1987_sportcoupe

thinking about doing one on my 700R4, anyone try it? what do you think? I mainly want to hear likes/dislikes

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

It gets REAL old, REAL fast, if you drive it on the street. It's not at all like driving a stick.

1987_sportcoupe

How so? Like what exactly gets old?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Having a manual valve body. Not sure how this can be hard to figure out?

92 CaMaRo Rs

It does get very old i put my racing transmission in my street car while i broke it in. The constant shifting up and down is a pain n the rearend. I was happy to put my trans back in and jus cruise.


Its fun till ur tired of it.

Pro Built Automatics

If you are going to do this then the TransGo "full manual" setup is the only way to go. The "constant pressure" valve body does not work well or last very long. Too much pressure at part throttle and not enough at WOT. The transmission should be built from the start to do this right, as the full manual can be very hard on the transmission.

Base91

iTrader: (1)

Does full manual mean no more TV cable? Is there an in-between set up?

FireDemonSiC

I just got done having my 700R4 rebuilt with this kit. I went with the transgo 700-2&3 kit with the stick only setup. This will include the transgo reprogramming kit and convert your existing valvebody to full manual. No need to buy a new valvebody unless you are going for reverse pattern.

I've done alot of research into manual valvebodies and Dana is correct that you do NOT want a constant pressure valvebody such as the TCI. This runs the transmission at full line pressure all the time and eliminates the TV cable. This is not an optimal setup especially for a street driven car since it is very hard on the internals of the trans especially the front pump.

With this kit installed, the transmission will be in whatever gear you put it in; It will never automatically upshift or downshift again. If you put the shifter in D and try to take off you'll be starting in fourth gear. Keep in mind with this kit that the stigma surrounding fried 3-4 clutches resulting from starting the car in 3rd or 4th gear is true. I called transgo and asked them about this rumor and they said that trying to accelerate from a stop in 3rd or 4th gear WILL damage the 3-4 clutch pack. They stated that if you forget to downshift and try to leave from a stoplight in 3rd or 4th, as long as you're not holding it to the floor (Normal Acceleration) shouldn't do any damage as you will know immediately that the car is the wrong gear when you try to leave from a stop with only a 1.00:1 or 0.74:1 gear ratio. They stated that starting in 2nd IE limited traction should be OK since you're on the 2-4 band.

This car is my DD. I've been driving around the city for the past two weeks and personally I love it. After I spent the past year daily driving a manual IN TRAFFIC this setup is a cinch to operate. If you're not used to driving a stick though this may or may not be to your liking.

I got the kit installed because after driving a manual around for the past year and getting used to it it seemed really lame to put your foot down and have the transmission do all the shifting for you. I also just didn't like the transmission shifting when I didn't want it to. Messing around with govorner weights and springs and whatnot, then feeling lazy about winning a race when it was the car that did all the shifting for you, is what I didn't like. I liked the idea of being in control of the shifts and so far I'm really loving this setup.

With that said, I can't guarantee that you will or will not like it. For me, I have the benefit of manually shifting my transmission with the click of the shifter without having to give my left foot a workout when I'm in traffic, so I've got the best of both worlds.

Bear in mind though, if you do go with this setup it takes responsibility to operate properly. When I'm in 3rd or 4th and come to a stop, I downshift through the gears and engine brake AS I'M SLOWING DOWN vs leaving it in the upper gears until I come to a complete stop to minimize the chance of starting in a higher gear. I would not recommend downshifting to 1st at anything over 10MPH as first gear engine braking engages hard especially with a built trans. When I first picked the car up I tried engine braking to 1st at 20MPH and the car just about threw me through the windshield and I even got wheelhop when 1st engaged. Downshifting to 1st while holding the pedal to the floor if you want to haul *** is a different story. I've done this many times. You have to know when to shift and where. If you're cruising around town at 30MPH and want to accelerate heavily, you can't just put your foot down and lug the motor in 3rd or 4th. You have to go back to 2nd or you risk 3-4 clutch failure. And as has been mentioned, a built trans is recommended. A gated or ratcheted shifter is a MUST so don't accidentally skip a gear and shift too high or even worse shift too low.

Also, bear in mind that as with the automatic transgo setup the transmission wil go to ANY GEAR at ANY SPEED. If you're doing $1.20 down the freeway and put the shifter to first, it WILL go to first. You have to keep a strong mental note of what gear you are shifting to each time so you'll know where you can and can't go from there. I quickly glance down at the shifter often just to make sure It's in the gear I'm thinking It's in and always right before a downshift. Sounds like a PITA, but really It's no more cumbersome than giving your gauges a quick glance which if you're like me you do at least once every 60 seconds.

I can't guarantee you will like it as I do. It depends on your tastes and past driving experience. Some will love it, some will hate it. But if operated properly and with the right driver it can be real fun. Manual valvebodies are not a guaranteed PITA get old quick setup like everyone paints them to be. It just takes the right driver with the right taste and as you've probably caught on to by now a high sense of awareness and responsibility to operate.

Choose your destiny...