PTS Trans

[vince87t]

I have a basic 12 sec recipe car. The 1-2 shift went out while driving around town in September and I called my trans guy (20 years GM trans experience and runs LOW 9'S in a 1980 Chevy Monza that he built himself). I have used him for my other cars with NO problems ever. He said that he would rebuild it with "the best parts he could find". Got it back with a very sloppy 1-2 shift. Called my guy and we adjusted the TV cable but no luck. On the way home (40 miles on trans) no 1-2 shift! To the guy's credit he made no excuses and rebuilt it again with a "super servo and a TCI kevlar band", no charge. 60 miles after that, no 1-2 shift again. My guy again made no excuses and refunded ALL of my $$$. He was upset that the car had "beat him". I was upset that my car had no trans.

I got on this board and found PTS. I called and spoke to Bruce there and he offered to help my guy out with anything he needed even though I had not bought anything from him and (since I live about 3,000+ miles away) I wasn't about to drive my car to him. After checking out PTS's website I called back and reluctantly spent the dough for an entire trans from PTS. The trans was not cheap but I felt it was cheaper than experimenting with another trans shop that probably would not have been nearly as cool as mine if it broke again (as it would have). Bruce asked some questions about my car and what I wanted. He then promised the trans by November.

The trans arrived at my guy's shop the first week of November. In a tremendous show of what a good local shop is worth, the guy insisted on installing it for free (including a reman stock converter!) due to my trouble with the first two trans failing! Upon opening the custom built shipping crate (pretty nice itself) my guy immediately noticed the billet pan. He said it "looked like a work of art"! He also noticed the test report with all the line pressure readings and was impressed with how they looked also. Looks are one thing but "Does it work?" was still on my mind.

I picked the car up two days later with much anxiety over the problem of "What if it fails again?". I noticed right away the much improved WOT 1-2 shift and the firm shifts at part throttle. I can say that I am happy with the PTS trans so far and I am also very impressed with the excellent attitude of the PTS techs whenever I call. My mechanic drove the car and said he knows what to do the next time a modified turbo Regal comes in. Call PTS and tell the customer what it costs.

I will keep the board updated as to the survival of the trans. The car will be in the garage for the winter so I wont get to drive it much more til spring '02. Until then, anyone that wants to e-mail me about my experience can do so at "vince87t@home.com".

Thanks to PTS and Mike Hesidence at AAA Automotive in Pittsburgh PA (STILL my mechanic) my T is back on the road and waiting for the spring! Vince

 

[vince87t]

Does anyone else here have a PTS trans in for any length of time? Is my good first impression of them correct? Thanks, Vince

 

[WE4]

Time will tell. But I'll bet the 100,000th shift is as nice as the first

I have no worries heheheheheh



Bruce
WE4
www.PTSnctb.com

 

[Ed Valvo]

My PTS trans will be going on its 4th year. This is w/o the billet parts because they were not available back then. The trans shifts just a firm as the day it was installed. I remember the day Bruce and I took it out on his test road.

The 9/11 convertor and PTS trans have worked flawless for me.

 

[Dean]

Vince, first, I have to give kudos to your local guy. There are many in this world who would have claimed you were beating on it and broke it yourself. A full refund after the second one AND free installation of the PTS tranny? WOW!! The world would do well with more people displaying that level of morals.

On to PTS... I have found the same great service with Bruce & the folks that work for him. He did me a great service a couple of years ago (Dec. '99) when he built a tranny for me by having his guys there during what would have been their vacation to do the R&R in my car. He did this to save me an extra 6 hours of driving back and forth to his shop for a typical "drop off one day and come back another" scenario. I told him my intended use and he built a very well suited trans that I am happy with.

I have not made as many track passes as I would hope to by now, but I have been known to drive in a "spirited fashion" on the street and the trans has taken all I have sent it so far. My last track outing was in Oct '00 for a series of 12.7 @ 105 passes on an 18* street chip with 19 psi from the TA49. A couple months later I upped the power by honing my tuning abilities and switching to a 22* Extender chip, adding 4-6* (depending on the weather) with the Translator, and pushing ~22 psi. 7,000 miles later with probably over 100 WOT 1-2 shifts & 25 2-3 shifts it still hits as strong as the day I bought it.

I was talking with a friend of mine a few weeks ago who has a very similar build up to mine (except a different governor, I believe). He mentioned he noticed a little flare in the shifts occasionally. After talking a bit he realized he had well over 200 passes in his 11.7 * 118 car, PLUS whatever "test drives" had occurred. We concluded that a simple filter/fluid change may be in order. I spoke with him again several days later and the problem was gone after the filter/fluid change. Good as new. That's a pretty good testament. Maybe he will see this thread and speak up for himself too.

Anyhoot, I'm dang happy with it, so much so that I recently authorized Bruce to perform more of a "stock rebuild" of my original trans that he had swapped out and has been storing for me for 2 years now. Not that I am expecting anything to suddenly die with the one he already built, but some day it will need freshening up and I want to be able to keep my Buick on the road.

I think you made a fine choice and hope you are as satisfied as I have been.

ps: No, this is not a paid for endorsement. I feel that if someone has done you right you need to express your satisfaction, just like if someone has done you wrong, you should... hehehe

 

[Dean]

Whoop! There's my friend. He isn't quite as wordy as me. hehe

Hi Ed!

 

[Sborel]

I have a PTS trans and i can say that Bruce goes all out on trying make the 2004r live. I know not every trans. builder is successful 100% of the time on the first build.(i've experienced this, and seen failures of "fresh transmissions" at the track) My PTS trans has been apart a few times and i "have been taken care of" by PTS. He does stand behind his work! Considering what i know now of these trans. and what goes into a "performance trans" it was worth the $$$$. My trans. shifts firm on every shift with no flare. My car has approx. 35 1/4 passes of 11 & low 12 second passes. It was originally built nov 98'.


Steven
86' GN 11.62@114.7
PTe-44,eastern FM, BG dots, SMC kit,009, & reds 100 e-prom

 

[Mark E.]

I have a kick ass trans built by Bruce. I think it has most of his tricks. I drive the car all the time and I drive it hard all the time. I did have a problem with the second gear band, but with his new band and retainer, I don't see any further problems. Bruce would have repaired it set up the same for free, but I paid for the upgrades and am very pleased. It was about 2 years after he had built it. Bruce will get the job when the trans in my wife's GN finally goes. In fact, if I had not met Bruce, I am sure I would still be hating having a turbo-350 in my hot rod. If you can't tell, I am one very happy customer.