Drewster67

Steve - where are you at with the Valve Body?. The reason I ask is that my 84 has developed a 3rd to 4th up shift slip wich is also becoming steadily worse. According to the PO, the valve body has already been modified so, I'm thinking it's almost at it's end. Any luck w/a local shop?

Also, what is entailed in swapping out the valve body?. Complete R/R or in car install.

TIA

T_MaX

I too am interested in your Valve Body mod., please give us an update when you get a chance.

For me the below are as important if not just a bit ahead of the first gear start modification.

"The shift valve springs are changed to extend the shift points."


The added benefit of the modified valve body fixes in most cases the 3rd to 4th up shift slip and the delay engagement from park to drive,

____________________________________________________

Drew, the valve body change can be done with trans in the car.

Zandramus

Drew,
I can tell you that after installing my brothers transmission with the first gear start in it, just rebuilt by Steve, That this is an Awesome modification. The car really jumps off the line, I still have some adjustments to make now in shift firmness and kickdown but if you are looking to change the way your shark takes off this is the way to go. My brother could better explain it as I am usually driving a 3 speed and I am used to my shiftpoints at 60 and 105 under WOT, but my brother seems to like it very much.

I was seeing his shiftpoints as follows Under moderate throttle
1-2 4500rpm
2-3 4500rpm
3-4 just after 2-3 cause I have to get my foot out of it at this point cause I was going 90 in a 35 lol

I need to get back under it and retorque all the suspension bolts now that we have driven it, also I need to loosen the kickdown cable as it will jump right down a gear now as soon as you apply just a little pedal. So I am going to work on getting the shift points a little higher under WOT and a little lower under light throttle.

Great Modification Steve C.

Z

Steve Cattaneo

Steve,

At this time the 1st gear start / recalibrated valve bodies are only offered with my rebuilt transmissions. The reasoning being it’s consuming too much of my time, as a transmission shop owner, head rebuilding and putting up a new building, time is at a premium. By this summer I will be ready to offer them again with a 2nd to 1st down shift modification.


Your 89 transmission assuming, it is the original, has a 2150RPM stall speed converter, how does the car feel on take off? I do offer higher stall speeds torque converters. The optimal stall is one that allows the car to launch at or slightly lower then the engines pike torque. You can check your converters stall by doing the following test.


The most accurate method for determining actual stall speed on a car is to launch the vehicle at full throttle, and note the rpm at which the car actually takes off (requires a partner watching the tach).




In choosing the right stall speed the weight of the car, rear ratio, engine torque and cam profile are factors.


Drew, T Max. You guys are on the top of my list for the valve body.

Hi, Jim,

I am glad your brother likes the way that transmission operates.



Drew,
If these shops can not help you let me know, I will




Aa Automatic Transmissions
Jerry Chase
4570 E Irvington Rd
Tucson, AZ 85714-2121
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AAA Transmission
Martin Johnson
1146 E Jimmie Kerr
Casa Grande, AZ 85222-5008
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Aastro Transmission
James Marshall
8150 E 22nd St
Tucson, AZ 85710-8554
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Aastro Transmission
James Marshall
5302 E Speedway
Tucson, AZ 85712
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Aastro Transmission
James Marshall
4443 W Ina Rd
Tucson, AZ 85741-2207
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Aastro Transmission
James Marshall
1401 W Valencia Rd
Tucson, AZ 85746-6036
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Action Transmission
Don Oran
2190 Hwy 95
Bullhead City, AZ 86442-6001
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Adolph's Automatic Transmission
Adolph Determann
6626 W Glendale Ave
Glendale, AZ 85301-2344
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Eric J. Ali
2070 E Apache Blvd
Tempe, AZ 85281-4849
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Atlas Transmission
Tony Izzo
2380 W Wetmore Rd
Tucson, AZ 85705
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Philip R. Briggs
4120 E Washington St
Phoenix, AZ 85034-1892
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Tim Prentice
124 E Beale St
Kingman, AZ 86401-5828
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William Hutto
4657 E 1st St
Tucson, AZ 85711-1101
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Scott Adams
2814 S 1st Ave
Safford, AZ 85546-2218
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Certified Transmissions Inc
Michael Pfeiffer
1089 Iron Springs Rd
Prescott, AZ 86305-1621
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Michael VanLoo
3902 S Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85040-1018
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Denny's Transmission
Michael VanLoo
12614 N Cave Creek Rd Ste 102
Phoenix, AZ 85022-5860
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Desert Transmission
Jim Szafranski
1009 Grand Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2513
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George's Automatic Transmission
George Banghart
3720 E Hardy Dr
Tucson, AZ 85716-1497
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Grant's Transmission
Fred Hammer
215 W Broadway Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85041-2494
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Hometown Trans & Auto Rpr
Bruce Napier
935 Haining St
Prescott, AZ 86305-1615
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Interstate Transmission
Bud Gibbons
1680 Acoma Blvd W Ste E
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403-2812
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Kermit's Certified Transm
Kermit Glenn
2425 Northern Ave
Kingman, AZ 86401-2601
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P & D Transmissions & Differentials Inc
Paul J. Henry, Jr.
8708 W Thunderbird Rd Ste 3
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Performance Transmission Inc
Dillard Edwards
7740 N 68th Ave #1
Glendale, AZ 85303-1326
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112 N 5th St
Sierra Vista, AZ 85635-1902
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221 S McClintock Dr
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615 Navajo Blvd
Holbrook, AZ 86025-2642
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Southwest Transmission
Russ Adams
1318 E White Mountain Blvd
Pinetop, AZ 85935-7020
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2540 E Bell Rd
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2330 W Glendale Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85021-7671
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Norman Lane
8135 NW Grand Ave
Peoria, AZ 85345-6567
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Jerry Davidson/ Greg Davidson
6116 W Northern Ave
Glendale, AZ 85301-1227
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David Sharrar
4701 E Gila Ridge Rd
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Roopa Syed / Delta Enterprises
2855 S Alma School Rd #107
Mesa, AZ 85210-4030
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Randy Montgomery
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Mesa, AZ 85201-5819
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1050 S Euclid Ave
Tucson, AZ 85719-6630
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Michael Young / Leon Bouchy
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Tempe, AZ 85281-2208
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bcdavis

Damn!
I wish I knew about your stuff back when I had my transmission out of my car, being rebuilt!
I would have sent it to you...

Oh well.
When you offer the valve body mod as a kit, I'll be happy to buy one.

pappy92651

Hello Steve,

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this. I understand your need to focus on business. Without it you could not continue to offer your services.

My car has the original transmission and converter. It launches with slight wheel spin up to 25 MPH and then gains traction dropping the RPM from 3000 to 2200 in 1st. A big increase in stall speed would probably be a bad thing, perhaps ~2500 to 3000 RPM. Peak torque comes at about 4500 - 5000 RPM with the GT cams indexed as they are. Yes, I changed the S4 cams out with GT cams. Lots of high RPM torque but nothing below 4000. Perfect for the track but not ideal for daily driving. Peak HP is at 6200 RPM = 336 RWHP.

I will run a few more tests and try to identify the stall speed per your instructions. I believe that my car could definitely benefit from a higher stall speed.

Sincerely,
Steve Pappin

Drewster67

Steve -

WOW!, I think I have enough to choose from.

Thanks

Gary K.

Steve,

I wrote to you shortly after you posted the 1st gear start valve body "kit" originally. I am still interested, whenever you have one available as a kit rather than full rebuild. Please put/keep my name on the list.
Thanks

Gary Knox ( e-mail is: kittyandgary@ccis.net )

G8RB8

Has anyone done this lately? Is it still available? Cost? Reliability? Performance?

alabbasi

An outfit called bergwerks made first gear start modules for MB 722.3 transmissions, but I don't think they're in business anymore.

This fellow, who's active on Benzworld R107 made his own first gear start module. I expect that as the 928 has the same transmission , it will probably work for the 928.

Good luck!

G8RB8

I think to do it properly you need to modify the valve body. I was hoping for GB to chime in.
How much would this be worth? I know the difference in my car when starting off in 2nd position (first gear to redline or "row to shift") would be worth quite a lot to me.

Gary Knox

I'm pretty sure the MB R107 ('70's and 80's 450/380/560 SL's) has a different transmission than the 4 speed automatic in the 928 (perhaps MB did put a 4 speed in the later 560's). I'm 99% sure the 928 trans is the same as in the MB 126 chassis. (80's 560 SEL, 560 SEC, etc.), which has a 4 speed automatic, and more powerful engines. I've had both of these MB models, and 4 928 autos. The early 107 chassis had a 3 speed auto.

Gary-

alabbasi

Gary, the 350 and 450 SE/SEL/SL used the 722.0 which is a 3 speed, I believe that this is the same transmission that went into the early 928's. The 380/420/500/560 SE/SEL/SL used the 722.3 which is a 4 speed transmission and is the same one that's used in the later 928's.

For Mercedes, the 3 speed and 4 speed cars drove pretty much the same as the first gear on a 3 speed car is more like a first and second gear combined (I can get up to almost 70mph in my 6.9 when in kick down before it changes into second gear), and the 4 speeds came standard with a second gear start for US cars.

The only different between the earlier 380/500 and the 420/560 transmission is that the later cars used CIS-E injection instead of CIS. Because of this, the later transmissions have a cut out on the bell housing for a pick up sensor that reads marking on the flywheel, to feed information back to the ignition unit (EZL).

This part has nothing to do with 928's as they have a completely different fuel injection system. The valve bodies should be the same and the 1st gear start deal is a pretty common modification for performance minded SEC and SL owners.

If you're looking for a first gear start valve body, you can probably find one on the Mercedes benz forums. There was a fellow on the 500E forum that was selling two not so long ago.

The bergwerks 1st gear start module that I mentioned earlier replicated a feature that was standard on 86+ Mercedes Benz models sold outside North America. My European spec 560SEC has a Sport/Economy switch that allows you to either start in first or second gear. This feature was not available on US cars.



I hope this helps.

69gaugeman

Just do a search for Mercedes 722 transmission. There is a TON of info out there on this transmission.

alabbasi

You need the 722.3 for the 4 speed 928's and 722.0 for the 3 speed cars.
The 722 transmission is an MB transmission and applies to every Automatic tranny built by MB since about 1970.

The .1, .4, .5, .6 and .9's have nothing to do with 928's.