lesd Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Mike, I'm in the same place you are, looking for the best trans. for my car. I agree, the OD is a must. The 200r4 has an even taller OD , and I still want it shifting auto for me in city traffic, so I think at this point I'll go with a 200r4. The nice thing with the 4L80 is that I would think you don't have to spend as much beefing it up, as it is already pretty strong. I have the 3.15 R200 rear, so that will help as well. I hate over reving an engine. I want a 'modern car' type of top speed capability, if you know what I mean ! -Les ( 73 240Z with 327 4 speed for now. LT1 in the works) I'm opting for a completely manual shift 4L80(noE). No problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 The 700R4 from 86' on up are good and reasonably priced, the early versions gave the trans a bad rep. I put a B&M shift kit and TV valve and did the single wire torque converter mod and the trans works perfect. It has a very low first gear and easily spins the tires at part throttle, put the pedal to the floor from a dead stop and it just eats up the tires, the shifts are very crisp, at full throttle the second gear shift lays down about ten feet of rubber and the back end of the car gets alittle sideways. It's alot of fun to drive, with 3.54 rear gears the engines spinning around 2000rpm at 60mph, gets better gas mileage than my new 4X4 truck. You got to remember that the trans is pulling a car that weighs about 500 to 800 lbs less than it was designed for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rytherwr Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Some thoughts on the GM OD transmissions for our purposes: I have two seriously built 700R4's and they work very well with the torque I'm making...383 sbc w/430 lb/ft of tq. Keep in mind they are built, not stock. Great first gear and great OD, however, the controller for the entire transmission as far as line pressure is concerned is the TV system which, in turn is controlled by the TV cable hooked to the carb/throttle body. If that is not adjusted correctly, you will burn up the clutches very quickly because there is not enough line pressure to apply them properly, especially when you kick it. When properly adjusted, the line pressure should instantaneously jump when you just barely pull the cable...the only way you can tell that is to hook up a pressure gauge to the test port, observe and adjust accordingly. Any other method is dicey at best....the factory adjustment works if you have the factory setup. Bottom line...700R4 will work fine if built for it and TV is adjusted correctly. I just bought a 4L80E for my '71 Z with a 600 hp motor: VERY pricey option...between the controller/transmission and high stall torque converter (and Mike is right, there are few folks who make high stall torque converters for the 4L80E) I have $4000 invested. It worked great to begin with, but that sucker is HEAVY and reverse gear went out in about a month. I got the transmission and controller (Compushift) from Bowtie Overdrives in Hesperia CA and they won't let you take the trans to someone local to fix under warranty, they want you to remove it and send it back to them. Not an option that I cared for so I took it to a trusted local transmission builder and he said the 4L80E was initially famous for reverse gear going out but that GM had come up with a modification to fix the problem and it hadn't been applied to my transmission. Not real happy with Bowtie Overdrives at this point, as you can imagine. It is being repaired, however, I put a built PG in there and it works great and I'm happy with it for my purposes....besides, it weighs MUCH less than the 4L80E. Performance Automotive and Transmission sells some heavy duty stuff in the 700R4 and 4L80E arena (they sell a 4L80E advertised as not having to use an electronic controller). Another option is to use a 2004r....I've seen them used behind some 700 hp turbo buicks, but they need to be built also. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 LES... I can fully understand you wanting full auto in traffic. I don't mind the semi-auto thing because I currently drive a standard. That stated... a clutch is a PITA in traffic jams. I found an aftermarket auto trans controller/shifter yesterday but I saved the link to my home PC... I hope. I'll post the link tonight if I can find it. The price wasn't listed but I can only assume it's cheaper than the factory unit. Otherwise they wouldn't be selling it, right? If it's only a couple hundred bucks, it makes the 4L80E a more affordable option. I agree that the taller OD is compelling but the 4L80E is such tough son-of-a-gun that I opted for it anyway. I CAN'T BREAK IT!!! Mike Mike, I'm in the same place you are, looking for the best trans. for my car. I agree, the OD is a must. The 200r4 has an even taller OD , and I still want it shifting auto for me in city traffic, so I think at this point I'll go with a 200r4.The nice thing with the 4L80 is that I would think you don't have to spend as much beefing it up, as it is already pretty strong. I have the 3.15 R200 rear, so that will help as well. I hate over reving an engine. I want a 'modern car' type of top speed capability, if you know what I mean ! -Les ( 73 240Z with 327 4 speed for now. LT1 in the works) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 As WAYNE stated, the 4L80E is known to be heavier than the 4L60 and 200R4. If I wasn't planning on 600+ WHP later, I would definitely opt for a built 200R4, which could easily handle my 400 WHP 350 SBC. With 600+ WHP, I just feel safer with the 4L80E. I have no experience with "built" transmissions but I've owned factory stock TH350's and TH400's. What I can tell you is that the TH400/4L80E are tough buggers even with no mods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Im looking forward to any info you guys may have on that 4l80 trans as Ive got a new (supposedly, heavy duty version) one sitting in its factory shipping crate,on the shelf intended for my bbc corvette swap,Ill use as a core and any info might be something I don,t yet have, the 4l80 is one of the few over drive gm trans that has any hope of working with a built big block, that will exceed 600ft lbs of tq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 I think GM uses the 4L80 in some of their mid sized trucks (over one ton ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Yes, GM uses the 4L80E in their bigger trucks with bigger engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rytherwr Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Grumpy...Just got off the phone with my transmission guy who checked out my new 4l80E to see what was wrong....a number of things turned out being culprits...my original complaint was reverse gear went out (transmission is was only about a month old) and that is why I took it to him to begin with. Come to find out, GM has come out with around 5 modifications to that transmission over the years and the one that changed the drum/band was not done on mine. A bigger culprit was that in '97 they changed the cooling line configuration/locations and put one in the front part of the case and one in the rear part of the case. For the one in the rear, there is supposed to be a two inch tube extension that goes through the case and lubes the planetaries under pressure. In my case, the tube was not there and I screwed up the planetaries and bearings. I firmly believe my situation is not a normal one and that the 4L80E is everything it is cracked up to be, I believe the folks I got it from have been remiss in what they were doing. I will try to get it resolved and if not, I will let everyone know who they are so others don't get caught in the trap. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 please let me know what you find, my trans is a 2002 model, still in the crate designed for a heavy truck,so hopefully its already upgraded...one of my friends has the same trans in a 700hp 572 bbc chevel with no problems so far....so IM hopeing its a decent choice, transmissions are not my best area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rytherwr Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 As I said, I feel strongly that the 4L80E is a good, heavy duty transmission and can handle what you want to do with it and that my situation is an anomoly. I will let you know the final outcome...I just got off the phone with the folks I got the trans from and the guy that built it is on vacation, but his partner says they will make it right...time will tell. On another note, if you are looking for anything higher than around a 2200 rpm stall, you will pay up to $1K for a converter. I think my 3800 rpm stall was $979 or somewhere around there. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeshoe Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 Mostly correct information about the variosu GM trans, particularly the 4L80E. The 4L80 went through a few design changes. They did move the cooling line from the "normal" location, back to the rear half of the case. This achieves better lube to the planets but can make it a bit more of a PITA to fit in a tight chassis. The early 91-95 trans had the more normal cooling line locations. They also made some changes to the reaction tube, center support, and other pieces a couple of times. There was an issue with the early models creating super high line pressure and busting the case due to no blow-off valve internally in the trans. The direct drum (also reverse) apply piston was known to crack and cause a loss of reverse and 3rd gear. They upgraded this to a steel piston with bonded rubber seals instead of lip seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsk8ter Posted November 29, 2006 Author Share Posted November 29, 2006 well that should work then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happynukes Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 transmission isn't what you should worry about its finding the bellhousing or adapter plate from the engine to the tranny. your dad should know where to find one workign for a tranny shop good luck and congrats on the car i'm goign backa nf forth from auto to manual and haven't quite figured it out yet seems the auto is the best coice just need to find a shifter plater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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