TH350 Rebuild...Shift Kit question

[Row]

I jus dropped my th350 to rebuild it...I have a 350 sbc and was wondering what shift kit would work well with my transmission. If anyone has done this, what kinda luck have you had? What are "good" brand shift kits?

[kwmech]

For the turbo 350s I always use the B & M kit.

[Cunit69]

In my opinion the shift kits you buy are junk. Take it to a good shop and have them fix it up, someone that knows there trannys can make it shift harder than any shift kit you can buy.

[slow72]

B&M or Transgo are good. I was told don`t go stage 3 on the street because it will wear out your clutches sooner. I had a stage 2 Transgo in a TH350 behind a 383 in a 79 Malibu and it would chirp the tires into 2nd no problem.

They need to install some sort of shift kit to make it shift harder....a rebuild won't do it.

[Row]

Hmm...well I found a 700r4 that a guy had rebuilt but never finished his project...he's sellin it for $600. I'm thinking I should jus scrap the th350 and go with the 700r4...only thing is I'm not planning a racing my truck I jus want to be able to drive around and shift good.

[racin69z]

The important thing is that you make sure the kit dual feeds the direct drum in some way to keep the direct clutches alive. Most kits use the extra spacer plate with the fluid passage beside the valve body.

I have used B&M, trans-go, fairbanks, and TCI kits and the results were similar.

I had a fairbanks street strip kit in my 72 with 35" BFG all terrains and it would get a second most of the time if I got on it.

If you use the stage 2 street strip on the B&M its pretty harsh. If I rembember, the B&M kit has you use fewer check balls than the TCI and transg go kits, thus a snappier shift.

Transgo kits seem to be geared towards improved transmission life, not second gear scratches.

Lynn

[jakeshoe]

The TransGo kit is the best on the market.
It will shift as hard as the trans needs to going into 2nd.
The TH350 is sensitive to overly firm shifts into 2nd gear. It has a particularly weak intermediate roller clutch (2nd gear sprag) design.

All of the above kits dual feed the directs, so nothing to worry about there.

You can use the B&M kit IF you don't drill the holes 3/16" and leave all the checkballs in place.

I no longer use a packaged kit, I internally dual feed during the rebuild, modify the seperator plate and 2-3 accumulator on performance builds.

[Row]

Ok...I'm still not sure what transmission to get...th350 with shift kit or 700r4. I'm reading a lot on the Internet and forums about the tv system on the 700r4...it seems a little confusing. This is the first time I've dropped a transmission on any vehical and I don't want to go out, get a 700r4, install it wrong and have to have it rebuilt after I burn it up. Basically, I'm looking for direction and other peoples experiance. I curentlly have a 68 C-10 with a 350 with 175 original HP and the th350 sittin on my garage floor that was leaking fluid. Is there anyone with my setup that went to a 700r4 and if so, how easy/hard was the whole install process? I have an idea of what I'm gettin into so any help would be great!

[mustardjimmy71]

if its a daily driver and your gonna put on some highway miles, 700r4 is the way to go. lower 1st and od are very nice to have. Get the person who built the trans to set up the cable.
My dad did the swap in his 51 chevy hot rod with a 300 hp 350. He wished he never used the t350. It light the tires no problem off the line and highway milage was much improved.

[Tx Firefighter]

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