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Your comments will be appreciated.

I have installed a Chevy V8 350 and a turbo 350 automatic transmission in my 1950 PU. I am ready to roll and need to make adjustments. I have started and broke-in the engine. The tranny was overhauled by AAMCO, but it was not on the vehicle at the time. It may need adjustment (which they said they will do at no charge since they could not do it at the time of overhaul).

I have a slightly higher performaqnce cam installed on the motor. My brother and I drove it around the block the othger day trying to adjust the timing and the idle. When I shift the tranny into gear, the driveline REALLY wants to engage. Is there an adjustment that can be made on the transmission to reduce this tendency at low RPMs? What happens is that at idle the tranny puts too much load on the engine such that the engine stalls.

Thanks!

this may sound stupid - but what is your idle set at? If it is too low - this is exactly what happens.

I set my idle so that in gear, with the brakes depressed and the car not moving the motor is running at about 700-800 RPM - this is on a 350/350 combo on my el camino.

Did they beef up the tranny at all when you had it gone through? Any other changes other than the cam?
Vacuum lines all ran?

- Ryan

I did have them install a shift kit. Perhaps that is the problem. I was thinking that the tranny was engaging too solidly at that low RPM, but maybe that is to be expected with the shift kit?

In my experience yes - B/M stage 2 is what I have in the elco - sure bangs a little harder now!

How are the fluid levels? It almost sounds like there is a problem in the torque converter (not full?) - but I'm no expert - hopefully someone will jump in here...

What is your idle at when not in gear?

- Ryan

What's a good idle speed? At what speed should I start feeling the torque converter kick in?

with my 350 - mild cam - I run the in gear idle at about 700-800 RPM. That makes the 'park' idle at around 1100 rpm depending on temp of motor.

I'm not sure when you should feel it kick in - depends on your TC. I feel mine 'thunk' into gear as soon as I drop it into gear - it immediately starts to pull the car in the correct direction - at idle - in third, if given a long runway my car will pick up quite a bit of speed - say to 20mph or so - but I have really tall gears.

Get two people - start it up - have one person under hood with a screwdriver - other puts car into gear and holds break - don't run over your friend - adjust the idle until it's smooth. Drop back into park and check again - make sure it's not too high (above 1200? - just a guess).

Of course there could be timing issues as well that would affect the idling.

- Ryan

My brother and I are planning to do the tune-up this Sunday after church.

I do have a question about automatic transmissions.

Is there a engine low RPM range when the torque converter does not engage?

and a follow-on question....

When placing the truck in drive, should/does the carb respond to the additional work placed on the engine by increasing RPMs?

Question 1 - I'm not sure. However, I believe it depends on your TC.

Question 2 - in my elco - no. The rpm's drop when I put it in gear. However they drop just a couple of hundred RPMs. My foot does the rest

- Ryan