Ok so I'm building another th350 to have a back up. I had enough left over near new clutches and I had a nice core to rebuild. Ok enough about that. Last time I used the b&m shift kit that came with my rebuild kit . This time I pieced my rebuild kit together from transtar which is 20 minutes away. I did this to ge better parts and what I needed. I chose the transgo 1-2 kit. Many guys have said this is the best kit to go with. My question is do you get full manual control while keeping drive ? With the b&m kit that's what I went with. I would like to have full manual control and keep drive since I don't use a kick down cable I manually down shift . ( its more fun with a trigger shifter) lol. Anyway thanks in advance . (Edit) I might add that the instructions don't specify manual control which is why I'm curious about it.

 

I don't think you can have full manual control and automatic operation (drive) at the same time.

You will have full manual downshift control, but not full manual upshift control. The trans will hold the gear then upshift at the governor set point if you manually upshift under the governor's RPM set point, but you can manually hold the gear past the governor's upshift RPM set point.

Am I making sense?

 

My th400 had full manual control up and down shift while still having drive. I belive the b&m kit I installed was the same on the th350 I rebuilt previous. I guess not full manual control but the ability to hold any gear to any rpm .

 

Yes, you can hold the gear but that is not full manual control.
Full manual control means you can put the shifter in D at a dead stop and the trans is in 3rd gear and will stay in that gear until you move the selector lever. Like a manual transmission without a clutch.

 

I did some reasearch and b&m calls it partial manual control. Its bad terminology or lack of explenation on my part but I know full manual control mean 3 is 3 2 is 2 and 1 is one. No automatic up shifting or downshiftng. Anywho I was just curious if the trans go 1-2 kit would have the charfecteristics I'm looking for which is just holding any gear to any rpm. Thanks for th clarification fun71.

 

The Trans-Go kit for my 200-4R was full manual up or down in every gear but OD. I would suspect that the kits have full manual in all but the top gear.

 

The TH350 kit works just like your 200-4R kit did in 1-2-3. Hold any gear on upshift to any RPM, and downshift to a lower gear at any RPM.

This downshift function led to the destruction of my brother-in-law's GTO transmission when he downshifted to 1st at way too high RPM, so I researched and found you can use the factory spring instead of the one in the kit and retain the downshift over-ride function. On my car with this setup, I can't downshift to a lower gear above something like 4500 RPM or so. This would likely grenade the trans as it did with my BIL's GTO, so I like having the protection.

 

It was not the downshift function that led to that destruction. It was whoever shifted the transmission. It's no different than using a standard transmission.

 

I know for the th350 I gotta be careful since the center support and the sprag\race are weak links. I know from 1 to 2 it can grenade I don't know if on down shifts I can happen . I know burnouts from what I have read should start out in second. I ran a th400 for years but it eats hp with my small block. The current th350 that's in my 72 did not get an upgraded center support from a 700r4 or the hardened race but I have heard the hardened race is essentially pointless with out changing the set up with a new drum for a "better" race. Still learning the ins and outs of the th350. This current re build will get the 700r4 center support and I'm on the fence about replacing just the race if its even worth it. I have heard bad and good. I beat the living tar out of my th400 and it was still good after 6 years I suspect it needed a freshening up at best.

 

On my first TH350 rebuild we didn't use a HD sprag and hardened race and the sprag broke within a couple months. It wasn't until after that happened that everyone and his brother told me I should have replaced the sprag and race. So, on the second rebuild I used a HD sprag and hardened race and that trans lasted for many years (10-15, I think) without any issues. And there were LOTS and LOTS of 1st gear burnouts, many that went through 2nd and into 3rd - on street tires, though.

 

Fun71 did you have to upgrade to a new drum ? Who didd you buy your parts from or what brand ? I was told for 400 ish hp the stock sprag and race will hold up . But I guess I'll find out how long it will hold lol. I have been doing some reading and for my application I should be fine with a new sprag and hd race . There seems to be mixed feeling about the whole drum unit with 36 element sprag at 375 it ain't cheap. I think a new sprag and hd hardened race for 100 bucks should be fine according to the info I found.

 

I used a factory drum from a donor transmission. The sprag and race were purchased at the NAPA store where I worked. Don't remember what brand, though.