My 700R4 is shifting into 2nd sooner than I'd like it to. ZZ4 with a Weiand 142 blower probably 425 - 450 or so hp. If I want to accelerate hard from a dead stop, I can't simply clomp the pedal to the floor, it'll just fry the tires. However when I finesse it by giving it a quick buildup of pedal it pops into 2nd around 3500 way before I get the pedal to the floor. That seems too soon. I currently only have detent positions for D(123) and D(1234) so manually shifting to 1 isn't an option.

Does this sound normal or like the 1-2 shift point needs to be adjusted? I assume it *can* be adjusted.

 

Sounds normal to me since you are not floored the transmission is not going to hold first to max rpm and will shift early. Can you change your shifter to get 1st gear? That would be a good solution. You can adjust your governor but without being floored you really do not know how much to adjust it. Are the 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 shifts fine at wot?

 

You need to modify your shifter detent plate for a 'notch' where you can lock it in 1st gear/range. It's not difficult if you have simple tools and a Dremel with a cut-off wheel. There are past threads of how to do this and you only have to make two small cuts into the rear of the detent plate so that the shifter can move 1/4" farther back than it can now.

Remove 4 screws from shifter plate: remove shifter release **** and shifter ball then put shifter into neutral position; carefully lift shifter plate up and over the shifter and set aside; remove 4 bolts holding the shifter cable bracket and remove the clip and cable from the shifter. Now the detent plate is open for you to make the two clearance cuts with the Dremel cut-off wheel. Put it all back together and now you can drop and lock the shifter into 1st range.

 

What Govenor are you using ? 4cly , 6 cyl , v8 or Corvette ? Stock springs inside Govenor ?, What rpm are full throttle 1-2 and 2-3 shifts when in OD on the shifter ?? Can it make a 3-1 ( not 2-1 ) downshift at roughly 30mph cruise ?

 

Governor unknown, no way to get details on what exactly was done to it since it was rebuilt at a now defunct performance transmission place by the previous owner, supposedly "to handle 600 hp". It feels like it has a shift kit - shifts are fairly snappy, moreso the more throttle you give it. Will have to check the RPM on the 2 - 3 shift. Unable to check the 3 - 1 downshift until I modify it to make 1 available. Haven't determined what the 1 - 2 WOT rpm is due to the original issue.

I can try punching it from a rolling start if that gives basically the same results.

 

the 3-1 down shift WOT after a steady 30 mph cruise while in OD gear selector just gives me a idea if the TV is adjusted close , if it does make a 3-1 down shift it for sure is adjusted good ...... with the wheel spin issue it might be hard to determine if the early light throttle shifts are normal or abnormal ? Any drag radials in the future ?

 

I had it in my head you were talking about a manual downshift 3 - 1. Part of the problem with assessing things with this car is it's a completely different experience than other cars I've had. The car squats down, noise from the exhaust and supercharger obscure a lot of sensory cues. It's hard to tell what's going on, whether it's downshifting one or two gears.

 

@Eric P
I finally got some dry pavement and a desolate stretch of road to try it out - punching it from 25 - 30 it consistently goes into 2nd at 5500 per my tach which is hooked up to an MSD box. From what I find 5800 is the redline for a ZZ4, I don't know if I'd gain anything noticeable with a 300 rpm higher shift or if 5500 is good to maintain a safety margin.

 

The small gain you make in HP (calculated) for the few hundred rpm under your engine's redline won't make up for the losses during the upcoming shift. You just need to figure out how many rpm below redline you want the downshift feature to activate. I would think you would NEVER want the car to downshift if you were within 500 rpm of your engine's rpm limit.

 

To clarify - I'm talking about where the 1 - 2 upshift happens at WOT, not a downshift. I.e. punching it at about 25 - 30 mph while in 3rd, trans downshifts to 1st then upshifts into 2nd at 5500.

What I was pondering is if the 1 - 2 upshift happened right at the redline, would anything be gained. But since the max HP is reached at 5500, probably not?

 

It probably wouldn’t make much difference plus you’re slightly safe on possible valve float territory

 

You can buy 700r4 govs of any rpm you want and they are easy to remove and replace like a 10 minute job including Jacking and jack stand.. I used a 5000 for DD and a 6500 for drag racing.

Your real problem is not enough tire. I had 4.11 rear with 3800 stall and was very consistant 11.70s

 

What engine & air/fuel delivery for those 11.70's?

I don't know what my stall is. It had all been put together just before I got it.

 

It's a longer story. I was competing in the NHRA Craftsman ET Bracket series for a couple of years. So they would have something like a 11.00 - 12.49 time class and have say 32 cars show up at every event for the 10 or 12 event annual series. The top two in points get to represent your track in the regional events at all the member NHRA tracks in my Division 7 events. It become costly and time consuming. You have to meet the rule books tech inspections. cage and all SFI equipment including apparel.

So I had a 355 ci and TH350 with 3.55 gears doing consistent 12.20's and constantly changing my dial in time as the track conditions change. You buy a hand held practice tree to work on reaction times and set your slicks air pressure...... I tore up lots of parts behind the engine. I kept putting in better and stronger parts. Well my hopped up TH350 finally blew chunks of busted metal in the pan. The mid 80's rave was the hot rodded 700R4. Very poor internals, but anyway my first Test and tune day was very disappointing. 700's have bad gear spacing, too low of first gear and too high of second. But what really kills them in comparison to the th350 is that they burn up something like 25 more hp. So I was on the edge of not being in the 11-12.49 second bracket. So to prop up the HP loss I installed a 4.11 rear end. Also as a street driver the OD was way too much with 3.55 gearing.

Even with 3500 stall and 4.11 it wasn't a 12.20 car anymore. IMO it's better to be the faster car and let the other car leave first and then run him down at the finish line. So my grand idea was to build a 7500 rpm 383 ci solid roller motor. Then it became an 11.70's winning bracket racer. In final road racing form before I pulled my 434 ci sbc with a 5 speed I clicked off a couple 10.96's at a 4200 foot elevation track that wasn't prepared on road racing slicks

 

From left to right 4 cylinder, 6 cylinder, last two are both V8’s . Notice the thickness of weights. Corvette Governor looks like the 6cylinder Governor except the weights are pointed in the center where 6 cylinder are flat across

 

That doesn't mean anything of value. Unless you can tell me the exact RPM that each one shifts at and then you can take away weight or add weight to modify them, Like I said you can call up any performance tranny dealer and purchase the exact RPM governor that you want.

 

that’s a loaded question because the transmission shop can only tell you what each Governor shifts at if they know line pressure. Line pressure and Governor pressure fight each other for control over the shift valve . In other words raising line pressure raises shift rpm too as it now had more leverage against the Governor. With the pictures maybe the OP can figure out what Governor he has

 

If you want your shift points to be that precise you have two choices: 1) keep the shift lever in "1" range and shift it manually when you want; 2) install a fully electronic trans in your car and program it to shift when you want. Any shift point triggered by a governor will have variation and it will be difficult to get it to shift at the same rpm in every range.

 

You are right. Generally you get a tag or paper work that tells you the line pressure or you have to hook up a gauge. I had a 800 hp handling 700r4 with 26 vane racing pump from Art Carr the business. Just bullet proof.

I'm big on Vigilante 9.5 inch high efficiency TC's . They have very little slip below the rated stall unless you go to WOT. They are pretty motor TQ specific when you have them made. I tried a 5 clutch highest hp version lockup 9.5 and found very little rpm change from lockup to non lockup.

 

Those Governors in the picture are ready for my new 700 that’s replacing my T350c , I have the Vette Governor installed now and am shooting for 5100/5200 rpm , waiting on a Dip stick and if I have time I’ll set pinion angle tomorrow. I take care of my elderly parents and sometimes it doesn’t leave any time at all