There is the slightest gouge in this bore. Can I leave the spring out? This would put the gouge outside of the range of piston travel. Using a Transgo kit with the street setting and a mild 2000 stall converter.

 

Leaving the spring out will give a pretty harsh shift from 1st to 2nd even under fairly mild throttle though the higher stall converter will dampen the effect a little bit. Under wide open throttle the shift will be quite hard. The problem with this is it can put a pretty big strain on the one-way clutch upon which the 2nd gear clutch friction plates act upon when the shift happens. Strong engines making torque and sticky tires can be the most hard on the one-way clutch with an excessively hard shift. A picture with what is being faced with in the bore can give more insight. All in all, good shifts are quick ones, but not too harsh.

 

Here’s a pic. Using a green spring don’t know the lbs rating



1-2 accumulator bore

 

If you have a loose converter, you can probably get away with restricting piston movement. I have used a piece of all thread or a bolt with the head cut off inside the spring, the idea is to limit the piston travel just short of the gouge. The spring will still absorb some of the shock.


Btw, I’m pretty sure the performance TH350 used a orange spring.

 

Hmm got me thinking...might look at cutting down the spring since the gouge is so close to the beginning of piston travel.

 

That is not the most horrid I have ever seen with regards to the scratches in the bore. As suggested cutting the spring or the travel-limiting threaded rod etc would reduce the movement of the piston. Was anything causing you concern other then the scratches in the bore? The scratches will cause internal leaks obviously. The way to fix it correctly, however, is to use a kit from Sonnax, this company makes all sorts of handy correction kits for common transmission trouble points. https://www.sonnax.com/parts/2042-1-...tor-sleeve-kit

 

The horizontal gouge is 1/4” into to piston travel. At the bottom of the bore.
The vertical scratches I cannot feel but can only see. I saw the repair sleeve. But in these economic times I was trying to out-think rather that out spend with a repair sleeve.

Or maybe I could just throw it in as-is and see what happens. If something is wrong the repair sleeve is not a hard install.

 

The problem is the machining needed to install the repair sleeve. I’d limit the piston travel and see what happens.

Im guessing the hard shift won’t be a issue. The relatively low engine RPM of the Olds engines are much easier on the intermediate roller clutch than a small block chevy.

if the roller clutch breaks, that would be the time to either find another case, or have the machine work done to install the repair sleeve

 

Thanks guys. Time will tell, and this is going behind a small block Chevy. The intermediate clutch is new.
The sprag is stock. I really like this case though since it’s a dual pattern. So will work on my Olds and Chevys