89importeater

hey guys have any of you ever used a manual valvebody and trans brake on the street. and i dont mean at a red light street racing i mean have you ever driven a car on the street with these installed. i want one for my th400 when i have it rebuilt but am not sure what the manual shifting would be like on the street. does it work just like a manual car but without a clutch or is it different. my daily driver is a manual so im no stranger to shifting but if its more of a headache than that then i dunno. and this car by no means will be more of a street than a strip car but i do want to drive it around town occasionaly.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

push the shifter forward or backwards to change gears, no clutch obviously. To get into reverse you have to hold the transbrake button down or else it won't engage reverse. that's about it.

AlkyIROC

Manual shifting an automatic is not like manually shifting a standard transmission and it's easy to screw up on the street. When you shift, there's no pause or delay between the gears. One gear releases and the other engages instantly. Many manual and transbrake valve bodies have no engine braking in any gear except first. If in a higher gear and you let off the throttle, the engine goes to an idle and the car keeps rolling at roughly the same speed only using friction to slow down. On the street, this can be dangerous if you're not used to it.

A manual valve body means there is no automatic shifting at all in the transmission. You need to up and downshift the gears as required. The manual valve body will be in whatever gear you have the selector in. This means someone can hop into your car, put it in D (high gear) and start off in high gear, burning out the clutches.

Many TH400 manual valve bodies are a reverse shift pattern. Instead of PRND21, it's PRN123. You pull back once from neutral and you're in first gear. Once you're in high gear, you can't go back to neutral or into reverse without downshifting which is hard to do without slowing down first. Downshift at to fast a speed and the tranny will still go into gear and either red line the engine or skid the tires. Automatic shifting is a wonderful feature to keep the engine in the proper gear at the proper speed.

Some manual valve bodies or shift kits are semi manual. If left in D, they will operate like a normal shifting transmission but you can still start off in first or second gear if the selector is in those gears. If in D, it will still start in first and upshift through the gears like normal.

Using a manual valve body gives you control over WOT shift points. The transmission will only shift into the next gear when you manually move the shifter to the next selection. The novelty of manually shifting part throttle shifts wears off quickly when driving on the street.

A transbrake has no use on the street. It's simply a way to put the transmission in reverse while the selector is in first gear which will lock the transmission in 2 gears at the same time. This allows the engine to be brought up to the converter's stall speed. When the transbrake is released, the reverse circuit oil is dumped. The car launches forward in first gear at high rpm. Think of it as a high rpm clutch drop but the rpm is limited to the converter's stall speed.

Most transbrake valve bodies require the transbrake button to be pushed to back up in either reverse or while in neutral. If mounted on the steering wheel, which is most common, this can make it difficult to back up and turn at the same time.

A manual valve body swap is relatively easy and a good shift kit can achieve the same results for less money. A transbrake valve body swap requires stripping the tranny down to do internal modifications.

If you're mainly going to be street driving, just install a good shift kit.

roughskinjrz

i run a manual valve body and trans brake instaleld in a th400 in my 86 monte with a blown 489 stroker. shifting manually ALL the time sucks.

cp87GTA

Transbrakes and full manual valve bodies are not intended for street use. To use them safely you would need a pretty high stall converter. Then you would be fighting the heat that comes with it. Install a good trango shift reprogramming kit. Then you can shift it anyway you please. You won't be giving up that much. I ran a th350 for three years at the track only with just a transgo 2/3 kit installed, with a good converter it'll leave hard and shift hard.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Not to bring an ancient post back from the dead but, regarding reverse: why wouldn't you just wire the transbrake to the reverse light switch so you could use reverse by changing the gear selector?

The shifting part I get about on the street. But for a mainly bracket car that might seen a drive to the car show once a month, why not?

-- Joe

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

i think i have done that before. my hughes trans doesnt seem to require the transbrake to be actuated for reverse to work though.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

Shifter has to be in neutral to push button to get reverse. You're not supposed to be in reverse and push the button

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

From the Hughes manual:

"This transbrake employs a reverse shift pattern; P-R-N-1-2-3. The transbrake only works
in low gear. To engage reverse you must put the shifter in reverse and push the
transbrake button, or put the shifter in neutral and push the button."

-- Joe

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

thats for the pro brake, right?

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

HP3215 is what I believe is in mine. (going to look at the VB tomorrow).

My intention is to simply wire the TB solenoid to the reverse light switch.

I wonder how hard it hits when you go off throttle (coast) and then resume throttle. If it breaks the tires loose every time I hit the throttle It's going on ebay haha.



-- Joe

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

i dont have the pro brake in mine, and i cant imagine there being much of a difference. it hits IMMEDIATELY. i believe the only benefit of a pro brake is it hits .02-.03 quicker. if you race headsup and its a race only car, i can see running one. otherwise it can be a pain in the butt unless you wire it into the reverse lights.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

CK performance brake in my th400. Reverse pattern, first gear tbrake activation
Best part, do not need press button to use reverse gear! Move shifter to reverse position and go

The perfect street brake

AlkyIROC

Mine is a pro brake. Need to push transbrake button when shifter is in neutral or reverse to back up. I have mine wired through a reverse switch and works perfectly. As I mentioned above years ago, pushing a button and backing up at the same time especially if you have to turn and the button is mounted on the steering wheel can be difficult.

For a dragster it's easy. They do a burnout past the starting line. They then pop the shifter into neutral so they don't need to worry about a reverse interlock to put the shifter right into reverse. When in neutral, they push the transbrake button and back up to the starting line. Move the shifter back into first gear and stage the vehicle.