Finally got a chance to bolt up the converter, put in driveshaft, and Drove it for the first time last night! What a rush. No leaks no strange noises, good.
Shifts feel realllyyy good. I went .095" 2nd, .105" 3rd, and .125" 4th. Has a really nice 'spring' to it now, shifts feeling positive, it really needed this.
Thanks for all the help I really would have been lost without all the information you provide. The main reason I was able to get the trans apart and back together quickly was because I read all of your posts throughout the years, taking notes, and finally it came down to this.
"It's alot of work" is an understatement. I have around 100 hours of labor into my one transmission, and no major hold ups (no runs to the auto store or missing parts, I had everything ready). It was very time consuming just to clean every square unit area, I spent alot of time just sanding, washing, polishing scrubbing "finishing" surfaces, especially removing casting flaws from inside the case and protecting parts from rust. Putting it together to check end plays and then taking it apart again- without scratching or banging any of the parts around. Being sure every lube orifice was filed smooth from burrs and lined up and every bearing face correctly and each bushing is perfectly round and pressed level...
It is very easy to miss something. My hands are torn to shreds, top and bottom. I've worked on cars for 20 years and this is one of the worst hand-abusers I've ever encountered. Shaft splines soaked in ATF seems like it was made to pull skin apart... and I wore gloves through most of it. DIY ftw