Topic: '65 C4 tranny issues - 3rd gear

[tvor]

Hi all,
My trans has not been going into 3rd gear.   
For some history on the car, It was last driven to our new house back in 1992, put on jack stands and had not been driven until last month.  In between that time, I would pump up the engine oil (pull distributor, use drill motor and socket to drive oil pump until oil came out of the push rods) and start the car every few years, but would never put it into gear.
So now I've got it road worthy and while test driving it, it shifts fine from 1-2, but just won't go into 3rd.  I checked the vacuum modulator and it is working; the pin moves and diaphragm holds vacuum.
So I dropped the pan to inspect the valve body for maybe a gummed up valve or something.
Now, back in high school, I remember installing a shift kit.  Not a race kit, but the kind to improve the shifting (i.e. harder, to eliminate the mushy shift typical of the auto trans).  Thing is, I don't remember what was changed (it was back in the late 70's!).  So I'm hoping someone is knowledgeable on such things and can look at the pics below to see if there is something glaringly wrong.

The valve body is a C5AP prefix on the casting of both halves. I've included a pic of the shop manual exploded view of the valve body.

Issues I found:
A.  The book shows a spring with no spacer.  Maybe this was part of the shift kit?
C. This valve was stuck.  It would not slide out.  I ended up sliding a piece of hose thru the bore and onto the end of the shaft.  I then could rotate it and then it slid out.  It moves freely now.  Could this have been my problem for no 3rd gear?
D.  Looks like a ball was added.  Shift kit?
E&F.  Both valves moved and rotated smoothly in the bore, but would not come out the end; both would stop right at the edge of the valve body.  Since this is where the end plate would stop them anyway, I called this good enough.
G.  check ball (valve), in place just like manual shows

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[67gtasanjose]

I will NOT speak to modifications, but generally speaking, if you were to shift things manually, (start with shifter in low, click up to 2nd, then over to 3rd), you should be able to get all 3 forward gears.

If I were to take a stab in the dark at this one, I'd say the seals dried out in the trans, particularly the piston seals at the clutch plates. 23 years is a long time for those to not see a regular supply of oil, just cut to the chase and pull the trans out.

My first tranny overhaul was on a C4, I managed to do it without a huge supply of special tools. The first time through it, I missed the piston seals and had 3rd gear begin to slip after about 3 years. I took it apart a 2nd time and easily stumbled onto my error of replacing those seals. A simple "Reseal Kit" and it was back to perfect again.

OR...just send it to a rebuilder!

[tvor]

I will NOT speak to modifications,

Yeah, if I had to do it all over again, it wouldn't have been done.  But I was a kid and I liked to work on all things mechanical (up to a certain point).  But what's done is done.  It drove well for many years with the shift kit in it, so hopefully it's just something stuck.