95 Bird 4.6 Tranny Shudder (you all know the story)

[sf95bird]

198xxx miles. Has had the shudder for a long time. At 150xxx had the tranny flushed at a Big O Tire. I'm not sure if they did the converter. I'm looking at having this done again. However, I had a tranny shop look at it and they commented about a lot or carbon and metal on the magnet on the pan. A mechanic relative recommended flushing and adding "shudder guard". Any thoughts???

Also, I love this bird and hate the idea that I might be without it. I had heard somewhere that to replace the tranny, the engine has to come out first. Has anyone done this. I'm mechanically inclinded and I believe if it can come out of the bottom, I could replace it with a reman... Any thoughts???

Lastly, Anyone know of any kit cars that could be build on a 95 T-Bird frame? I absolutely love the handling!!!

[RickwithaTbird]

shoot, I forget the site for it, but theres an old school body kit for the t bird which replaces the whole front end and back end. Its something like "easyrods", or "easy-rods" .com I believe, and you can probably find it on www.tccoa.com. Im not sure if you would like it, its kind of one of those things where you love it or hate it. I personally like the way the tbird looks so I would never change it, except for an air dam, side skirts, and rear bumper cover. (xenon body kit) About the shudder guard or whatever... I wouldnt do it. But the only reason I say that is because having my tranny and TC flushed solved my problem. Maybe Big O didnt flush the TC? Thats my bet.

[97Bird]

The tranny comes out without removing the engine. The "hardest" part of removing the tranny is getting the bolts out of the exhaust manifold flange and the driveshaft removal since you have to drop the gas tank about 4 inches to get it out. I've heard people say they got the driveshaft out without dropping the tank but removing a few strap bolts makes it easier imo. I did mine on a lift with help from a few friends in an evening. Make sure the gas tank is about empty to make it easier for you.

[J_ROC812004]

well on that body kit i think i saw that didn't it make it look like a bel air or something.i would hate that it looks ugly as hell. about the tranny yes i do believe the engine has to come out first but i haven't had that prob yet so i wouldn't know for sure

[squibb94tbird]

What do u mean by TC whats that?

[squibb94tbird]

My tranny shudders too, whats the TC u were talking about?

[RickwithaTbird]

Torque Converter

[overl0rd]

a remedy tht i have always found to work with this issue has been to completely drain the pan and toruqe converter, there's a plug in it for doing this accessible through the little rubber plug in he bellhousing. you may hve to spend a while turning the flexplate by hnd to get the hole lined up, and it takes quite a while for it to fully drain. then refill the system with mercon 5, usually takes 12-14 quarts. also, if at all possible, reuse the original pan gasket, as it is reusable, and way better quality than the cork gaskets found in the filter kits at your local parts house. on a final note, if you drop the pan and see a peice of plastic with an o-ring on it rolling around in there, dont be alarmed, its just a plug the factory puts in the dipstick tube hole that gets pushed through when they install the dipstick.

hope this helps.

[sf95bird]

As for the rod, it is easyrod.com and yuck. I was thinking that when this car finally dies completely on me, maybe I could take it down to the frame, and put some other body on it. I wish the wheel base was shorter, I would love to put an AC Cobra body on it. I could only imagine the feel of going into corners at high rates of speed.

[97Bird]

Get yourself a late model Stang then order a Cobra kit from factoryfive.com

[T-BYRD]

Originally Posted by 97Bird

The tranny comes out without removing the engine. The "hardest" part of removing the tranny is getting the bolts out of the exhaust manifold flange and the driveshaft removal since you have to drop the gas tank about 4 inches to get it out. I've heard people say they got the driveshaft out without dropping the tank but removing a few strap bolts makes it easier imo. I did mine on a lift with help from a few friends in an evening. Make sure the gas tank is about empty to make it easier for you.

Easier to drop the rearend partly with it still attached to frame and the drive shaft comes out easily with it at the same time.Done that with my Cougar when I had the tranny checked and gone thru jusst for safe gaurds,drive band was bad,replaced and then the rearend was pushed back up with a floor jack with the dive shaft held in place so it would meet the tranny.Easier than dropping the tank,try it,just afew bolts to take out and down she comes with a jack or couple of men to help..