Okay... So I got my car back on the ground tonight after the big transmission swap. To summarize, I put a Trans-Go kit in a used C4, bought a new torque converter, and otherwise the trans is stock. It's a '77 Comet transmission. I did change the bellhousing. It had the big one, I put the small one on it. I didn't tear all THAT deeply into it. The only thing I really took apart was the valve body. I installed the kit, adjusted the bands per the instructions, and didn't change anything else. Anyway, here's what's going on... I start the car, it makes a horrendous screeching sound. It's very loud and it sounds just unbelievable, something like a Skil saw cutting into the wall of an empty metal shed. It does this no matter where I put the shifter, even in neutral or park so I know it's not the bands or clutches, as none of that is engaged in neutral or park. If I had to make a guess I'd say it might have something to do with the converter. But I know I got the right 10.5" bolt circle or it wouldn't be on there, and I know the splines are right because the transmission couldn't have had anything but a 26 spline input shaft in 77 and a 24 spline converter wouldn't have fit. When I put the converter on I made sure it was seated, but as I bolted it to the flexplate it did come forward a little bit, and I assumed this to be normal. I don't recall any washers or spacers being on the old converter, should there be? What could be happening? This sucks.
faceless, You did fill it with ATF didn't you? A noise like that could be coming from the pump, one way clutch or the park pawl. Check to make sure the shifter moves into all its positions (with the engine off).
I had problems when Eagle Transmissions switched my bell housings. Also, once I got it right, the weight on my plate was rubbing.
It was the small one that gave me the problems. They tried to tell me they had packed the trans too tight. When I got the car from them I found washers on my starter and battery cables were burnt. When the second trans shop tore into it they found that they had cut half the splines of my input shaft at the end that goes into the torque convertor. Did you run it with out the inspection cover? Be careful if you do. If the weight comes out too far it will catch the seperator plate on the edge and it will be bad.
Nevermind guys, I found the problem. I wish I had taken pictures, but it was late and of course I hadn't kept the gloves on so my hands were in no condition to touch the camera. I decided I'd better have a look at the old converter, and I noticed the studs had been ground down. I couldn't think of a reason why someone would do that, but obviously the person who did it felt it was called for, so I got under it again and had a look at those studs. As I rotated the engine, I saw the studs just barely touch the aluminum mounting surface of my starter. (In the course of this whole transmisson swap thing, I found out I have a pretty bitchin' Powermaster "Mastertorque" mini-starter) Anyway, that was the reason for the noise. The studs on the converter were ground down to keep them off the starter. Maybe that was a good idea at the time, but I opted to shim the starter instead. And now all is well. Because of this BS stealing my moment of glory last night when I fired it up, I didn't get to road test it until this morning, on the way to work. Somewhat ballsy move I guess. It got me here just fine though. Too bad the road was wet. The real test will come this afternoon when the asphalt dries up!
