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View Full Version : Level II Trans. and Cooling Upgrade



greyghost
02-07-2004, 07:22 AM
I got home late last night from "Reinhart Performance Automotive" with the GreyGhost after a 400 mi run with the new Level II transmission and the updated cooling mod. Life is Good, the car ran great

First the Level II Trans. Shift points nice and crisp during normal driving. When you put it in reverse you have reverse, no major time delay, it drops right in. Trans. temperature never went above 150 F. The cooler is impressive and it completely relieves the radiator to take care of the engine. When you accelerate hard the trans is the way I want it, no wasted energy. before the upgrade when it shifted you could feel the clutches not releasing properly, especially on the 1-2 shift, the car use to feel like it was slowing down when it shifted now it justs barks the tires and keeps on going. The 2800 stall converter really help the acceleration also.

The cooling mod is interesting in that I actually saw overall temp decrease also. My temp needle with the 180 F thermostat points directly at the 20 mph graduation on the speedometer. Now it points at about 18.4 mph. I don't know exactly how much that is but the heads are now more uniformly cooled and overall temp came down a bit. This may also be from the elimination of the radiator trans cooling.

I also decide to get the SCT (Super Chips Tuner). Dennis had put a flash into my computer but with the SCT I will be able to make addition mods to the car and dyno it in Atlanta, send him the results, he can make the changes to my program and email the file to me, I will down load it into the tuner and then I can upload it into the car. Wow, modern technology is fantastic.

Anyway Dennis was his normal great entertaining self. The transmission people got their wires crossed in the shop and didn't get the mods done for me to leave on Thursday so I stayed at Dennis's house Thursday night. We went out to supper and on the way home we were traveling down the Blvd in his Blue Marauder minding our own business when this car pulled up next to us and started gunning their engine and baiting Dennis to run. Now we were all mellow from supper and tried to ignore this car but he was really being obnoxious. Well, Dennis dropped the hammer on him and it was amazing what a Stage I Marauder will do with 4 adults, 5000 lb car, will do. The only problem was that Orange Park's finest was sitting in a shoppoing center parking lot and the radar detectctor went off just as we hit 3rd gear. We slowed down and the patrolman went past us and pulled over the other car then signaled us to pull over. Dennis being the emmisary of good will that he is immediately stopped and got out of the car and went back to see the officers. The one officer new Dennis as he does some work for the police Department. Now this is really the hilarious part, Dennis explained how the other car had baited us and that we were just trying to get away from them and all that uh, nonsense?? Well, then the officer went over to the other driver and asked what his story was. He told the officer that he had been baiting Dennis and that he started the whole thing. The oFficer turned to Dennis and said "You can go Mr. Reinhart". You didn't need to tell Dennis twice and we were out of there. Sheila, Lonnie and I couldn't belive it when Dennis got back in the car. It was a great evening with great company.

TAF
02-07-2004, 08:47 AM
Congrats Barry!!!:up:

I'm envious...will testdrives be available on the 21st to feel the shifts?

Zack
02-07-2004, 08:55 AM
Great Post Barry. I just finished tyhe cooling mod myself, but the car is not 'back together' just yet.
And so you and everyone else knows, the trans and PS system share a fluid cooler completely seperate from the radiator.

greyghost
02-07-2004, 09:46 AM
Congrats Barry!!!:up:

I'm envious...will testdrives be available on the 21st to feel the shifts?
For you yes!! Others, could be:-), we will see

greyghost
02-07-2004, 10:02 AM
Great Post Barry. I just finished tyhe cooling mod myself, but the car is not 'back together' just yet.
And so you and everyone else knows, the trans and PS system share a fluid cooler completely seperate from the radiator.
Duh, I need to get a factory manual and just go out and look at the car.

If you haven't put the tranny back in or even if you have I recommend you stop and do an immediated pressure test on the coolant system to make sure there are no leaks in an unaccessible area. Especially where the oring coolant adapters fit in the heads. Other than that Rock on!!

Fahad_H
02-08-2004, 06:46 AM
Isn't the level 2 upgrades a little harsh for N/A Marauder ?

greyghost
02-08-2004, 09:57 AM
Isn't the level 2 upgrades a little harsh for N/A Marauder ?
1-2 slams pretty hard. If you learn to feather the throttle its not bad. I eventually plan on going with a built motor and S/C at 550-600 RWHP and I didn't want to go back into the gearbox other that to possible change TCs. Other than that it's great!!

It will be great at the track, I lose a lot of time on the 1-2 shift because of wheel spin. I am going to drop the tire pressure to around 20 psi and see if it hooks up any better in a straight line. I am stiil looking at other tires besides the BFGs but am not happy with the dimensions. Any suggestions??

Fahad_H
02-08-2004, 11:11 AM
Do you recomend the Level 2 upgrades for N/A Marauders and 300HP Crown Vic ?

Or should I just go with Level 1 ?


Thanks,

greyghost
02-08-2004, 11:23 AM
Do you recomend the Level 2 upgrades for N/A Marauders and 300HP Crown Vic ?

Or should I just go with Level 1 ?


Thanks,
It's really a personal choice.

If I was pushing a panther car with 300 RWHP I would do a Level II.

A lot of folks would say that is overkill but, I push my equipment hard and I like bullet proof stuff. That way I only do the rebuild once and as long as I do my preventative maintenance It will be trouble free. I will probably own my MM 6-10 years and it will be a project the whole time i own it.

SergntMac
02-08-2004, 11:35 AM
I am going to drop the tire pressure to around 20 psi and see if it hooks up any better in a straight line. I am stiil looking at other tires besides the BFGs but am not happy with the dimensions. Any suggestions??

Yep. Pirelli P-Zero Assymetrico. Great tires, stick like glue.

I have a pair in "cheater slick" status, 255/50/18, 4/32 tread depth left, run them at 25 PSI. They gave me my lowest ET last season, with a 1.86 0-60 time. This is on a blower car, for your purposes, great place to start. You can have them for free, just pay shipping, 40 bucks each.

I have three sets available, and one set of smoker tires for those fun shows. 255/45/18, inside tread 2/'32, outside tread 7/32, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. All free, just pay shipping. SergntMac@aol.com

67435animal
02-08-2004, 02:20 PM
Barry, thank you for letting me drive the greybeast (formerly the ghost). I especially love the shift and tire chirp between 1st and 2nd. BTW, I checked my rear tires today and I am starting to wear quickly in the middle of the rears. I'm lowering the pressure.

Thanks and see ya on the 21st.

Bob

Fahad_H
02-08-2004, 02:51 PM
It's really a personal choice.

If I was pushing a panther car with 300 RWHP I would do a Level II.

A lot of folks would say that is overkill but, I push my equipment hard and I like bullet proof stuff. That way I only do the rebuild once and as long as I do my preventative maintenance It will be trouble free. I will probably own my MM 6-10 years and it will be a project the whole time i own it.
Thanks for the info, I'll think about it.