I've been talking to some of the people in my area... A couple of them are all about a manual valve body in their auto. Does a manual valve body provide any kind of distinct advantage?

Not in a street car. The manual valve body allows you to select each gear manually. There is no automatic feature. If you put the tranny in third gear it will start in third gear. Manual valve bodies also offer no engine braking in the lower gears. This means if you are in first or second gear and lift off the gas, the car will coast like it was in neutral. This isn't a good thing for a street car.

For a street car you're better off with a good shift kit.

Thanks for the info, Steve.

My Trans-Go full manual does engine brake, in fact so did my B&M Manual Pak? The RPM's stay right up there if I let of the gas in any gear.

Who told you that Stephen, just curious?

The advantage are for racing(autox, road, circle). It gives you more control of the gears, and the shifts have a more positive feel.(not slushy like manualy shifting a stock auto)

You would NEED a aftermarket shifter, a stock shifter isn't going to cut it.
Would I put one on my Vette for the street? NO... I would put in a regular trans-go shift kit.

Ron

Are you talking about a full manual shift kit or a full manual valve body? The shift kit doesn't usually remove the band servos since you need to also remove the bands when you do this.

Yea, didn't think about that. The aftermarket full manual valvebodys are about half the size.

Yea, mine are kits. I'm glad I have engine braking! I couldn'd imagine how usefull not having it would be to road courses or autoX?

BTW: Trans-Go all the way. I had to remove the B&M cause it kept upsetting the car in turns. It was also beating the **** out of my drivetrain...

Ron

That's why I recommended a shift kit in a street car.

My manual valve body is also a reverse shift pattern with transbrake. Because of how a drag car is run I rairly notice the lack of engine braking. I only notice it when I'm coming back into the pits after picking up my timeslip. I'm in first or second gear when exiting onto the pit road. The car doesn't slow down by itself and when I got to accellerate again it takes a little bit before the clutches engage and the car can be felt pulling again. In high gear it slows down like normal. There's just no engine braking in the lower gears.

Think of it like a manual transmission. You're driving down the road and when you lift off the gas, you also push in the clutch. The car will continue rolling as fast as it was before until you step on the brake. This might not seem too bad but think of it while in traffic. It can be dangerous if you don't react quick enough to step on the brake.

The shift kit is the best way to go in a street car. Leave the racing parts to a race car.

And yes you will need an aftermarket shifter. Since you're manually shifting through the gear, the stock shifter can easily move from gear to gear with no indication. You either need a ratchet or a gate shifter. That way you'll know positively what gear the transmission is in without missing a shift.