Picked up the trans yesterday, FL dude did what he said and covered cost of new parts & labor. Planning on starting the install Friday evening.

Last night I installed a GMT800 shift lever, now I'll have a tow/haul switch so it's easier to start in the desired gear during a pull. Just need to run a wire to the PCM and make sure the feature is enabled in the tune.

Video confirming the trans is in good working order.

First pattern



2nd & final pattern





I did all the final steps to finish the axle build today and took it out for a maiden voyage. No whining or howling when accelerating or decelerating.

I will not say that setting up my first ring and pinion was easy. Biggest PITA was getting the pinion preload right, I went with a solid pinion spacer & shims rather than a crush collar. Pinion preload is supposed to be 14-19 in/lbs, you add shims to reduce preload and take away shims to increase preload. First attempt at setting preload, I had all the shims on the pinion and had 0 in/lbs. When I removed the smallest shim (.01") , I had 40 in/lbs. I ended up ordering a different pinion spacer kit that had a larger shim selection.

I'd give doing an axle build once more. If it doesn't go more smoothly whenever I do it a 2nd time, I'll leave it to the pros. By that time, it'll be cheaper to pay someone for an afternoon of work compared to the vast number of hours I take in getting it setup.

Now, I need to drive easy for 500 miles before I can give it the beans.

Posted on my Instagram for the 2nd time today.
https://instagr.am/p/BqbAG5LBMLA

You must be mistaken, that's Mexico.

Went to the drag strip this evening. My first hit turned out to be my quickest ET, I had another pass that I had a little quicker MPH.

Traction wasn't an issue, I wasn't able to make it launch hard enough. I tried my launch control once and pushed through my brakes. Most passes I footbraked, flashing the TC wasn't much help either.

Although I anticipated 12's NA, I'm ready to order the rest of my nitrous stuff and really get down