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The 700R4 tranny in my 34 Ford coupe suddenly started having problems yesterday - was reluctant to shift 1-2  and 2-3 and when it did shift it shifted very hard.  Would not ever go into overdrive.  When I got home I checked the fluid level which looked like it was about 3/4" above normal level and did notice some foam on the dip stick so thought that it may have been a combination of overfilling and foaming.  Let car set overnight and today still have the same problem.

Any suggestions of where to start looking for the problem?  Tranny has always shifted perfectly until return trip yesterday.  Weather was hot - 96F but then thats normal in Texas.  Appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks
Don

Check to see if your TV cable came off.
Rick

The 700R4 tranny in my 34 Ford coupe suddenly started having problems yesterday - was reluctant to shift 1-2  and 2-3 and when it did shift it shifted very hard.  Would not ever go into overdrive.  When I got home I checked the fluid level which looked like it was about 3/4" above normal level and did notice some foam on the dip stick so thought that it may have been a combination of overfilling and foaming.  Let car set overnight and today still have the same problem.

Any suggestions of where to start looking for the problem?  Tranny has always shifted perfectly until return trip yesterday.  Weather was hot - 96F but then thats normal in Texas.  Appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks
Don

Thanks guys for your comments.  I have checked the shoes and they look like new - even scuffed them up a bit to make sure that glazing was not a problem.  The drum surface that the shoes mate with is clean with a good surface so don't think that is a problem.  The lever apparently actuates the brakes OK since I have adjusted the cables to the point that you can see that the outer covering of the cables is compressing.  I have come to the same conclusion that you all have that there is just not enough force to apply the brakes.  (problem is aggravated since the diameter of the parking brake shoes is only 5 - 6").  Have already started thinking through a solution similar to what 58 Yeoman shows.  Looking in some old Corvette parts catalogs and may be able to come up with some ready made pieces to get this done.

My 33 Chevy rod has an early Corvette rear end installed that has disk brakes for normal braking.  It has drum type brake shoes mounted inside the rotors to serve as emergency/parking brake.  I am using a Lokar floor mounted brake lever to actuate these shoes but cannot get the parking brake to hold.  Problem seems to be that the short handle on the Lokar brake lever does not give enough leverage to give enough force to set the brake shoes.  Someone has suggested installing a bell crank mechanism to increase braking force.  I'm sure that others using Corvette rears may have had the same problem and I would like to hear how they solved this problem.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Don

Picture

I'm not a welding expert, but the detailed photo of the failure looks like the weld did not have good penetration.  Whoever did the welding may have used a filler rod that was not compatible with the base metal or did not have high enough tensile strength.  On a large heavy piece like this housing it is sometime necessary to preheat and postheat the weld area so that the metallurgy of the adjointing metal is not changed.  I would not try to repair this housing - just too many possible risks involved.