The Blue Turd(le)

[68scott385]

Every state has their own AAA. Their insurance doesn't cross state lines either. Seeing how you are in Kentucky, I am guessing they hired foreigners for their call center so people could understand their English.

It was more of a rhetorical question. In my early days with AAA I could tell them where I was and they acted like they knew what I was talking about. Now they act as if I'm on another planet. Just makes me think that the call center is not local anymore. Anyone familiar with Louisville would know exactly what you meant if you said you were in Kroger's parking lot on south Dixie. That is a recent scenario with the F'Mazda. But now they wanted nearest cross street, address of the business as if it was posted on the building, "is that a business or residence" (does Kroger's parking lot say I'm at a friends house to you?), year, make, model, engine size, and interior color. Maybe not engine size or interior color but I felt as if I was being primed for a car jacking for the parts value.

There have been years that I used the towing feature of my membership to its fullest value. In the last five or six years I've used it maybe three times, definitely twice. The membership cost is like a get out of jail free card in Monopoly only it has an expiration date. I'd much rather have it & not need it than to need it & not have it, doesn't mean the service is any better.

[68scott385]

He told me the converter was a Grand National unit. IDK if that meant it was a stock GN replacement or what exactly.

As far as the motor is concerned, the only non-stock item is the carb, carb adapter and distributor. According to the Chilton's manual it's torque rating is 350lb/ft @ 2600rpm, this happened at ~3900rpm. It is (supposedly as I haven't verified it) '74 model engine, so the rating would be net. I'm not running A/C but the alternator & power steering are still there so how low could the net really be from maximum output? >> rhetorical >> Wouldn't think there'd be more than 20hp or 20lbft difference. Even if the tune I have on the AFB & "hot" EFI were spot on I wouldn't think it'd gain more than 20hp or 20lb/ft.

[Deaf Bob]

How do you rip splines on a warmed over tranny with a basically stock motor? Must have been a chinese one!

[Shelty]

I got the car back today. All fixed up. They found a split seal in it somewhere, I forget now. New torque converter, trans shifts real good, nice firm shifts.

So I'm driving it home through the curviest road I can. I get to a 1000ft straight stretch and running in 4th gear I floor it. The trans drop into 3rd, it's pulling good, running at nearly 4000rpm which is tight for a bbo, and just as it should have shifted, THUNK, and nothing, no 4th gear so I manually drop it into 3rd, no 3rd gear, so I let it coast as far as I can to a flat, straight area, pull of the road some and call AAA. I left it in the road so AAA would consider it a priority. I've been a member for 18 years, I shouldn't have to wait "until they get to it".

Back at the trans shop they determine that I've ripped the splines out of the new converter.


When did AAA move their call center to India or BFE? Goofy phone answering SOBs & their Google Maps.....I know everything changes and that the only constant is change but why does everything ALWAYS have to change for the worse?

that sucks man. Ive not had that bad of luck with mine, just a cranky grumpy engine that is probably due to vacuum leaks and lack of tuning.

im also trying to call in favors with someone I know to have my floorpan fixed, been waiting over a month for an answer. i know ppl are busy, but seriously, at least a call, but nothing....

this is why I hate relying on other people

[Scott Liggett]

Every state has their own AAA. Their insurance doesn't cross state lines either. Seeing how you are in Kentucky, I am guessing they hired foreigners for their call center so people could understand their English.

[68scott385]

I got the car back today. All fixed up. They found a split seal in it somewhere, I forget now. New torque converter, trans shifts real good, nice firm shifts.

So I'm driving it home through the curviest road I can. I get to a 1000ft straight stretch and running in 4th gear I floor it. The trans drop into 3rd, it's pulling good, running at nearly 4000rpm which is tight for a bbo, and just as it should have shifted, THUNK, and nothing, no 4th gear so I manually drop it into 3rd, no 3rd gear, so I let it coast as far as I can to a flat, straight area, pull of the road some and call AAA. I left it in the road so AAA would consider it a priority. I've been a member for 18 years, I shouldn't have to wait "until they get to it".

Back at the trans shop they determine that I've ripped the splines out of the new converter.


When did AAA move their call center to India or BFE? Goofy phone answering SOBs & their Google Maps.....I know everything changes and that the only constant is change but why does everything ALWAYS have to change for the worse?

[68scott385]

This guy has been in business for 15 or 18 years and just bought a larger shop this year. He supplies many of the local racers. I've been dealing with this guy over seven years. I doubt he'll close up any time soon...at least I hope not.


I had similar issues with the TCI 700r4 I bought in 1998, the 200-4r in the wagon has a better warranty.

[Runner1972]

I had the same issue with the 72 and a local transmission shop. I had to have the car towed 3 times to the shop and finally got everything together and a few months later, they closed up.

So now, if i have any issues with the transmission, i got a turbo 350 from summit racing in my wish list.

[Deaf Bob]

Oh man! Hate when that happens!

[68scott385]

After some testing (pressure gauge installed) and talking with the trans builder, the transmission needs to come back out. Lovely....this car has been an uphill battle from day one, however, it is fun to drive.

In reverse, cold, the line pressure is 175psi. When hot the reverse line pressure drops to 75psi and it takes a lot more rpm to move it than it should. The trans guy says it has an internal leak. Speculations on exactly what is leaking were numerous from seals/O-rings to cracked drums.

[68scott385]

When abused severely in the ring, with half throttle shifts and a 1200 rpm idle the norm, reverse is pretty much always last to go.. Something is wrong with your tranny!

That's why I took it back to the builder. I wouldn't have bought it used for the price I paid without a warranty from the time of installation, not the time of purchase. Been down that road before and learned from the experience.

[Deaf Bob]

When abused severely in the ring, with half throttle shifts and a 1200 rpm idle the norm, reverse is pretty much always last to go.. Something is wrong with your tranny!

[68scott385]

Just to bring this up to date...

It took four weeks for the trans shop to install the used "level 3" transmission. The ONLY reason they got the job of / money for the install was the warranty included. Someone once told me that patience is a virtue, I said gesundheit.

On the drive home, about 9 miles, the speedometer started jumping around. I know the factory speedo cable needs lubrication and probably replaced but other things are more of a priority at the moment.

A few day later I took the car out for a leisurely drive. If I get gas at the close gas station I get the reformulated summer blend that yields less mpg or I can drive ten miles south, get a regular blend in another county, it's anywhere from ten to forty cents less per gallon, and it yields two to three more miles per gallon. Considering my truck has a thirty gallon tank the twenty mile round trip pays for itself in my mind even if barely in dollars spent for miles driven. On the return trip the speedometer was jumping around over a forty mph range and I don't have enough seat time in this car to know right off the top of my head what rpm equates to what speed. On top of that I'm not sure the tv cable isn't a little tight or converter lockup is working. Once home I had to rev it up to 3000rpm to get it to move in reverse.

The ASTG doesn't exactly list these symptoms together. I talked to the transmission shop about the symptoms it's exhibiting and was told to bring it in. I took it to them on 7/1. I stopped in again today to get an update on its status. Anyone want to take a wild guess at what I was told? It has no reverse. The shop has made some changes this year and is going through growing pains. I am being patient but it isn't always easy. At least it's under warranty.

I'm waiting on an email for an address to pick up another 455/th400 combo. The Fa block, yellow block in pictures in post #204 above, is standard bore and in decent shape but a chunk around the inner starter bolt hole has been knocked off and repaired. Supposedly the guy the did the repair does repairs for Jasper, the engine remanufacturer. I ran a tap into the bolt hole and tightened a bolt into it but it wasn't the exact starter bolt for the 3ow7 starter I used. I'm not sure where those starter bolts are, I usually keep ALL hardware and have the organizer collection for it. At first it didn't bother me but as time passed the warm fuzzy feeling isn't so strong.

And this is where it stands as of today, completely halted, but waiting patiently. I should be using this time to work on my long neglected project but I'm not, yet.

[68scott385]

a good mic costs a lot.

Where's the BBC headed?

In the past I've had trouble keeping all my vehicles running/operable at one time. Now I have more running motors that I have vehicles. I'm VERY confused now, never had this "conundrum" before.

Garage art right now.

[68scott385]

With the above two projects at a good stopping point/done, I could think about the wragon again. I had to modify the factory throttle/tv bracket to get WOT with the AFB. The primary throttle shaft in the AFBs is about 1" closer to the rear mounting bolts than the primary throttle shaft of a Q-Jet. When the car went to the trans shop it never occurred to me that the new tv cable may not be the same length as the factory unit. When I found the adjuster pulled past the adjustment lock I was ready to send it back to the trans shop and he was ready to take it. He ordered a new cable for me saying the 2bbl cable is shorter than the 4bbl cable. IDK, it worked before.... So a week goes by and I got to thinking how I'd made brackets for my old '67 C20, '75 Monte Carlo, why not make a bracket for the Caprice? So that's what I did yesterday. I got in a hurry and it's not perfect but it works better than what I had. Bracket 2.0 is in the works already to correct what isn't right with the first one. This is the extension tabs initially used to get WOT with the AFB. The factory tv cable had enough adjustment in it that the move did not affect it.

decided to be pro-active instead of pro-waiting/pro-whining....

This is the factory bracket...



This is the first one I made...it's not perfect or optimal but it is functional...