This thread was started on another forum and I wanted to share it with you guys here at SmokinVette.com. This thread will show you guys not only what we do here at FLT but give you guys an idea of what goes into a quality built transmission. The original thread started with a customer that came to our shop to pick up his new transmission and left with more than what he bargained for. Here is the original post from his thread with the tear down photo's of his transmission. http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/automatic-transmission/800809-flt-takes-wow-factor-lot-pics.html I will add to the thread with the rest of the build up material that I have. Enjoy the reading! Vince
This all started when I blew my tranny two weeks ago. I started researching my options and looking at the different sponsors as well as local builders. I had looked into one local guy that's supposed to be pretty good, but he wouldn't tell me what he used in his units. He just told me to pay up and I'd have a good tranny. Sorry, but I like to know what I'm paying for.
Enter Vince at FLT. From the beginning, he's taken time out of his schedule to answer all my questions and respond to all my concerns about these trannies. I've made numerous phone calls and he always answers or gets back to me within hours. And of course their 10% off sale was the icing on the cake. So I made arrangements to pick up my new tranny and drop off my old one since I'd be in the area.
Enter wow factor!! I arrived when they opened this past Tuesday morning and got to meet both Vince and Chuck. They had my new tranny warming up on their dyno, so while we were waiting they took me around the shop and showed me everything! They showed me where they do their machine work, where they keep all the new parts, they even showed me their performance components compared to stock components. I was blown away. They showed me everything that went in to my tranny. I looked at the web page, and they don't list half the goodies that these trannies get.
Enter dyno time! That machine is amazing. They showed me how they can adjust line pressure, then ran my tranny through shift cycle three separate times at low throttle, half throttle and full throttle. It was really neat to see it shifting when he commanded it to. Very smooth and lightning fast!
After all this, I was feeling very good about my purchase and thinking this is as good as it gets. Wrong.....Vince offered to tear apart my old tranny so we could see how it failed! I couldn't believe this. In about ten minutes time, he had pulled it apart and inspected every nook and cranny. He showed me typical failure points and what they do to improve on them. He told me my old tranny failed basically because of improper assembly. Not being familiar with internal tranny parts, hopefully Vince will chime in and explain it better than I did. He showed me the failure area and it made perfect sense, but I can't remember all the jargon :emb:. I got to see a unit that's in for a refresh that has 4 years and ~650 horsepower on it. The internals looked pretty **** new to my untrained eye. Vince showed me some components that were worn, but they all looked way better than my old tranny internals.....and my old tranny went in this past January.
In conclusion, I got to spend 2 hours with Vince and Chuck and see one of the neatest operations I've ever seen. Those guys take their trannies very seriously and it shows. I've never been treated like that as a customer and I must say it has left a lasting impression. I wish I had bought from them a long time ago. My wife was with me, and normally she could care less about this stuff, but Vince sparked her interest and answered all her questions too. She was almost as excited as me when we left. It was an awesome experience and FLT has nailed it with their customer service. I'll post a review once the tranny is in, but after seeing it on the dyno I can already tell it's going to perform flawlessly.
My hats off to both Chuck and Vince. You have quite an operation and it's pretty obvious to me now why so many claim you are the best in the business. Thank you both so much for an amazing and very educational experience. I'll be in touch! Here's all the pictures I took.