Ok I missed that I didn't comment on the ease of installation. Really this is about a 1.5 maybe 2 banana job. It is just messy as trans fluid will rain down on you.
From memory so hope I don't miss anything
1.) pull the plug drain the pan
2.) unbolt the pan and cut the FIPG and pull the pan off, it can offer quite a bit of resistance
3.) unbolt the filter and pull it off by pulling straight down
4.) there is a feed tube from the trans body to the valvebody pull it out again it pulls straight out has some resistance
5.) Now stand under the truck with trans fluid dripping all over you. There will be 3 electrical plugs for the solenoids unplug them
6.) unbolt the 1000 bolts that hold the valve body in. Note that there are 2 different lengths
7.) there will be 3 buffers with springs on them that fall out catch them
8.) take the valve body and buffers over to a clean work bench and sit down and take your time
9.) take a piece of cardboard and punch holes to match the bolts in the valve body. This way when you take a bolt out you put it in the right place on the cardboard and it transfers back to the right place when you reassemble.
10.) make sure the valve body is oriented the way the say in the directions when you seperate the halves or springs and balls will fall out.
11.) You will be drilling 3 holes in the plate that seperates the 2 halves of the valve body, the directions will show you exactly where to drill, really all you are doing is enlarging 3 holes and the drill bits are included in the kit.
12.) set the plate aside and look inside the valve body. There will be a series of springs and balls, match up the location with the diagram provided, if I remember correctly I had to remove one ball and maybe one spring.
13.) on the buffer they have an inner and outer spring. The inner spring is captured on the buffer and you need to use a pair of pliers to physicaly man handle the spring off. I used a pair of side cuts and just grabbed the spring little by little close to the bottom and twisted after a couple times it popped off. Keep the uncaptured spring as you will reuse it but you can toss the spring you removed as it will be garbage by the time you are done.
14.) now using the guide you will match up the spring colors to the buffers. (Keep in mind the transgo kit is for many different trans so you will have lots of extra springs and parts)
15.) Now remove the Pressure Regulator (it would be driver's side front if the vb was in the truck) and it's spring and replace it with the spring in the kit. Reinstall
16.) take your new gaskets put some transfluid on them, put the first one down, then the plate you modified and then the 2nd gasket and finally the second half of the valve body.
17.) grab your cardboard and transfer the 20+ bolts back to the valve body and carefully torque them all down, it isn't much torque.
18.) back to the truck and a second set of hands is really handy here, because you have to stuff the new heavier sprung buffers up into the tubes while trying to align the valve body and get some bolts started. Also when you are putting the valve body in, on the front passengers side there is a "shift fork" make sure that gets lined up with the rod on the valve body or else your shifter won't work and you will be pulling everything back apart.
19.) torque the 1000 bolts back in place
20.) reinstall the feed tube
21.) clean the filter and reinstall it
22.) new FIPG on the clean pan and reinstall and torque down the bolts.
23.) refill trans fluid
24.) shift through the gears with your foot on the brake
25.) kick back with cold beverage of choice.
26.) don't forget to check fluid levels once up to temp and you have some drive time.
, thx brother!
