switch.

However, I for one know my 77s stock 350 doesn't have near the balls needed to lug my truck up some of the hills we have around here, she'd sooner stall out, so I most definitely need the ability to have her unlocking.

And again, I also agree, unlocking and locking up these trannies does take a lot off their lifespan, but if its gotta be done, its gotta be done

[84 400]

yeah and he definatly doesn't have a stock 305 in his truck ( you want to talk about no balls) All this brings up a question. That being my 1985 305 sometimes stalls out on me when i put it in OD and try to give it the slightest amount of gas. I have always thoiught that this was do to my poorly tuned carb being to rich. However it only seems to have trouble on hills. Does any one know how to adj the q jet carb if it idles okay but stalls when throttle is applied? It needes to be leaned out right ?

[86k10]

Sounds like you may already be to lean. With the engine off, take a small rod and go down into the hole where the metering rods are and see if they move up and down freely, if not then take the top off and shine up the piston with some 1000 grit sand paper and also the bore, and you can also tweak the spring a little so it pushes a little more than it did. and make sure and blow out what passages you can get to with air. I have put in smaller jets and taken the rods out completely and they run quite well that way.