Build thread for rebuilding the 6L80

[Posidon42]

I am trying my hand at rebuilding my 6L80 and so far it is going well. I setup a time lapse camera in the garage so I don't have to get my camera dirty taking pictures. I disassembled most of the major components last night. Had to head out to Harbor Freight to pick up a dial indicator to measure the clutch clearance. Anyway, here are some pics, hope this helps someone.

trans20110916210735.jpg - Getting Started. Bought a large rubbermaid pan at Target to help save the garage floor.
trans20110916211033.jpg - RTFM!!
trans20110916213531.jpg - Taking off the pan. After reading through the manual, I determined there shouldn't be a need to take off the rear housing as I am not doing a complete rebuild. Just replacing the clutches.
trans20110916213945.jpg - Pan off. Quite a bit of residue in here...
trans20110916214027.jpg - More sludge
trans20110916214055.jpg - Even more sludge
trans20110916214135.jpg - Removed the filter. I didn't post any pictures of removing the electrical connector, but the manual is pretty clear you don't want to mess that thing up.
trans20110916214351.jpg - The special torx bit needed to take the valve body off. Only have to remove 6 bolts if you are just taking it off. It comes off as a component and I am NOT going to take it apart.
trans20110916214849.jpg - Valve Body
trans20110916220929.jpg - Taking the bellhousing off. It would have helped a LOT here to have the holding fixture. Ended up strapping it to the shelf where my video camera is mounted and had the wife help pull the actual housing off.


Since I have had some questions, here are all the parts that come with the kit:

Alto PowerPack clutch kits for the 3-5-R & 4-5-6
Rybestos Stg 1 Clutch kit for the 2-6
Selective snap rings for 3-5-R & 4-5-6 clutch drums
Our Reinforced clutch hub kit (2 hubs) ($100 core charge on each hub that is refunded upon return)
Billet Intermediate Shaft w/4-5-6 hub
Corvette/Camaro OEM deep pan (G-8's come with a very shallow pan) Vette pan clearance is still higher than headers.
High-flow filter
Pump stator ring kit
Pump housing o-ring
Cooler line gasket
New TCC o-ring for input shaft

[Posidon42]

Some more pics.

trans20110916221311.jpg - Removing the 4-5-6 Clutch housing and 3-5-R clutch drum assembly
trans20110916221315.jpg - Housing removed
trans20110916221345.jpg - Housing being disassembled
trans20110916222319.jpg - removing the 2-6 and 3-5-R clutch hub and shaft assembly
trans20110916231554.jpg - Using the biggest set of snap ring pliers I have ever seen. Buying this and the required adapters was about 1/8 of the cost of the entire rebuild. Funny thing is it took me longer to assemble the tool than to remove the center support to case retaining snap ring.
trans20110916231600.jpg - view of the snap ring coming out
trans20110916232040.jpg - shot of all the parts
trans20110916233222.jpg - removed the center support assembly. Instead of pulling it out from the top (it was pretty heavy), I just laid it on the side and it pretty much fell out. I forgot about the other clamp tool I bought so this won't be a problem when I put it back together.

[Posidon42]

Going to start soaking the clutches so I can put it all back together. Circle-D built this trans about a year ago and some of the improvements to the clutch hub assemblies and the intermediate shaft (output carrier shaft-4/5/6 hub). They welded the snap ring on the shaft and did some reinforcement welding on the hubs where they can fail. Not the prettiest welding but it might hold up. Going to send some pics to Mike at Century and see if their reinforcement (which comes with the cost of the kit) will make it any better of if I should just reinstall what is already done. More rebuild pics coming later tonight.

[thebeast]

very daring. nice job

[hartigan85]

Is this your first automatic transmission rebuild? I remember my first was a ford C4 from a 66 mustang, was scared shitless but in the end I realized it was a lot simpler then I had expected. I will be doing this eventually just because I can't stand paying people thousands of dollar for something I can do myself. Do you have any part numbers for the special tools required for the 6L80E?

[scar1990]

You are me hero!

[Posidon42]

Yes, this is the first rebuild I have done. However, I am a mechanical engineer and feel pretty good about the process. As for the tools, here is what I ordered:

6L80 tech manual

Minimum special tools you'll need:
6L80 valve body bolt socket (you can make one with a 4l60 bell housing bolt, double-nutted) - bought mine directly from Snap-on, part # FLEPL100
J 45126 Snap ring pliers & DT 47773 adaptor kit (to remove huge center support to case retaining snap ring)
DT 47781 3-5-R drum installer (not totally required, but makes drum install very-very much easier!)

[locrzn#92]

Cool thread and good luck, hope it turns out well.

[Kermit]

Wow, crazy stuff! Never done a transmission before. Why are you rebuilding it?

[polo]

Awesome, man. Thanks for posting this. I can't wait to see the end results, and I'm hoping that you're able to rebuild it successfully!