Strange 2-3 shift

Strange 2-3 shift
I've rebuilt the trans and valve body myself, and a lot of help from this form and would like to thank all those who have helped me along the way. Anywho on to the problem at hand. The upshift from 2 to 3 is strange, it seems to release 2nd gear completely then grab 3rd very hard. When 2nd is released its almost as if goes to a neutral state before 3rd grabs, this neutral state is very short and the RPM's only shoot up about 200 - 300 rpm dependent on much gas I'm giving it, you can see that would give you quite a jolt. This only happens in "D" and not if I shift manually.
OK these are the VB mods that I did.
1. Shift improver kit (which is just some new springs and drilling out a hole in the separator plate with drill bit they provide)
2. In the article http://www.burly4x4.com/c4/jparticle/page6.txt on line 56 it says - "Tony is indicating two holes in the separator plate from the valve body. Enlarging these to 3/16", and no more, improves the shift."( I drilled them out to about 3/32"- 1/8&quot[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
3. In the same article on line 58 it says - "This is the upper half of the valve body. Replace the ball shown at upper left. during reassembly, the hole Tony is pointing to at upper right is usually blocked with a small plug supplied in the rebuild kit. Leave it out for firmer shift." (I did this)
Those are the only mods that were done to the valve body, Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make sure that you would have enough information to be able to help me yet again.

Sorry link doesn't work anymore try this one. http://www.burly4x4.com/c4/c4buildup
What I did would be close to the level 2 I think thats what he calls it, but I did no mods to the accumlator valve as he shows. I wonder if I forgot a ball[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] but I don't I did.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 1967galaxie on 10/1/03 1:25pm ]</font>

THe 2-3 shift is done by a shift valve moving over and applying fluid pressure to the tranny side of the intermediate servo and to the direct clutch. The tranny side of the servo kicks the band off and acts like an accumulator to soften the shift. Because it takes less pressure to move the servo piston then apply the clutch it happens first and then the clutch is applied. This is timing that happens for a reason , to keep the tranny from locking up in 2 gears at the shift.
But if the band is not adjusted correctly or the clearances are excessive in the direct cluctch the time to apply the clutch is excessive and the engine rpm will flare at the shift because the band is released much earlier then the clutch is applied.
First thing is to tighten the band adjustment to 1 1/4 turns from snug and see if that helps.
The biggest thing missing from homemade shift kits and the real simple bought ones is a new pressure regulating spring. More line pressure will make a harder shift because fluid can get thru the restrictions quicker.
Hope this lecture helps. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

That's a lecture I will attend any time. Well written, I think I will drop it into the monster post under a section heading "2-3 shift flare". If you would compose a lecture on increasing line pressure and whether this is an issue when using GregAust's vb mods, I will throw those in there as well.

Thanks Mario428, but I only get this condition when the trans in in "Drive", if I shift manualy through the gears ie 1-2-D it shifts smooooth. This is why I was thinking it was the valve body mods I did. All the clearances checked out during the rebuild.

The thing is Galaxie is that when you shift manually when you get to drive there is no difference. The 2-3 shift is always done with the manual valve at the "D" position.
Now if I was running a car thru the gears manually I would tend to run it out a bit more in each gear and have the throttle open wider. This causes more govenor pressure from the road speed, more line pressure from the modulator seeing less vacumn and more line pressure from the pump spinning faster. The shift will be firmer if there is issues inside the tranny with leakage and adjustments.
Shifting automatically are the shift points quite low? Will the tranny shift harder if you lean on it harder shifting manually?

The shift points are about right they are too high or too low. The tranny will shift harder if I'm leaning on it in the automatic mode ie "D" but if I'm shifting manually and leaning on it I don't get that delay between 2 and 3, same goes if I'm not leaning on it and shifting manually no delay. Only when alowing the tranny to shift on its own do I get the delay between 2 & 3 weather I'm leaning on it or not.