Pontiac Trans Am LS1 TransGo Shift Kit Install - Stall, Stab & Shift

The TransGo shift kit (part No. 4L60EPSK) retails for just $171 and is money well spent as it offers enhancements in both performance and longevity.

The shift kit can be installed with the transmission in the car. First, drain the fluid and then unplug the electrical connections. Then you can unbolt the valvebody and second accumulator.

The valvebody will contain seven check balls, which are most easily procured with a magnet. After you have all of them, Eric recommends cleaning the flat surfaces with a flat or knife-sharpening stone. Then clean the unit with mineral spirits.

Our LS1 project Trans Am is coming along nicely, having run a best elapsed time of 12.85 at 108.59 with nothing but an exhaust system and a few minor bolt-ons. Up until now, we've been able to net some pretty good 60-foot times on 245/50/16 Goodyear GS-C radial tires, with a best time of 1.98 seconds. This month, we plan to bang some gears with a shift kit, and slap on some sticky tires to hopefully knock a few tenths off our 60-foot time, thereby improving our 1320 numbers.

Our quest for quicker short times begins with TransGo's 4L60E shift kit. The automatic gearbox as delivered from GM is sensitive to the input of your right foot, but it also has a lot of slop built into it to provide comfortable and quiet daily operation. Evicting this slop from our slushbox will not only improve acceleration times, but it will also lengthen the life of the transmission, provided we're not at the track every weekend of course.

Complementing the shift kit is TCI's Super Street Fighter torque converter. It features a stall speed of 3500-3800rpm, which may seem a bit high for such a stock engine, but the higher stall speed really puts the Gen. III LS1 engine in its sweet spot for optimum performance.

Having more power at the start is all well and good, but you've got to be able to put it down to the track and with the high stall converter allowing annihilation of the GS-Cs, we grabbed a BFGoodrich drag radial package from SLP Performance Parts. The package includes two drag radials mounted on 16-inch ZR-1 replica wheels.

For installation of our transmission goods, we headed to the experts at Dynotech Performance in Manville, New Jersey where Eric Schertz, Mike Wade and Jim Madison made quick work of our Trans Am's tasks and had us ready for the track in around six hours. We also took this opportunity to throw on a TA Performance Products aluminum differential cover to give the notoriously weak F-body 10-bolt a prayer. The shift kit is designed to be a do-it-yourself installation and includes a videotape as well as five pages of detailed and easy to read instructions, but being that the trans is the most complicated part of the drivetrain, we opted to leave it to the pros.

Our first track day of the year brought some much welcomed and quite glorious mid 50-degree weather. Our previous best elapsed time of 12.85 was eclipsed considerably thanks to the TA's newfound motivation. Check out the breakdown of the runs and follow the captions to see what was involved.

One of our check balls had become lodged in the separator plate. Dynotech has seen this type of problem before and fixes the hole with a hardened ball seat and brass check ball if necessary.	The second accumulator resides in the tranny pan with the valvebody. The shift kit includes new springs for this and 1-3 spacers (levels of firmness) to firm up the shifts. Dynotech replaced our cracked plastic piston with an aluminum one. They also scuffed the inside of the accumulator with a Scotchbrite pad to promote better oil retention.	TransGo's instructions detail which holes need to be drilled out to allow for more fluid flow. The kit also provides the drill bits to complete this task.
The manual valve gets a mild chamfer to provide faster band release when shifting from reverse to drive.	The accumulator bushing and valve receives this white spring.	This 1-2 shift valve is replaced with the steel TransGo piece that also includes a green spring and gold check ball. This combination fixes any no or late shifting problems from first to second gear.
The TransGo pulse lock-up upgrade for '95-up 4L60Es valve at the top replaces the stock one. The stock unit allows the trans to slip into converter lockup, which is nice for comfort, but bad for the clutch. The new piece maintains pressure for a firm lockup	The 2-4 servo gets a new spring and seals.	Dynotech checks for 1/16-inch play using one or two band spacers.
The accumulator is then installed without the seals to make sure that the output shaft turns both in both directions. Then the seals are added for final assembly.	This is the TCI Super StreetFighter (part No. 242932) torque converter. This lockup unit retails for $710 and offers a stall speed of 3500-3800rpm.	While the valvebody was in surgery, the Dynotech staff removed the transmission to install the torque converter. The converter is filled with transmission fluid prior to being mounted in the transmission. Dynotech recommends using non-synthetic fluid for the best performance.
The LS1 flexplate uses one oval bolt hole to line up the other two round ones. We still needed to hone out one of the oval holes to get the last bolt in.	Now, the second accumulator is installed prior to the valvebody. Having an extra set of hands during this part may help, as the increased spring pressure makes installation slightly difficult.	The boost valve is modified with the valvebody already installed.
Our clean and revitalized valvebody is bolted up and the electrical connections are plugged in. The days of adjusting TV cables and linkages are over. Dynotech painted the tranny pan and buttoned up the 4L60E.	TCI also supplied us with its transmission cooler. Higher stall speeds can put more heat into the transmission so keeping the fluid cool increases longevity and the performance of the fluid. TCI's kit (part No. 823500) retails for $64.	Installation was rather simple. We mounted the cooler in front of the condenser and ran the lines around the side through the plastic air deflectors.
The TCI unit works in conjunction with the stock cooler located in the radiator so all you have to do is splice into the lines.	One inexpensive way to help your 10-bolt survive mild drag duty is with TA Performance Products' aluminum differential cover. This beautiful piece adds strength to the case, and provides support to the bearing caps. Part number TA1809 fits 1982-up F-bodies with the 7.5 10-bolt rear and sells for $161.	To install the cover, Dynotech removed the electrical harness cover at the top and the brake cable support bracket. Then they removed the old cover and drained the fluid.
The TA unit comes with new studs to replace the stock bearing cap bolts.	Once the studs are in, use a quality gasket maker to seal the cover to the rear end housing and install the supplied hardware. Don't forget to remount the support bracket and cover. Use some gasket sealer on the preload bolts and then torque them to 5 ft.-lbs. or 60 in.-lbs.	SLP's drag pack features two ZR-1 style 16-inch wheels and a pair of sticky 255/50/16 BFGoodrich drag radial tires. We've had excellent results with the BFG units and these were no exception. The drag pack sells for $429.95 and fits 1993-up F-bodies.
The stall converter makes burnouts a breeze and it also helped us knock off five tenths from our quarter-mile effort. Nearly half a second for less than a days worth of work. That's the kind of progress we like to see.