Well guys heres the situation.  I bought this tranny from a shop in Edmonton that was supposed to be rebuilt and upgraded to handle the 396.

This was back in 2008 when I was still assembling the powertrain.  I partly installed a lockup kit(the stuff inside the pan) and bolted it up the the 396 using the original powerglide console shifter that I modifed slightly so it would hit all the shift selections points except 2nd and 1st.  I figured having D and OD only would work for me in the kind of driving i was planning on doing plus it kept it looking totally stock.

 I knew that the 6 month transmission warranty was going to be no good to me as the car probably wasn't going to be on the road till 2010. (Hah!)  I only used it to run the car in and out of the garage, around the yard and occasionally up the driveway as I slowly assembled it.  I never really got to a speed that needed more than second although I noticed it only shifted into second at around 2500 rpm which is too high so i figured I didn't have the cable set just right.

Now that I have driven it on the road some it just will not shift into anything higher than 2nd. The 1 to second shift still happens at about 2500-2800 and if I punch it to 100 klicks in second it really doesn't have any transmission braking. (Coasts freely but does downshift to first below about 20 klicks) I've checked the governer and it seems quite free and the cable has been rechecked by a mechanic.

The fluid smells fine. (Its Amsoil synthetic Dexron type) The whole unit might have 30 klicks on it since I got it.

My knowledge on these things is kind of limited so I'd appreciate some advice from guys who know.

Maybe I should have stuck with the Powerglide but a really wanted the overdrive and that low first gear!