<Project> 1998 Trans Am Upgrades

[meissen]

Both, in all honesty. I can't wait to have a real man cave to decorate with all my memorabilia.

[Schuby87]

Both, in all honesty. I can't wait to have a real man cave to decorate with all my memorabilia.

Where do you keep your 7 bagillion diecasts?

The ads are hard to get a pic of without a reflection or glare...

[meissen]

Those are awesome. Right now my diecasts are squeezed into 2 book cases, a coffee table, my living room mantle, and 4 more at work.

[Schuby87]

I got my valve spring compressor tool a few days ago and since I have no desire to work in a 100*+ garage, I put the new seals and springs in the heads.

[c0ncEpT]

Which valve spring tool did you end up getting? I used a Crane tool for the 1st time the other day and its light years better than the old Tims tool I've used before.

[Schuby87]

Which valve spring tool did you end up getting? I used a Crane tool for the 1st time the other day and its light years better than the old Tims tool I've used before.

The Tim's tool lol. The guy that sells them on LS1tech lives in Livonia so I picked one up. The only reason I went with it is because it was 1/4 the price of the others on the market. If swapping out springs is something that I had to do frequently, I would spring (pun intended) for a nicer tool. I also bought the Kent Moore valve seal tool because I was paranoid about doing the seals for the first time and using a socket.

[Schuby87]

One torque converter fresh out of the paint booth!

[meissen]

Ridings?

[Schuby87]

Ridings?

Yup. I stopped by his shop and watched him put it together. I knew torque converter basics but he gave me a pretty in depth lesson on converter internals.

[Schuby87]

This is the guide I am following...

http://ls1tech.com/forums/general-ma...ls1-fbody.html

Any steps missing from it? Any tips?

[meissen]

That's what we used when we pulled my 6 and my LT1. It's pretty straight forward.

[Schuby87]

Everything disconnected on the top side...

[Schuby87]

Yesterday after draining the trans pan, I noticed the gasket was ripped so I had to replace that today. I think I have everything undone - pulled the kframe bolt out this evening. Do any of the sensors for the trans need to be unplugged?

When disconnecting the driveshaft, I reconnected the trans shifter cable and tried to put it in N to rotate the driveshaft but I couldn't get it out of park. Is this because I have the brakes disconnected or no fluid in the trans? Also, a u-joint cap popped off. What do I need to do about that?

[masterfab]

chances are you have a trans shifter lock on your car. which requires you to have 12v to the car press the brake and then you should be able to shift it out of park. theres a electric safty that stops you from shifting the car out of park if the brake pedal isnt pressed.

the u-joint cap should be fine as long as no dirt got in there and all the little needle bearing are acounted for. i put electrical tape around the u-joint to hold the caps on. like the picture below. then remove the tape when you re-install the d-shaft. keep up the good work. dont be afraid to ask questions. there alot of smart people on here that are more than willing to give out good tech or there opinions.

[c0ncEpT]

You can move the shift lever from under the car with your hand FWIW.