late 1-2 shift at light throttle and none @ WOT

[longbedGTs]

At mid throttle, all shifts are nice and firm but at light throttle, the 1-2 shift occurs around 2800 which is a neck snapper. The 2-3 and 3-4 shifts are a little late but nothing major. At WOT, it won't go into 2nd gear and will just take a nosedive until I get off the throttle. It has an FTS 9.5" 3200 stall converter and I've read that this stall speed will sometimes cause higher shift points. Is this just the nature of this converter? Also have been reading about the governor. The trans was built by the previous owner, and I have no idea what was done and what wasn't. Does this sound like an issue with the governor springs or the converter coupling too late? Or...a combination of both? Thanks.

 

[77 cruiser]

Maybe your gov spring took a hike.

 

[longbedGTs]

Yep, that's what it was. I only found one spring though. Which side does it go on? It's non painted and 1 3/32" long. I'm guessing this is for the larger of the 2 weights...the one with the hole in it? I plan to pin the spring as suggested in the many threads. Does the other (smaller) weight use a spring? I'm doing as much reading as I can about this trying to understand. Sure wish the pictures were still up.

 

[longbedGTs]

Ok, after more reading, I'm more confused than ever. A youtube video from Steve V shows the spring on the small(WOT) weight. The thread detailing pinning the governor spring says to tap the hole on the small weight for an 8/32 nylon screw to retain the spring, but my governor doesn't have a hole on the small weight. It only has a hole on the large(part throttle) weight. Then, a reply from Bison in another thread says that the "GN governor should have a light weight and no spring on the light weight". Can anybody clear this up? Here are a couple pictures.

 

[mikestertwo]

The spring belongs under the light weight.

 

[77 cruiser]

The spring belongs under the light weight.

Yup.

 

[longbedGTs]

Got it pinned with an 8/32 nylon screw with red loctite. Shifts well now but 2-3 part throttle could come a little sooner(shifts at 2800ish). 3-4 is fine. WOT 1-2 occurs near redline and will noseover unless I'm at a little less than WOT, so I'll have to pull the governor back out and add some weight to it, or thoughts? 2-3 and 3-4 WOT are fine and pull hard. Amazing that something so small could make a night and day difference. FWIW, it has a 3200 stall and 3.70 gears. A post by David Husek said that this converter can sometimes blow through the shift points or something along those lines...so I wonder if that's what is happening on the 1-2 WOT shift.

 

[77 cruiser]

Pull the gov & put a metal screw in place of the nylon.