[beanious]

Happy Halloween all, I just wanted to give everyone an update with my transmission and how it's been going. I'm going to try to document what I have learned and experienced in order to help out others who may want to use a governor calibration kit in the future.

After finishing up the transmission install I noticed that the shift points were pretty low and it wasn't the best for performance. I know the stock 700R4 is a fuel economy transmission, but it was killing me. The way I see it these trucks get bad gas mileage anyway, if you want a prius, get a prius. I'm sure that my combo didn't help the low speed shifts either.

SBC 350, 700R4, 1800 stall, 4.11 gears, 35" tires.

I bought a Corvette governor to use as a spare and a governor calibration kit (B&M PN. 20248). The corvette governor was just in case there was an issue with my stock governor, there wasn't in the end but I stuck with the corvette governor since it was new.

Transmission shift points are the results of several factors, engine hp-tq, torque converter stall, differential ratios, tire size and of course governor weights and springs. The more similar the easier it is to duplicate my results with the same weights and springs.

As far as shift points are concerned there are cruise shift and WOT shift points, both are adjustable with the kit. The kit allows you to change the shift points, but it is a global change meaning when you make a change it effects shift points for all gears. In order to change a single gear shift point the springs in the valve body have to be changed. These single gear springs are not included in the kit.

My goal was to get it so that it was comfortable for driving on the street. Since I'm not ever going to be racing the truck I was primarily concerned with the cruise shift points. That had the greatest effect for drivability, plus one of the benefits of a 700R4 is that with the TV cable it varies the shift points. If you want to shift a little earlier at the moment, just let off the gas for a second and it will immediately shift.

Some things I've learned are:
You want to match up the heavy weights and strong springs, light weights and soft springs.
Adjusting the inner weights will change both the WOT shift points and the cruise points, but the springs will only change the cruise shift points.
The transmission cover will take 30-60 min to remove the first time, clean out the RTV and any mess. Replace the round gasket on the cover and install the clip. The clip is important because without RTV and the frequent removal-installation it can leak or even worse the cap pop off.
After a few adjustments I got the removal, modification and installation time down to 15 minutes.
Trucks are much easier to make the adjustments to, as I could just crawl under instead of having to lift the vehicle.
Let the transmission cool down after a drive, the fluid can be extremely hot (200 deg. F+), getting burned sucks.
If you run the vehicle for 15 seconds and shutfown the torque converter will fill up from the pan resulting in very little fluid being lost when the cap is removed.

So below are the specs on the changes I made and the results I encountered. I weighed all the parts with a postal scale in be as accurate as possible. I ended up making 6 changes until I found an adjustment I liked.
With shift points it's more of a personal preference thing than anything else, see below for the results.

Stock 700R4 Governor:
Outer weights: 40G ea.
Heavier inner weight: 15G
Lighter inner weight: 15G
Heavier spring: Grey (stock)
Lighter spring: White (stock)
Cruise 1-2: 13 MPH
Cruise 2-3: 17 MPH
Cruise 3-4: 34 MPH

Corvette 700R4 Governor 1:
Outer weights: 40G ea.
Heavier inner weight: 11G
Lighter inner weight: 11G
Heavier spring: Grey (stock)
Lighter spring: White (stock)
Cruise 1-2: 14 MPH
Cruise 2-3: 22 MPH
Cruise 3-4: 44 MPH

Corvette 700R4 Governor 2:
Outer weights: 40G ea.
Heavier inner weight: 10.5G #3
Lighter inner weight: 7G #4
Heavier spring: Grey (stock)
Lighter spring: White (stock)
Cruise 1-2: 15 MPH
Cruise 2-3: 27 MPH
Cruise 3-4: 70 MPH

Corvette 700R4 Governor 3:
Outer weights: 40G ea.
Heavier inner weight: 11G Stock
Lighter inner weight: 7G #4
Heavier spring: Blue
Lighter spring: Orange
Cruise 1-2: 13 MPH
Cruise 2-3: 33 MPH
Cruise 3-4: 65 MPH

Corvette 700R4 Governor 4:
Outer weights: 40G ea.
Heavier inner weight: 11G Stock
Lighter inner weight: 10.5 G #3
Heavier spring: Blue
Lighter spring: Orange
Cruise 1-2: 14 MPH
Cruise 2-3: 33 MPH
Cruise 3-4: 60 MPH

Corvette 700R4 Governor 5:
Outer weights: 40G ea.
Heavier inner weight: 13.5G #2
Lighter inner weight: 11G Stock
Heavier spring: Blue
Lighter spring: Orange
Cruise 1-2: 13 MPH
Cruise 2-3: 28 MPH
Cruise 3-4: 56 MPH