[NiftySVX]

Messing with the resistor only changes line pressure under certain conditions, mainly low speed. If you really want to make a difference it has to be done with software or by modding the pump. It's a tradeoff though, I had a pump that boosted base line across the board by quite a lot but it bogged the motor down and the car got 16 MPG. What's more, it creates binding in the rear under certain conditions. Not really a problem but an annoyance.

Ditched that trans, went with a low mileage tested good pump (cleaned it up of course) and did a few things here and there in the valve body and got a setup that is pretty slick.

This trans has a nasty tendency to bang into 2 and 3 under light throttle conditions if you aren't careful. When I put a different resistor in mine and had the big daddy pump, it would shift so hard into 2 that it tore the little rubber domahicker that goes in the crossmember to secure the mount. It also destroyed my rear bushings.

IMHO and in my experience with these transmissions, messing with the dropping resistor isn't much good. The only real good mod like this a product made by one of our long time members, but if you build yourself a valve body you may not need it.

Even more, simply changing the accum springs will liven up the 4EAT quite a bit. I have a stock spring in my 1-2, a middle of the road spring in the one for 3rd shift, and a stiff spring in my band accumulator. This, along with a stock (ish) valve body and my trans shifts great. It is actually my favorite one I have ever done or had.

Totally a different boat than you though, as I don't plan to mod the engine for serious power.

I still have my level 10 high stall converter that I liked fairly well but it churned the fluid pretty seriously and required a substantial cooler to keep cool in aggressive driving. I am not using it in my current setup.

Somewhere I have the scope patterns and line pressure records for the dropping resistor delete, I will look them up and try and get them in this thread as they may be of interest to you.

We lost the guy who really knew about this stuff, but he is around. The other guys who were the guru's of the electronics side of the auto box are "retired".

Dig through some of the stuff on the forum and check it out, but honestly, the best way to learn about these is to fiddle with them and then put it in a car and see how you like it. It's not hard to drop the valve body and add some washers or springs, nor is it to actually rebuild the trans. Getting it out of the car and cleaning it is the worst part. Used/bad ones are basically free to anyone who pays shipping.

Many moons ago, I learned about these things by building and tinkering with one made of spare parts that I would pull in and out of a 94 Legacy FWD.

The number one most important thing about these transmissions is that you use the correct bearing in the high clutch and the correct shim at the pump. If you don't, it will seize the high clutch in short order.