c4 rebuild

[LJDB 103]

I recently got my hands on a C4 and 250 xflow cheap as the motor was rooted. I was only after the trans anyway for my Cortina. So after a bit of googling and searches I decided to strip and inspect it and hopefully build it up to suit my corty.

The id tag says PEE AW8 E24C

                         D8FP RA

Its a case fill and has 26/24 input shaft with a B servo and vent in extension housing?

So I pulled it down and found new oil and a pretty clean pan with slight metallic colouring in the bottom.

I didn't measure end float as I didn't realise it was important until after googling.

So this is what I found. The front band is genuine and looks worn with pitting and cracks but still material. The rear band look very good with plenty on material left and possibly not very old. The thrust bearings and bushes show slight wear but nothing to serious and everything looks in pretty good order.

The clutches say Alto usa on them and it has 5 Frictions in the forward clutch and 4 in the rev/high clutch. The clearances seem alittle odd with .020 in the forward and +0.060 in the rev/high. I pulled the clutches apart and found all to look good. 

The forward clutch had 4 smooth frictions at .062 each and 1 cross hatched at .079 with a .217 pressure plate and .261 lower p/p.

The Rev/High had 3 cross hatched frictions at .079 and 1 smooth at .062 with the same sized pressure plate at .217 both snap rings are .065

So I swapped all the smooth to the forward clutch and cross hatched to the rev/high and clearances are now forward .038 and rev .065.

 

So what's the best way to approach rebuilding this trans and what sort of hp could it handle with alittle love and freshen up.

Ive read about oil mods that don't seem to difficult and would it be worth adding a extra clutch to the rev/high.
Id also look at adding a Transco stage 2 kit to the valve body or similar and convertor to suit.

Keep in mind the car is never going to be a power house but does get driven in anger from time to time and will probably see the track at some stage.

Something that can be left in D for cruises but respond when manually shifted ect.
Te Cortina 250 xflow with the usual mods, cam, carb, compression and 3.7s

 

    

 

 

 

 

[gregaust 319]

Sounds like it had had a rebuild . Someone has mixed up the clutches trying to get clearances obviously. 

 

A couple O/S steels that are .092 would get you not too bad . .065 is bit much in the high /reverse , some older factory specs were .050-.070" but no one runs that loose . On 4 frictions i'd be going a max of .040" . 4 will likely do fine , of course 5 would be better but takes  a bit of work , there's a few ways around that 

If the front band looks ok it could be reused , best way to check is let it relax and open itself up some , look for fine cracks in the friction material .

The 40-2 kit will work nicely , there's a couple options on setup , usually depending on what converter is used etc is how to set that 

[LJDB 103]

Cheers Gregaust. Your name came up heaps while searching other sites about c4's. How much punishment will a stock c4 take with just a freshen up as above. Il probably change the band and set all the clearances while its apart. Is there anything I should be looking out for that's a common issue?

Also how will the box go without a kickdown cable and is one needed. Id like to use a standard shifter as all the interior is standard and in vgc. There also seemed to be a lot of info on the servos, Will the B servos be ok. As most people id like to build it strong but not blow the budget. Thanks

[gregaust 319]

It will do fine with the rebuild and shift kit .

Definitely replace the front band , it sees a lot of work . The B servo is ok , fairly small on the apply though. If you can get a hold of an R is nicer or an A will increase apply pressure on the band .

Always replace pump bush and extension bush as they wear the most . The rest as required . Same for thrust washers .

 

Pay very close attention to the front planet set . A lot of them now are worn out .

 

You can get by without the kickdown ok . The standard shifters are great , get a bush set for it and they are then nice and firm