The #1 killer of these transmissions is pressure loss, and the stock
filter tends to uncover when you launch hard. Lots of people run the
trans one quart over full, but a better solution is a deep pan and a
swap to the 700-R4 filter which picks up from the bottom instead of
the top like the stock filter.
Now Art Carr and PTS make deep pans but I had zero bucks to spend on this. I did, however, have a stock spare pan sitting around and a TIG that I need practice with...
I marked the bottom of the pan with a straight edge, taped along my mark,
and used a die grinder and cutoff wheel to make the cut.
After making the cut, I took a 1" wide strip of the same gauge sheet metal (cut with a shear) and bent it and tacked it around the opening. Getting the gaps even and lining up the pieces when you can't clamp them because of the complex shapes involved is a pain! I can see why Billet Fab and others get big bucks for this stuff.. and I'm not likely to be hired at any of these shops soon. :-) Here's the pan part way through the welding process, bolted to a spare trans case to keep it from warping.
I welded 80 cents worth of nut and allen head cap screw into the pan for
a drain, leak checked and fixed a couple of pinholes, and painted the
result. Now I have a deep pan that'll take the 700 filter and I saved
at least $170.
