I've tried the search function and have not come up with the answers I seek. Someone suggested that I have one of these installed in my 700R4 (350 TPI) as I just dropped many mods on it including a 2400 TC . I am having a problem with it shifting way to soon out of first. I'd like to throw my mega shifter in first and be able to shift it like a clutchless manual, and still be able to throw it in overdrive and have it up and downshift as needed.

Is what I am hoping for realistic? Furthermore, what drawbacks are their to this manual valve body ?

 

Manual valve body = whatever the shifter says, that's what gear it's in; no automatic shifting whatsoever.

It won't do what you say. I don't know what drawbacks there might be.

 

Well the main draw back if daily driven or alot of street miles is the pita factor of always having to drop it down into first and go through the gears at every stop light. Then you also take a chance of heating the tranny up big time if you start out in 2nd or 1 st, might make tranny life a wee bit shorter.

I know my new tranny is the reverse pattern manual valve body, but it's a bracket car more than a driver so I'll live with it for the few street miles I do every year. But if you do alot of street driving, I'd talk to some local shops that are doing these up, I know more and more manufactuers are coming out with the parts for these junk trannies to make them as stout as anything out there, so I'm sure there is a way to remedy you problem and still keep the auto/man valve body set-up instead of going 100% manual.

 

Do you have a transgo kit installed in the 700-r4? Just asking because you might be limited to it automatically shifting to the next gear (2nd). Never messed around with my firebird before I got my transgo, but I know on my sister's mu$tang it shifts out into 2nd gear even with the transmission in low gear selector setting.

I would just say do a megashifter or other positive stop shifter, do a transmission cooler (but you've probably already done that with the tq converter), and add a transgo kit into the transmission if you haven't already.

My transmission right now is a Pro-built 700-r4 (equiped with megashifter) and I can shift it and hold any gear as long as I want to with the shifter in that gear.

Megashifters are nice the only few things I don't like about them is that they don't use the OEM cable that locks out the shifter with the key in locked position. So you can still move the shifter from park to neutral and other gears with the key in locked position. The boot can be a little bit of a pita (especially when someone cleans it). Other than that I like the idea of being able to convert the shifter over to different speed of transmissions if I need to in the future.

 

I already have a transgo kit, tranny cooler, and megashifter as well. So does this manual valve body completely eliminate overdrive as the "drive" gear ?

 

If the 700r4 manual valve body is like the ones used in the TH series, it would eccentially turn you car into a clutchess 4 speed, or automatice clutch since you still have to shift every gear just like a manual transmission car, you just dont have a clutch to deal with. I have no idea on long term aka street miles/daily driver miles that that set-up would be capable of.

 

We put a Trans-Go shift kit in my friends car and it will hold whatever gear you have it in.
Put it in 1st, and it will stay in 1st till you shift, same as 2nd.
But it will always start out in 1st no matter what gear you are in.
Shifter in 2nd, It would start in 1st, shift to 2nd and stay in 2nd.
This is more of what you are looking for.


If you want to go all out manual, get a reverse manual valve body, that way you don't have to bring the shifter all the way down when you start.
Pattern is like this, PRN1234, vs PRN4321

 

Reverse manual valve bodies suck! No engine braking. Let of the gas at 50 in third and the engine idles. That gets old fast. Now if you could get a manual valve body with engine braking that would rock!

 

no torque brake eh... hmm.. so should my ride be shifting as I want it to if I already have a transgo shift kit ? ( I cant confirm this as it came with the car)

 

Most manual valve body kits eliminate the transmission's engine braking functions. The B&M kit that I installed in my TH400's VB retains the engine braking function, and also has the standard shift pattern. The standard pattern shift does not concern me since I also have a Megashifter, which is a ratchet type shifter (only one gear change for each movement), and also has a reverse lock-out, so I don't mistakenly shift it into reverse when I'm going 145 mph through the traps. You also eliminate the governer and modulator (if applicable) when installing a manual VB, since they are no longer necessary.

Since I have a very high torque/low rpm big block engine, I've found that I can easily get away with just leaving my trans in 3rd when driving it around on the street. Even still, I can spin the tires from a stop.

 

Hmm from what I know of the TransGo kits let you hold the gear like Zepher stated.

If you have the megashifter click all the way back in the 1st gear position it shouldn't shift out of first until you slam the shifter forward, then it should shift to 2nd gear. So if it's still automatically shifting to 2nd in 1st gear position on the shifter I don't think it has a TransGo installed or something is wrong. Course I might be wrong.

I know with my Street Strip 700-r4 (has TransGo) which has a megashifter on it now I can shift like you want to. If I stick the shifter all the way in 1st it holds till I hit the shifter forward then goes into 2nd and holds that till I hit it again and then it's in Drive then once again I hit and it goes to 4th gear. Course it will downshift if it's need'd also. If I put it in OD acts like a regular automatic transmission, shifts out of each gear just like it's suppose to without me touching the shifter.