The Dodge Challenger Message Board

My '73 Challenger 727 has gone out for the 3rd time. First rebuild was done by a guy who forgot to flush the cooler and lines. Lasted 1K miles.
Bought a re-built "super duty" from a trans house in Chicago. Ran great for 5K miles (10 years) and now the 1st/revers band is broken (adjuster is just hanging).

The local trans shop guy (with a neato 70 Chall dragster out front) wants $500 for a rebuild. I have saved up the dough and the car is on stands waiting for me to crawl under...

I saw Litemup's thread but have decided that it will just piss off the repair shop guy if I brought in a box of parts. He'll probably charge $700...

I need some advice on what to ask about and for, when getting this job done. I don't want to do this job again. It was fun when I was in my 30's, but not now...(50).

ny help would be most appreciated!

Doug (same car since '77)...

tell him towing or street/strip or track. track is for track only. street strip works good for me. make sure the everything is good quality. i was tired of putting up with everyones crap here in OK so i learned myself. thats why i did it. if trust is a factor, ask for your old parts. of course he could just give you other parts if he was that low of a person.

Five hundred bucks is a pretty cheap price for a good rebuilt 727. I work in the trans parts supply business, and even working a deal with a rebuilder I know, I would still expect to pay $600.00 for a good job. Less of course if I pulled the unit out of my car.
If you're going to put a shift improver kit in your vehicle, for normal everyday driving, put a light duty kit like the Transco SKTFSC in the trans. If you want a harder shift, but not a full manual drag race type valve body go with the Transgo TF-2. This is an excellant kit. In the old days it used to be called a TOW & GO KIT.
My personal preference is Transgo kits. I've tried others, but have always found them to give you a hard shift, but they will do this by keeping the car in a particular gear too long.

The Transgo kits are a good price but the instructions you get with the B&M kits make life a lot easier for 'first timers' unless Transgo kits have changed lately? I find my B&M 'street/strip' rebuild type trans shifts hard from second to third in traffic. It has nothing to do with holding in gear longer. I can be rolling forward in traffic at idle or just above and it shifts hard. So in traffic jams I shift it into second and only go up to third when it looks like I will be moving more than a few yards before having to stop again. I can't remember off hand which fluid I used! You don't have to use the shift improver kit B&M give you if you don't want the hard shifts.

Dave. Remember, Transgo only sells shift kits. B & M will sell you kits that not only will include a shift kit but also all the gaskets, seals, friction plates, steel plates etc. to rebuild the trans. Another thing to keep in mind, Gil Younger was the inventor of the transmission valve body improver kit. All others use his ideas in some manner or another. I travel the 4 Western Provinces of Canada, and have been in most trans shops. Your chances of finding a B & M kit in a trans shop in my territory are next to none.
The typical Transgo kit is easy for anyone with any kind of mechanical ability to install. Only the latest transmissions, ie the A518/618, GM 4L80E, 4L60E, •••• E4OD, AODE, 4R70W, should be left to the pros as there are many other things that should be done to those transmissions than just changing springs etc in the valve body

One of my brothers bought a B&M shift kit for his '68 Fury which had a 318 with 9.2:1 compression, but I'm not sure what it had for a tranny. It shift hard. When he took the car out for a test after installing the shift kit, it shifted so hard, he thought that he dropped the tanny out the back.

I have a B&M shift kit for my 904, but I don't know if or how much it can take, since the B&M shift kit causes such hard firm shifts. I wouldn't be so worried if it were a 727, but its not a 727. Even though I know the 904 is of the same basic design as the 727, I don't know how much the poor little 904 will last with the shift kit installed. I plan to put a 340 into the car. Would it be a good idea to switch to a 727 when the 340 goes in or will the 904 hold up to the 340 and the B&M shift kit?

Joel my choice would be to go with the 727. Chrysler built that trans to take the horsepower and torque of their V8's. The 727 is their workhorse. The 904 was used mainly behind 6 cylinder and low horsepower V8'S.
You can get a 904 to live ( ie the SS/AA Cudas and Darts )behind big horsepower, but that can run into a lot of money.
You seem concerned about the shift kit. Don't worry about that, because for the 904/727 use the same kit( at least Transgo does ).
Read my post on shift kits, this might be of some assistance to you.
You haven't mentioned what you intend to do with your car. Do you intend to race it, or is it mainly going to be a cruiser? My '74 is being used mainly as a cruiser/driver so consequently, I put in the mildest shift kit available. All I wanted to do was improve the shift quality and feel, as I have no plans of going drag racing with the car or towing anything with it. Transgo makes 3 kits for the Torqueflite. A SKTFSC (the mild kit ), the TF2 kit (the old tow and/or go kit), and lastly the TF3 kit which will give you a full manual valve body. To determine which would be the best kit for your application, decide what you want to do with your car. Putting a TF3 kit in, only to find out later that you hate it, is wasting a good valve body.
Graham