460 Ford Forum banner

C6 trans build for transbrake or manual valvebody

106K views 73 replies 33 participants last post by  gregaust 
#1 ·
This is what I do aC-6 build and it seems to give good durability

- Low /reverse Clutch
- piston use the old style with the 24 return springs and the check ball , locate check ball at 12 o'clock (these springs have a free length of 1.070" as opposed to the high/reverse free length of 1.400"
- fibre's & steels , I prefer red alto's and kolenes but the stock clutches hold up well, If your trans has a waveplate discard it . I like to have a min of 5 fibres and steels set at .060 clearance ( .012 per fibre and steel) . the pressure plate may need a step machined in the out edge twice as thick as the snapring to aid in installation of the snapring, use a magnet base dail indicator mounted to the rear sprag race to check clearance- air check
- rear planetary hub use the one with the 1" long splines
- rear planetary- preferred is a 4 pinion
- Forward clutch - prefer red alto's and kolenes,and use the new style drum (new style has a wave plate, 5 & 5 here plus the wave plate .040-.050 clearance, the pressure may need a step machined in it for the snapring or you can use a second internal pressure plate as the outer , make sure you have the right forward ringgear assemble . the new style drum has a .400 deep torrington pocket were as the old style only had a .330 deep pocket and the ringgear asembles are different the new style has longer splines on the outside and the hub is different also. a missmatch of parts here will raise havoc with end play , the planetary's are the same 3 pinion, the reason for using the wave in the forward is that with racing line pressures and no waveplate it tends to snap the end of the drum off at the snapring groove after a period of time .In my max effort trannies I leave out the wave and contend with the drum breaking if and when it happens , ussally I just put an new drum in each year

2nd gear - "R" servo and an "E" lever and the toughest spring I have , Band I been getting good service out of the 2 1/2 " flex band kevlar lined

- High/reverse drum , 5 clutch drum preferred, but the stock 3 clutch drum can give good service if modified by cutting a new snap ring groove . there is 2 alternatives here depending on which drum you have as some drums have a longer spline than others the ones with the long spline an new 1/8" groove is to be machined in the drum at .565 from the bottom of the original to the top of the new groove this will allow you to use one of the stock selective snap rings to achieve a clearance of of .012 - .013 per fibre & steel and using alto pt# 026757HP kit you can install 6 fibre's and 6 steels witha clearance of .072-.078 (note Alto's recommended clearance with this kit is way to tight) with the shorter splined drum you machine a new snap ring 11/8" groove in at .400 up from 5the bottom of the original groove to the top of the new groove and then step cut the pressure plate approx .165 " to allow snap ring installation and removal. With this mod the drum will hold 5 x 5 standard red alto's and kolene steels . another drum mod to do is drill a series of 1/8" holes into the perimeter of the drum in a zig-zag pattern were the steels engage in the drum , this ads in letting the oil out of the drum a cools the clutches by letting more oil flow through between the clutches , also fill all spring pockets in the piston with springs.
-pump sealing rings , get and use teflon sealing rings as they last a lot longer than the cast rings and they do not wear the drum
- set trans end play at .020-.045"
- and adjust the band , tighten to 120 inlbs and back of 1 1/2 turns and tighten lock nut


any Questions email me at fmerkl@eidnet.org or call 403-793-5412

Link to rollerizing a c6 http://460ford.com/viewtopic.php?t=8558&sid=393341777e7d9a6bd7958594ececc708
 
See less See more
#34 ·
C-6 Trans Build

Got a few questions about Frank's build thread. maybe some one else has been there? In the forward clutch I used the new style drum (w/ the .400 bearing pocket) w/ the wave plate, and was able to put 5+5, and used the flipped internal press. plate. The problem is that there is way too much clearance, (I can put another snap ring in) it ends up @ .080-.084 clearance. Is that ok with that configuration? Did I miss something? I used the same ring gear assy. that came out behind it also.
How can you tell which high/reverse drum you have? long or short spline? I need to figure that out so I can machine the right dimension snap ring groove. W/ 5+5 the clearance should be @ .060? Also the step cut in the press. plate should be .165 deep? x how wide? Thanks for any help, don't want to have to do this more than once. Thanks,
Mike
 
#35 ·
first check your stack height on your front planetary and ring assembly for the .400 deep forward drum pocket, there is selective snaprings for the clutck packs ie ; .043" .056" .066" ,076' .086" .096" .106" with a stock 3 clutch high/reverse drum with 5 cluctches you will not have to mod the pressure plate ,on cutting the new snap ring groove have your machinest with a .125" snapring groove cutter register in the orginal snapring grooves outtermost edge then cut a new groove .325" farther out leaving the section in betweem the old and the new groove
Frank
 
#36 ·
Hey Frank, do you rebuild complete trannys? I have a TCI C6 with your Transbrake V/B fix done over the winter but, if it doesn't work this time i'm looking for the best place to send it. And i think your it! I have been fighting sliding 1-2 shift for 3 seasons now and it's getting old!
 
#40 ·
i was gonna say my bro in law lives in Soo Canada, and we go there a fair amount i could have grabbed the trans and ship to Frank and bring it back down to the SOO when its done. If all else fails.
WAY UP IN THE U.P?? you still got to cross the mackinac? thats WAY south LOL
 
#46 ·
Hi, I just rebuilt my first C6 with a TCI kit and have a problem. It seemed to work ok around the yard but when I drove it I lost fwd gears. It worked ok until the trans went to shift into 2nd. I pulled it back apart and found the fwd clutch drum broken at the snap ring groove. I just want to make sure I fix this right.
It's a 78 F350 2wd with a 460. The fwd clutch had 4 frictions and steels and a wave plate when I took it apart, the TCI kit said to not use the wave plate so I put another friction in its place and the clearance looked ok. What do you think? Should I use the wave plate? Where's the best place to get a fwd drum from? I did find a blown out spot on the valvebody gasket also.



Thanks for the help.
 
#47 ·
leave the wave plate out ,get a new gasket for the vb and torque the vb halves to 45-55 in/lbs also check to make sure the pressure valve is not stuck on the vb , an new drum from ford will work as well used ones start to crack over time then break
Frank
 
#50 ·
i want to go back to a automatic for consistancy but every tranny guy is recommending me a c4 or a powerglide. nobody seems to like a c6 and they say that the transbrake just doesn't work right.

i'm sure there are guys who can build them, but is there somebody who can make a good brake for them? the tci one any good?
 
#52 ·
i haven't bought anything yet but i need to go back to an automatic with my car thats receiving a 521 scj-a stroker from my tko600 manual trans.

every shop i call up, they want me to build a powerglide but i'll have to adapt a speedo cable which is the hardest part and make a cross member (butchering up a c4 one isn't a problem cuz they are dime out of a dozen) and making a driveshaft.

i also get told to build a c4 if i want to stay all ford which i can understand. but since c4's get built to handle the power, they need more maintenance done to them. and i do hear that c6's are tough as snot and need less maintenance.

so has anybody gotten good results with a c6 with a brake? i've got a c6 in the backyard that could be redone if needed.
 
#53 ·
I have had great luck with mine! I built it using this thread. I do have the TCI brake, however it was fixed by Frank! If you don't fix it , it WILL burn high clutch pack on the FIRST pass!!! It is in the new car now for it's 6th season of racing with only fluid changes. Only problems associated with it was, I blew 2 9" rears apart and twisted 2 drive shaft yokes using the brake! Get a good cm yoke! Good luck! Dragz79
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top