Vince @ FLT Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 As some of you may already known or suspect I am no longer with Finish Line Transmissions. I was let go from FLT the day before Thanksgiving 11-24-2010 and started a new job building for another company effective 12-6-2010. I will not get into the details here on a public forum because this info is PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. Please do not ask because it will not be discussed. Chuck and I had discussed what has happen here with my employment and I believe we walked away as friends. Also we discussed what was needed to be done to reconstruct his company after me not being a part of FLT. This way service of good folks like yourselves will be there for many years to come and to me this is very important. I like to believe I was a big part of the company before even being officially employed there and want to see the company continue to be successful in the future. I wish FLT the best and want to publicly thank you for your support of not only Finish Line transmissions, but also myself and my family. We do appreciate it. Customers are what makes any business survive and without you we would not have made it this far. When I have time I will still be active on the boards helping with tech info just like I have under the Vince @ FLT name. However my new place of employment is in a whole different market than the LS1 performance community. We specialize in late model Foreign, European and Domestic transmissions. These mostly include 08 and later transmissions with very little general builds of older transmissions or performance builds for that matter. I have made many great friends in this community and want to thank you for your time and support. Vince Bielanski aka Vince B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsniper3006 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 wow Vince i was just going to send an email to you Chuck and Andy seeing how the year went. Sorry to hear you are no longer part of the FLT team, but i hope this allows you to persue other goals in life and come out a head in the end. Thanks for all your support you've given me over the years i have delt with FLT, including picking up the phone even when the shop was closed on a sunday. Best wishes to you in your new job, and in the holiday season and new year. Brad Bieck Blue Silverado SS from Wisconsin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince @ FLT Posted December 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 wow Vince i was just going to send an email to you Chuck and Andy seeing how the year went. Sorry to hear you are no longer part of the FLT team, but i hope this allows you to persue other goals in life and come out a head in the end. Thanks for all your support you've given me over the years i have delt with FLT, including picking up the phone even when the shop was closed on a sunday. Best wishes to you in your new job, and in the holiday season and new year. Brad Bieck Blue Silverado SS from Wisconsin Thanks Brad. I do remember answering the phone that day! I'm sure I was there doing RnD that day if I had to guess. Don't be sorry for me I have landed back on my feet and it only took three working days to do it! I went back to work for an old boss of mine and things are well. They have a great shop and take real good care of us. Its a great deal for me because I am learning to build many transmissions that I have never built. Most of what I build are 5 and 6 speed transmissions and these are the future of transmissions as far as I'm concerned. I work with three other guys that have probably forgot more about transmissions than most will ever know. With that being said I am now the student again and not the teacher! I'm having fun doing what I do and look forward to going into work each and every day again. Honestly I was getting burned out doing what I have been doing in the past and the future now looks better! Thanks for the kind words and if you need anything just ask. Vince Bielanski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowfive0 Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Well it sounds like everything happens for a reason and that your future is indeed brighter. Congrats on that. From what I read and seen on here, you are a stand up guy and a truly care about doing the right thing. That being said, are you working with the new 6 speeds in these late model trucks (high performance applications)? I think that they are the way of future as well. In my mind, you couple one of those with the steeper first gear, and overdrive gear ratios, plus more gears of course and a tighter converter, you have the best of both worlds. Acceleration off the line and lower cruise rpms. I'm dying to do one of these conversions. Looking for any guinea pigs..... It's good to keep things fresh, sounds like you were ready for the next step----Good luck and happy holidays!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince @ FLT Posted December 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2010 Well it sounds like everything happens for a reason and that your future is indeed brighter. Congrats on that. From what I read and seen on here, you are a stand up guy and a truly care about doing the right thing. That being said, are you working with the new 6 speeds in these late model trucks (high performance applications)? I think that they are the way of future as well. In my mind, you couple one of those with the steeper first gear, and overdrive gear ratios, plus more gears of course and a tighter converter, you have the best of both worlds. Acceleration off the line and lower cruise rpms. I'm dying to do one of these conversions. Looking for any guinea pigs..... It's good to keep things fresh, sounds like you were ready for the next step----Good luck and happy holidays!!!! There are some things that can be done with the 6l80E however it would be something that would take some time. I would be interested in playing with the concept of beefing up some of the parts inside that unit and I have a couple of ideas. The 6l80e will be the next generation of performance units for GM aftermarket builders such as FLT. With that being said right before I was let go I was working on one of my first units and did not get a chance to complete it. Not sure what they did but if I had to guess they just re-clutched it and sent it out the door. If there is something you would like to do please contact me in a pm. I do appreciate the kind words and I'm definitely taking the next step in learning new units and how they work. I'm having a lot of fun these days and that is a good thing! Have a good one. Vince Bielanski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowfive0 Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Excellent Vince. I'll do that. Some interesting reading I've come across....take a look at the link below and the quote from it. Thoughts? http://www.performancetrucks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=462346&page=8 <<<<<<<<It isn't all rainbows and sunshine, I am sad to report. I've discovered a major issue with doing a 6Lxx transmission. Internal maximum velocity. There is a drum cage that cannot exceed a certain RPM. Once it does, the centrifugal forces cause it to have a structural failure. Hence the strict RPM limit on GM motors running this trans and the higher (lower numerical) final drive ratio of the axles..Look at a CTS-V's final drive ratio. Long story short, SS's and Aero's with our 4.10 gears will have a non-negotiable top speed of 119 mph. 3.73's will give 134. Until someone comes up with a material/design to address this, this is now the official biggest limitation to the overall benefit of this trans in our trucks. As I've stated in responses to a inquiries through the website, this is NOT an option for someone already making big power. It is simply not a cost effective or yet-proven option for a 600+HP 4500+ lb truck. If you're already making that power, the 4L80 is the only currently reliable option to live behind those conditions. The transmission was designed to, through additional gear multiplication, make small power motors move vehicles as quickly as big power motors. It is the ideal mod for stock or mildly modified motors seeing regular daily driving, road course racing, and/or off-road vehicles. Hopefully, the aftermarket will address this very issue soon as we now have a universal LSX motor solution. In conjunction with EFIConnections SBC/BBC kit, basically ANY V8 and V6 can run this transmission...its just a matter of making a custom bellhousing and/or transfer case adap There are some things that can be done with the 6l80E however it would be something that would take some time. I would be interested in playing with the concept of beefing up some of the parts inside that unit and I have a couple of ideas. The 6l80e will be the next generation of performance units for GM aftermarket builders such as FLT. With that being said right before I was let go I was working on one of my first units and did not get a chance to complete it. Not sure what they did but if I had to guess they just re-clutched it and sent it out the door. If there is something you would like to do please contact me in a pm. I do appreciate the kind words and I'm definitely taking the next step in learning new units and how they work. I'm having a lot of fun these days and that is a good thing! Have a good one. Vince Bielanski>>>>>>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince @ FLT Posted December 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 I read in another thread and also in an ATSG book that there are certain snap rings that should be replaced on every unit when overhauled. If I had to bet these are the issues with the limitations of the rpms that these units can handle. I would think that these issues could be corrected with a bit of machine work and installing a stronger snap ring or tack welding the snap rings in place. I have not really had a chance to play with these units but I do have some ideas for making some of the drums stronger in these units. I will be interested to see some of the failures to see what can be done to make these units stronger. Vince Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowfive0 Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) Matter of time with all of them out there already. This guy in the thread is talking lower hp limits (600 iirc), but I think there are quite a few people out there running bigger power than that (probably mostly cars though). I wish I could be the guinea pig, but this is my daily driver and I can't afford for it to be down much at this point Of course I'm not making the big power yet though so maybe there is still hope. We'll definitely have to talk.... When you say machining, are you referring to making a bigger snap ring groove for a bigger snap ring? Interesting..... I bet when these units are figured out they will reinvent the whole have your cake and eat it too!!! Hope so.... I read in another thread and also in an ATSG book that there are certain snap rings that should be replaced on every unit when overhauled. If I had to bet these are the issues with the limitations of the rpms that these units can handle. I would think that these issues could be corrected with a bit of machine work and installing a stronger snap ring or tack welding the snap rings in place. I have not really had a chance to play with these units but I do have some ideas for making some of the drums stronger in these units. I will be interested to see some of the failures to see what can be done to make these units stronger. Vince Edited December 30, 2010 by slowfive0 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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