here
http://roadraceengineering.com/blog/...ore-4169<br />and here
http://www.socalevo.net/index.php?op...topic=123881.0
I talk about how I blew my motor.
It was sad times but I was not ready to just throw my EVO in a gutter and go buy another.
Instead, I decided to keep building off the CT9A chassis and specifically my 2003 VIII because I like how raw it is (no ACD, no AYC, none of that kind of stuff...)
Right before I blew my motor, the last 2 track days I did, when things got hot, I would develop a slight 4th gear grind.Â* It wasn't hard to get in to 4th or out of 4th and I wasn't popping out or anything, it just grinded going in.Â* I knew it was a ticking clock to a transmission rebuild and I was just hoping to get some more track days in before the inevitable.
Meanwhile, I was researching places to get an EVO transmission rebuilt.Â* I did not like what I heard about other well known transmission shops.Â* I don't need to flame names here but one shop was getting pretty well known for rebuilt transmissions that grinded right out of the box.Â* I had also read that this particular shop has fought with customers whose transmissions came back with issues straight away.Â* The other main shop that I read about seemed to be well know but had deep communication issues, so when something went wrong, they were fairly difficult to get a hold of, or when things just needed to get done, they were painfully slow to the point where I found a lot of threads saying, "I sent you my stuff, WHERE IS IT!?"Â* My EVO is my daily, so I needed someone who could build my transmission perfectly and quickly.Â* Jack's Transmissions had all positive reviews online and their website is very informative.Â* http://www.jackstransmissions.com/Â* You can tell Jack is passionate about transmissions, which is something I deeply respect.Â* Any time I see someone that is really passionate about what they do, I am attracted to them.Â* It could be working as a janitor or ruling the world, it doesn't matter.Â* I have tons of respect for people who are good at what they do because they are passionate about what they do.
As I stated in other posts about this build, I needed to get my car back ASAP.Â* Jack's offers boxes for shipping to and from for a small (and worthwhile fee).Â* I got a box and shipped my transmission to them.Â* This was what took the most time.Â* Shipping the box to me, shipping the trans to them and them shipping the trans back all took about 4 working days each.Â* You could get expedited shipping but I was bleeding cash, so I needed to save where I could at that point.Â* In any case, when the transmission got to Jack's they got to work on the build right away.Â* There were no real issues with the build.Â* Everything was very straight forward.Â* They did the work quickly and got my transmission back to me right around the time my motor was done.
When I got the transmission back, similar to my experience with CBRD, I could not believe it was the same transmission RRE had taken out of the car.Â* It looked like a new item.Â* The heat coating made it look BETTER than new actually.
Once the transmission was back in the car and the break in period began, I felt like the transmission shifted better than before.Â* Unfortunately, I have no idea what a new EVO transmission feels like.Â* I have driven a bunch of VIIIs, IXs and Xs, so I know what used EVO transmissions feel like and I know they feel like shit.Â* However, with the Jack's rebuild, I felt the transmission was smoother and more buttery.Â* I sit in traffic for work about an hour to and an hour from work every day I go to work.Â* That is around 2 hours of drive time, in traffic for every day I work (driving from Pasadena to Woodland Hills and back).Â* With the Jack's performance rebuild, I felt like it was a lot more chill driving in traffic.
After the break in period was done, Dr. Gray tuned my car for 91 and E85.Â* After leaving on E85, I got to see how the transmission could handle 463hp and 461tq.Â* The transmission is as smooth as it was during the break in period on E85 with all the added HP and TQ.Â* After a full month with the transmission running on E85, I am still extremely happy with the performace rebuild and I highly recommend it to anyone with transmission or transfer case problems.
dealing with the people at Jack's, including Jack himself, was easy as pie and pleasurable.Â* They are SERIOUS about transmissions and it shows in the quality of their work.
http://www.jackstransmissions.com/
http://www.jackstransmissions.com/
http://www.jackstransmissions.com/
if you are in the process of writing a dictionary of car terms, here is the photo for the definition of CLEAN.