Hi All,

I'm having some problems with my vet. When I first drive she seems locked on 1st gear. The only way I can get it to change is to floor it in the lower gear then back off the throttle after a coupld of goes it will then kick into 2nd gear and be fine with gear changes from then. The car is idleing a little high and the gears changes seem a little late as well. I think it may have a stall coverter which may be contributing. Any ideas would be valued. Happy to provide more details.

Got some advice that it may be valves. Not a lot of good advice on vettes can be found in Australia though

Cheers

Shayne

 

If you fill out your profile, others will know what you have. You likely have a governor problem. Start there. The gear may be stripped or the valve may be stuck.

 

shayne i dont think anyone can help until you tell what year it is an auto or manual trans

 

Youre looking in the wrong places then. What part of Australia are you in?

 

sorry about the profile, I'll fix that up. For the last message I'm in Lilydale Victoria, which is about 45 mins out of melbourne

 

hi shayne,
welcome mate to this great corvette site!
the best vette forum site in the world!!!
there is some great helpful guys on this site and you will learn alot mate!
im glen from Dandenong not that far from you mate!
what year model vette you have?
any way cheers
all the best
glen
0405 801 586
Dandenong -Vic

 

85 Coupe Auto, I just bought it from NSW. Few little things to be done but she is not a bad car

 

You can very easily get parts from Vette Connection in Victoria, Phill Ryder is the man to speak to there and he is a good bloke. Also i can get parts straight from America for very good prices and fast shipping.

 

85 Coupe Auto, I just bought it from NSW. Few little things to be done but she is not a bad car

 

sorry i cant help on this one, but im interested to see whats going on

 

"locked on 1st gear"

Prob governor as Pete K said.
Vette gearbox is nothing special ,only a VN/VP Commodore gearbox , any decent gearbox shop should be able to sort you out.

"the gears changes seem a little late as well"
Prob cable to trans needs adjusting.

"Few little things to be done"
Remember most Vettes in Oz are owned by waxers , alot of the little tuneup items that the performance /DIY guy would do get left so long as the car runs.

Plenty of good local advice around , just gotta come here

 

Not quite a Commodore box. The whole case is different. Simular, but so different. Any decent Auto Transmission place will be able to tell the difference and know what the differences are on the off chance it needs rebuilding, cause you want it done right first go. If its rebuilt with Commodore 'box internals, its going to feel real sloppy on the shifts (ESPECIALLY the 1>2 shift). Having said that, the workings are pretty close to the same, however the Commodore 4L60 wont shift into 4th at WOT, where as the Corvette TH700 in the 85 will, and so will the later Corvette 4L60s. Its important to know there is a big difference so you know you got what you should.
The Throttle valve cable
They are what??? What the hell is a waxer??

 

"The whole case is different."

Beg to differ Case my man but case and guts are the
same , tailshaft housing is different.Different servos , shift points , WOT shift as you state but still a 700R4.
I have a VP trans in mine with Vette tailshaft housing.
Was built to better than Vette specs using US servos and clutches .

"The Throttle valve cable"
I know that ,I just didn't want to confuse the man.

"What the hell is a waxer??"
If you have spent any time around the "average Ozzie Vette" owner , their idea of fun is to spend all day Sat polishing their car so they can sit in a deck chair at a car show on Sunday and watch people droll over their cars.
Whatever turns you on ,I bought mine to drive
Probably only 1/2 dozen C4's in Oz that see track time, my '87 and Paul from Canberra ('86 383 MR ) are the only regular runners at WSID , Ben73 ('84 383 CF) on this forum is a regular at Willowbank.

 

Its different, regardless of how you want to look at it and what parts you want to call what. The 91-93 VP Commodore trans is not the same as an 85 Corvette trans. Not by a long shot. You know it as well as i do. I just dont like simplifying things for people that may not know, cause if they take that the wrong way and go into a trans shop that doesnt really know and he says "rodj told me its the same trans as a VP Commo" they may be just as likely to believe that. They are going to see the obvious differences when they remove it that the tailshaft case is totally different, but the "guts" as youve called them are not all the same either. Some transmission shops wont know that, and if this guy doesnt know to ask, he may not get what he needs. Thats the only reason im stating that it IS different and very much so. Id consider it simular, cause it most certainly is, but you cant tell people its the same thing.

Same with the throttle valve cable, if he goes and searches for it either here or in a shop manual, he wont find it called the "cable to trans". And cause there is 2 cables going to it, better to be safe then sorry!!

I know a hand full of other Corvette owners ive known for years, no idea how often they use their Corvettes though. Makes you wonder why some of them bought them. Im like you in that respect, i bought both mine to drive, and for the past 8 years that is what ive done almost everyday. Good to see someone else over here acctually bought the car to use as a car too!!! Ive heard of one of those guys you refered to with the 383 84 up here in QLD, a couple of my mates know of him.

 

Good to see some healthy debate, The car seems like its had a few bolt on goodies (trottle body etc), but things like trottle cabling is pretty messy which suggestions it was all about looks and bragging rights not 1/4 mile times and reliability. This 20 inch rims and 2 subwoofers give that away a bit too.

Thanks for your assistance, Can you recommend any good trans places in vic, happy to travel for a good job

 

but the way guys I'm with you. Mine is a daily driver. An hour in peak to the city and back every day. The only problem is I sit in the office all day wondering whats happining around my car.. Not good for productivity.

 

And the third point. I know the uniqueness of vets, There unique even to other chevs, always have been. I'm not about to go buy a reco T700 from a VN and try to bang it in.. I just don't want a mechanic to go "yeah I'll fix it, charge me $500 and do nothing". When you''ve got an hour and a few beers I'll tell you about the 7K is spent on my camaro by listening to d@#k heads.

 

I cant help you with good a transmission joint in Vic, although there should be a few around, you shouldnt have to go too far.

I wouldnt be too worried about what is happening around your car all day, that wont help stop anything happening!! You bought it to use and enjoy, so concentrate on that part of it rather then the worry of something that may never happen. If it ever does happen, all the worrying in the world wont have stopped it. Relax and enjoy the car mate

Youll have to try and figure out what these "bolt on goodies" youre talking about are helping or hurting the car, give everything a good tidy up so its all neat, this can (it wont always) help reliability. Read here if you havent done so allready: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=956100 That will give you some indication as to what works and what does not work.

 

"I'm not about to go buy a reco T700 from a VN and try to bang it in"

As I said to Case privately , I was trying to point out that trans is just a T700 with control/valving differences..
Just didn't want to see you pay the "Corvette tax" because some trans shop wants to milk some extra $$$ by telling you it is special.
If you are looking to rebuild your trans any time ,can put you in contact with a guy in Sydney that has all the good HD parts at realistic prices.And he won't sell you parts you don't need.

Ask around and find a shop that builds race trans ,
not a $500 /30 day exchange mob.

 

Yes and now that i am following what youre saying better, i understand what you meant. The way it came across to me at first was as if you were saying you can pull the box straight out of a Commodore and throw it straight into a Corvette. That wont work.

I was abit confused as to what you were saying though, cause ive had a few people say to me "its all exactly the same as a Commodore trans" when it might look the same, but there are important performance differences.

In my opinion, if youre ever going to rebuild the trans, youre better off pulling the unit out that you now have, then rebuilding that to the specs you want and putting it back in. You allready own the core, and youre only paying for what goes in (as well as labour).