i have a 98 gs with a hrc stage 3. just upgraded my engine internals, pistons, rods, rings, boost regulator. have 3'' exhaust all the way back including the cat. i had bullfrog cams which i took out and am going to sell. i talked to the guys at HRC and they said they recommend stock cams unless your pushing 400 hp. besides these cams didn't do much for me anyways. also have adj cam gears. ok, now the questions. i know about engines, but when it comes to transmissions i know nothing. i've just never messed with them before. i want to know the best way to make the auto xmsn go quicker. i would like to know:
-what a howell bottom end kit is, what it does.
-what a final drive mod is, what it does
-how a shift kit works.
-has anyone used a trans brake, where did they find it.
-what does a tq converter do.
-what other parts will i need.
my engine isn't completely back togeather yet but i'll have it done in about a week or two when i get my head back from getting borred out. so i have some down time to study up on my xmsn. thanks in advance for the help.

what a howell bottom end kit is, what it does.
not sure

-what a final drive mod is, what it does
the final drive mod takes the final drive gears from the stratus transmission. They are "teethed" different than the final drive gears we have. Supposed to give you better acceleration. Why they wern't put in our cars to begin with I dunno.

-how a shift kit works.
A shift kit "reprograms" your transmission for better shifts. They are quicker and snappier. This is good, cause you know how long it takes our tranny to shift gears.

-has anyone used a trans brake, where did they find it.
no clue =)

-what does a tq converter do.
a torque converter is more or less your clutch and clutch pedal. When you come to a stop with a 5sp you push the pedal in to disengage the clutch to your engine doesnt die. Well an automatic doesnt have a clutch we have a torque converter. Among other things but specifically to your question, it keeps the engine running by spinning at not just stopping when the engine stops. Check out howstuffworks.com. They have a really good explanation of it.

-what other parts will i need.
a spare transmission=).

>-what a howell bottom end kit is, what it does.
It's a kit that contains-rods,pistons,rings,oil pump and bearings. It's everything you would need to make the "bottom end" (it's more like the middle but it's under the head so we just call it the bottom end) stronger to handle higher boost levels or all-motor domonance.

>-what a final drive mod is, what it does Other guy got it.

>-how a shift kit works. same as above.

>-has anyone used a trans brake, where did they find it. These are for drag racers ( I haven't heard of imports/front drives doin it yet). Rear drives have the brakes locked at the line so they can rev the motor freely (without holding the brakes using the pedal) all they have to do is floor it and push the button when the light (tree) goes green.

>-what does a tq converter do. You know this now.

>-what other parts will i need. I dunno. I'm still waiting on the other people on this bored to upgrade their tranies. I'm rebuilding mine soon tho.

>my engine isn't completely back togeather yet but i'll have it
>done in about a week or two when i get my head back from
>getting borred out.

How u bore a cylinder head? Do you mean your gettin it machined? Or did you mean your getting you motor bored .020 over?

so i have some down time to study up on my
>xmsn. thanks in advance for the help.

Any time bro.

Search, there is a nice list of parts and mods in posts below. Most of your questions are answered in them.

the shift kit not only will increase the quickness of your shifts, it is more preventive maintenance than anything.

when you drop your tranny pan, place more magnets in as well, the 1 that we have will look like a chia pet when you drop yours. it collects tiny metal fragments and keeps them from running through your tranny. you can get a moroso magnet kit from summit racing for a few dollars. i would install a drain plug too for easy fluid changes.

the kit will redo the seals and just prolong your tranny. its a must for the a604. check out the asog forums as well (www.asog.net), they have some good insight towards it too.

Look on the main site under FAQ there are answers to all of your questions regarding the AT tranny. It will also give you links to writeups on them and where you can buy the parts needed. With the turbo I would definately invest in a tranny cooler and a remote filter as well with anything you do next. Keep that tranny from melting :thumbsup . Remember heat is our trannys biggest issue.

"the shift kit not only will increase the quickness of your shifts, it is more preventive maintenance than anything."

I beg to differ. Even though you have read that it will reduce heat and all that a snappier shift will hurt other parts than just your internal parts on the tranny. Every mechanic ive talked to, both regular mechanic and tranny specialist has said "you will break things if you get a shift kit." The things they're talking about are, final drive gears and the differential. Go outside in your car and between every shift let off the gas then slam it. Snappy huh? Well, do that long enough and shit starts to break. Im testament to the fact that a differential can't last that long. Ive blown mine up and now ive blown up a clutchpack. So just be careful getting a shift kit. I know they're good and what not but - like putting a lot of power to an AWD or MT, start powering up that engine and then pop that clutch without an upgraded drivetrain system. See ya drive train!

Get what I'm saying? There are things down the line from the tranny that will be effect. ie final drive gears, differential and maybe even axles.

Joseph

Honestly I think its all a matter of opinion on the shift kit. Ive heard some mechanics say that its going on ruin the tranny and others say its the best thing you can do. The fact to it is that you need to look at what hurts OUR trannys the most, not fords or chevys but the A604 tranny. From what I understand our tranny components are fairly strong but they build way too much heat and it destroys them. Also as we have discussed before the factory actually designs these trannys to slip the gears so that you dont feel the shift as much. Its not really that its shifting harder its just that it engages faster so in turn it feels harder. Think about it what would you rather have gear slip or direct engagement. I think the shift kit is misunderstood. Ive also found that after asking most the mechanics that say dont do it have done it on chevys and fords. If you look at the kits that are made for those cars they do something totally different than the one made for ours. Some here will agree with me others will probably say I dont know what Im talking about. It all just depends on who you talk to.

Fuck all that. I got the shift kit done and I love it. If you wanna make the best of your final drive gears do the shift kit. If you wanna cool off your tranny, get a tranny cooler. The only way this is gonna mess up your tranny is because when your shit pulls so much harder your gonna take advantage of it and abuse it alot more. :) I've decided today that I need to not get on it as hard cause since I've done this I've been running the shit out of it. It's just fun now.

You guys are missing the point, again. I didnt say internal parts like clutches and gears (other than final drive). There is more to a tranny than just the inner workings. Theres the final drive gears, what connects that to the diff, the axles and finally the wheels. I dont care about what goes on inside, i know a shift kit helps those out a lot. I'm talking about the transfer of energy after all that.

And I didnt mention anything about other trannys, i was talking about the A604, which is not very strong... Go to google.com and type in 41TE, that is the old name for our trannys. Chrysler fucked up so bad that they had to change the name of the tranny. Also, type in A604 and read up on the complaints and what not.

I dont think it's a matter of preference when you run the risk of blowing other things up or straining them. Dirty is right, get more power and you start abusing it. Youre unleashing more power from the tranny true, but are the final drive gears and your diff good enough to handle the abuse, or was it designed for the setting the engineers are Chrysler intended...

I can't really get into the what can the tranny handle discussions cause I really don't know shit about them other than the few things that 've done to them, but if I break it I'll either rebuild with the premo shit or more than likely do the MTX swap. I wanted to do the swap to begin with but since I plan on boosting I wanted to see what it would be like with the ATX first.

It's not something I think we should stress over to much cause we all want our cars to be fast and we all wanna have fun so if something is weak and might break easier than we'd like, I'm not gonna sacrifice my fun to take care of something. I don't think so, and I know nobody is saying this, but if our tranny is a piece of shit, then it's a piece of shit that I'm gonna enjoy while I can.

no, i'm getting it bored out .020 over. for my new pistons from hahn.
thanks for all the info

"if our tranny is a piece of shit, then it's a piece of shit that I'm gonna enjoy while I can."

Amen, but why not let it last a tad longer by being nice to it:).

ps - im on my third transmission in 1 year:( :rolleyes

the shift kit is a prevenative maintenance piece. believe what you want, the shift feel is an optional mod. every a604 should have the shift kit done to it, you dont *have* to bore out the seperator plate holes to the maximum size.

the a604 was designed poorly, and the shift kit compensates for that.

OK, obviously you're missing my point. I never said the shift kit would mess up INTERNAL parts, as in the heart of the tranny. Even if Chrysler made the transmission to slip gears internall, they probably designed the parts AFTER all that to withstand the less snappy and comftarble shift. It's not a matter of preference or what I believe, its common sense. Gear type parts with metal to metal wont like snappy shifts. And you're joking if you say you arnt gunna get on that gas more with a shift kit.

You're dead on about the preventive maintenence of the shift kit, it creates less heat. But you're missing my point about harder snappier shifts...Can't have the best of both worlds for a long time, unless you upgrade.

So whats up? I feel like I'm in a sewing circle. Are we not down with the shift kit or what? I'm not sure what we're talking about anymore.

haha, im down with the shift kit definitely. Just sick of people saying "it will totally make your transmission last XX longer."

All I'm saying is that the shift kit is great for creating a snappier shift and more easibly accesible power, but with that more easily accesible power comes more break down of parts that cant handle it.

^^ much better said joe slow. that makes more sense than your previous post.

the shift kit is awesome though! yea dirty, were down with it lol.

our trannies have been designed/built for a instant ingagement..
BUT,BUT people dont like the harsh gear engagement so the engineers have induced slippage into the tranny to soften the engagement.
a shift kit will not hurt your tranny at all....
I can see your logic Joe b but its just not correct in this situation.

and stop believing mechanics (sorry but I hate most mechanics and this is why, they lie) }(

How is my logic uncorrect? It applies in any case:

ADD MORE POWER TO A PART THAT CAN'T HANDLE IT AND IT BREAKS.

I know the engineers at chrysler designed the tranny to slip and whatever for comfort, ive read all about that. But you know who i've read it from? The people who won't fix your car when it breaks, the sellers of the part.

A shift kit only "reprograms" the shifts controlled by the valve body, it wont magically make any other parts stronger.

Think of the transmission as 4 parts.

Main Tranny (internals other than final drive and diff)

Final Drive Gears

Differential

Axles

Takes those four things (plus the wheel of course) to transmit energy to move the car.

The ONLY place that a shift kit helps is at the "main tranny". It wont help other than performance at the other places. Do you actually think Chrysler put "performance capable" parts in their transmissions that would be use on minivans? I think not... Sure you could add a shift kit all day long and run it into the ground all day long and be happy. But those parts that Chrysler intended for slipping and comfort are going to buckle.

Bottom line, the shift kit is NOT the answer to everyones tranny problems. It helps, of course. But when you say "a shift kit is the best thing you can do for a transmissin" every amateur 420a owner with an AT tranny will attempt it and end up blowing their tranny. You've read and maybe seen first hand how hard it is to do.

Just don't want people blowing 2+ trannys like I did, it's a pain in the ass and $$$ labor.

what joe is saying is correct.

just as modding your engine will do the same thing. sure helping your engine breathe better (or force feeding it air hehe) is good for it, but start putting stress on things and they will break. its the same concept with your tranny.

although i believe installing the shift kit and not changing your shift feel is good for the tranny. i doubt anyone here is actually going to do that. besides maybe corbin hehe.

and for those of us who have installed it, know that the first time around it really isnt just a plug and play modification.

what was this thread about again?

"what was this thread about again?"

lmao...}( I can't remember, but atleast this guy will know pros and cons of a shift kit, no doubt about that.

ps - whenever you do any mod to your tranny where you will lose fluid in the process: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT LEVEL OF FLUID and THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF FLUID and THAT YOU ARE CHECKING IT CORRECTLY. Wise words otherwise BOOM.:)

joseph

>although i believe installing the shift kit and not changing
>your shift feel is good for the tranny. i doubt anyone here
>is actually going to do that. besides maybe corbin hehe.

Aww...cheap shot. It was accidental though. I only drilled the holes out to the minimum and it made the shifts slightly faster and harder. If I were to do it again, I'd probably open them up some more.

And I'm still down with the shift kit. If you install it exactly per the instructions (without messing up), I think it will make your transmission live longer (under equal abuse as before). Fuck up the install and/or really start beating on it and you're asking for trouble. I'll tell you, the parts external to the transmission (output gears and driveshafts) don't keep me awake at night. I am most concerned about breaking things inside the tranny.

Corbin

'95 ESI-T
HRC+FMIC+ETC...



Gimme fuel...Gimme fire...Gimme that which I desire

hey guys i really want final drive and a shift kit but where would i find/buy them?

>hey guys i really want final drive and a shift kit but where
>would i find/buy them?

doh, search is a good place to start :). If you look a few threads down the way you'll find all ya need to find.

Try www.txchange.com, they have a write up explaining the shift kit, what it does and all that if you dont know already. They also sell em fairly cheap.

joseph

Not to come down on Eclipselova98, but thats why I thought the FAQ that I so blountly wrote that Dino made sound pretty and professional and Corbin adding his logic to would make a good sticky.

Dino, you should put some "Hater" links up or make the main site pretty so people will see all of it and your hard work won't be in vain. Just a thought.

I thought your write up was pretty:* hahaha

Do we have a sticky to the FAQs page. I dont think people will even think that there is a FAQ for a MT dominated board ya know.

joseph

Your wish is my command...

I made a link to the AT FAQ sticky

Now, there is no excuse for not reading it...

Corbin

'95 ESI-T
HRC+FMIC+ETC...



Gimme fuel...Gimme fire...Gimme that which I desire