J-mod, Jerry mod, git-r-done!
We'll I finally got the J-Mod done yesterday. It was easy, but for the guys out there wondering what the J-mod is, I figured I'd give a few words, tips, and tricks about it. Not that I'm an expert now, but if it wasn't for me asking so many questions about it on this board, I probably would have never done it for fear of screwing something up. If anyone else want's to add anything feel free. Maybe we can make it a sticky if it gets informative enough.

I'm gonna try to break everything down "barney style"

1. What is the J-mod and what does it do? Its a mod that you can do to your automatic (aka 4r70w) transmission. Jerry W. was an engineer on our transmissions at ford, he designed them as well as this mod. In a nutshell, it firms up your shifts, thus causing less wear on the transmission and generally much better times at the track. It can also help you get those tire barking 1-2 and 2-3 shifts you've been looking for (if thats your thing)
If you want full details on it, go to the technical articles for transmissions at www.tccoa.com. Learn it, live it, love it...its the bible for the 4r70w

2. I've never even changed my tranny fluid, and you're telling me to mod it? How hard is this to do? Have you changed your oil? This process is DIRT SIMPLE...but it is time consuming and messy. Since you've already followed step one and read all about it, you can see that the tools required are simple things. The most "exotic" tool you'll need is a GOOD pair of snap ring pliers...I'll get to that later. I was as nervous as anyone before this because mine's a daily driver and I had never changed my fluid either. Now I don't know why I was such a wuss.

Tips & Tricks that I discovered when I did this. They may or may not be in the article:

1. There ARE shortcuts and workarounds, but they are few and far between. I wasn't able to get the 5/16" upper radiator fitting to drain my tranny. (autozone was out and I'm just plain impatient) I found that it will take more time, but you can drain the torque converter first for AT LEAST half an hour, plug it back up, and start on the pan. If you take 4 of the 14 bolts out from one side, and slowly loosen some of the others so the pan "leans", you can minimize a huge gush of fluid. You'll have to let it drain a while, hey, have a beer, smoke a ciggarette, but be patient. Once you see its just dripping...lossen them some more. Lather, rinse, repeat, until you cant get any more fluid to drain. This is where it gets messy. A friend always helps. Hold the pan in place, take the rest of the bolts out, and SLOWLY tilt the corner of the pan into your drain pan. Should help minimize spillage.

2. Listen to what the article says...it is VERY well written. I could see that if the article was just slopped together, I would have never been able to do it. When you drop that main control, it's scary looking for anyone whos never seen the inside of the transmission. I printed out everything I needed and kept it in the garage when I did it. I never tried to do two steps at once. If it says "step 1 - jack the car up, step 2 - place your jackstands" I would refer to the sheet after each step, rather than jacking the car an placing jackstands all at once. Believe me, patience is a virtue with this. Never get ahead of yourself. Also, the illustrations in the article are PERFECT. They helped me every step of the way...thanks Jerry.

3. Be prepared to get messy. If you're a pretty boy (or girl), dont expect to do this mod. When I was done, my garge floor was covered in used ATF, my hair was soaked with used ATF, my shirt was covered in used ATF, get my point? There's no possible way, ever, that you can do this and not spill anything. And don't worry about cleanup until you're done. There's no point. If your skin reacts to ATF fluid, make sure you wear some nitrile gloves. So uncle Mikey's point is: Go buy kitty litter, gloves, safety glasses, hand cleaner, etc. "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt"

4. Involve friends. Especially if they're a fellow mustang guy, but anyone willing to get their hands dirty can help. There's nothing very technical to do, it just helps to have an extra set of hands before you open up "Noah's great flood of ATF" Even your girlfriend can help with this one. Besides the Torque Converter drain plug, nothing is torqued down any tighter than 120 INCH pounds...thats 10 foot pounds for you guys that don't do math.

5. Be prepared to get messy. Wait, did I say that already?

6. Don't get frustrated. Anyone who's done this mod can tell you, that 1-2 accumulator snap ring is a PITA. Just work at it, if you dont get it within 10 mins or so, crawl out from under the car, stretch, smoke a ciggarette. THEN go back to it. You'll get it eventually, but punching your car or kicking your dog is NOT the thing to do (no I follwed my own advice, my dog's OK)

7. Have some common sense. Along with the patience thing, be safe. DON'T put your car on cinder blocks, DO use jack stands. DON'T do this after driving home...tranny fluid can get pretty hot. DO inspect other parts under your car (exhaust, oil pan leaks, etc.), as long as your gonna be under there, it be a shame to not notice that you're missing an oil pan.

8. Don't skimp on the tools. Not just for this mod, but any repairs or mods. You may save 5 bucks on a cheap set of wrenches, but in the long run, you're gonna be buying another set after too much longer. My dad bought quality tools 35 years ago that he still uses. He bought cheap ones a year ago and they broke already.

9. Last but not least, be patient, ask questions on these boards, and have fun! It took me 7 hours to do, with some breaks in between. It was 7 hours of dirty, slow work...but it was WELL worth it. I not only have a beast of a tranny now, but I learned how it works, what it looks like, and how bad ATF fluid looks after not changing it for 45,000 miles. (like motor oil) My buddy helped and it didn't feel so bad when it looked like my head was gushing blood from all the fluid. We laughed rather than me being P.O.'d by myself. And ask questions...there's plenty of people on this board that have done this. If you aren't sure what to drill your plate to...ask and ye shall recieve.

Ok...thats all I have off the top of my head...plus I think I gave myself carpal tunnel. Guys...lets get as many people as possible to chime in here. It would have helped guys like me to have all this info in one thread rather than having to look through 30 random ones to find one bit of info I needed.

Thanks all...I love my new J-mod!