tranny rebuild in progress
Hey guy, I have recently entered the world of the aoutomatic tranny rebuild, the wifes 91 Lincoln Towncar.
If you're gonna go through the hassle of removing the tranny, go ahead and rebuild it; the kit is around 150. I orded the cheepie from Autozone due to time constraints, it was 125 after tax, and ordered a kevlar OD band ($30) separately (the kit had one but I think the kevlar might hold up a good bit longer). I was kinda skeptical about the cheap kit, but all the seals seem to match up really good.
Hepcat, from a few posts up, above was able to give me some guidance as well.
That 2" OD band can't just be swaped out, you have to replace the drum and other misc. parts, the drum is the surface the band is applied against. They sell a kit for the swap at
http://www.baumannengineering.com/aodcat.htm They don't list their prices, but when I called they wanted $350 for that kit. If I had more time, I'd find out what parts were in the kit and get them from a junk transmission. Their shift kit is 50 bucks by the way, and awhile back they seemed to be highly recommended, but I can't vouvh for their quality or performance gain..
You'll need at least a haynes manual ($15) and a set of snap ring pliers, the spring compressor (you'll see it in the book, but I used some c-clamps). You might also need the seal protector kit, that wil allow you to re-seat the pistons in the drums. I'm taking my necessary parts to the Lincoln dealer I bought it from, they said they'd let me use therie seal protectors and bench for about 5 minutes.
Hepcat told me he did his and that it wasn't that big of a deal. I have a newfound respect for someone that can rebuild one in a day, and there's alot of parts, but just keep organized and it should go pretty easily. I have a little video, and some pics of the parts, and will take some more when I put it back together. All I'm waiting on now is for the kevlar OD band to come in and I'll put that biatch back together and slap'er back in.....
I'll be able to email you some pics, maybe even an mpg video clip or two if you want.
sizemoremk@yahoo.com
Hepcat has been a real help as well.
Good luck
OH!! keep in mind you'll have to remove the gas tank to get the driveshaft out.......might want to keep a low fuel level if you're gonna do it. I have access to a lift and all on an Army installation,
if you don't have access to a lift, you might think of someone you know that might have access to a military base that has an auto- hobby shop. The one here is lax, as I got out of the Corps over 2 years ago and they let me use it cuz I stilll work on the same installation. If you find someone, they will have to be there with ya though, so it better be a good freind......