I've been talking with a few of my friends and they keep telling me about a manual valve body for the c6 or c4 that would be perfect for me as i dont appear to have room in my footwell for a clutch pedal for the t5 swap (my feet dont fit comfortably) but i still want to row thru the gears on my own. Anybody done this?
Yep, A full manual valve body gives you complete control over the up shifts and down shifts. There is absolutley no automatic features to one. most deliver firm harsh shifts.
but i dont want to lose my highway drivability and i plan on using 3.55 or 3.73 gears would an aftermarket overdrive be best or is there an auto with that kind of gearing. My aod in overdrive now gets me 18mpg at 80mph
I belive they also make a manual valve body for the aod
yea they make a manual valve body for the aod, you would get more then 18mpg if you drove like a normal person though to...:rolleyes:
the speed limit is 75 up here that is normal oh btw who makes a manual valve body for the AOD then i dont have to swap trannys.
hmm forgot about the speed limit being different in other places :p
performance automatic makes one I know of, couple of places might but id check into the performance auto one, http://www.performanceautomatic.com I think.
Try Lentech...
http://www.lentechautomatics.com/aodproducts.html
But bring money. Their Strip Terminator manual valve body is $549. Good stuff though from what I hear.
So these aren't like a ratcheting shifter where you can control the up/downshifting, but then throw it back into detent mode and let it take care of itself? It's just straight up you do the shifting, but there is no clutch?
What kind of a shifter would control something like that i want something like the B&M hammer
id consider new performance frictions and steel packs with a shift kit or manual valve body. the more aggressive shifting is going too be harder on the tranny. take it easy on the od/4th gear.
a fully manual valve body is cool but it can be a little much. its nice too be able too let it shift on its own as well.
oh, and if it were me installing a manual valve body, id search out a reverse manual valve body...that much cooler.
Personally, I wouldn't get a manual valve body for the street. You can manually shift the street valve bodies anyway. The fixed line pressure on those manual valve bodies might be a little harsh.
any ratchet or detent shifter works, hell some are ratchet/detent both. I had a B&M starshifter in my 88 mustang with a c4 and manual valve body.(bought the car with everything already in) and you would bring the shifter all the way back, and if in ratchet action you could only go to the next gear, it would click then you could go to the following, but never N R P only 1 2 3. detent action, there is nothing stopping it from going to the next gear, as in it will slide all the way up to neutral. I liked detent better because you couldnt downshift in ratchet easily. but just be careful in detent cuz you can go from 2nd to neutral ;) I like the hammer shifter and was going to buy one but never got around to it and parted out the car lol.
Exactly. Doing any real street driving at all would suck with a full manual valve body - IMO, it would get old after about a day. A street performance one will let you do everything that a full manual one does plus you still have full automatic mode.
it does my t-bird when it was still 2.3 had a full manual c-4 it blew as* to drive around on.
it doesnt get old..just like driving a stick without having to push in the clutch. rather fun to me, if I wasnt planning on putting a 5spd in my mustang id get a manual valve body for the aod. but thats just my opinion, tire chirping at 2grand going into 2nd depending on the throtte was nice :D
I'm running a reverse manual valve body in a c4 and yes it does get old,but it does have its moments.It does tend to "rock" the car on upshifts.Something like passing someone on the highway at 70mph and shifting back into drive tends to cause the rear tires bark.
I'm using a shifter out of a 90lx 5.0 mustang and i agree with what Bane said,a good after market shifter is your best bet.I found reverse once while turning around in our culdusac,luckily i was only moving about 5 mph or less.
I been thinking about one of those street/strip valve bodies for my mustangs aod...might as well do a couple things to it cuz a 5spd swap is a ways off. the valve body itself is a rather straight forward easy install right? jack car up, take off pan, remove old valvebody, put new one in, and put the pan back on right? But one concern is, what happens to overdrive? would it do? would it go P R N 3 2 1 or P R N D 2 1?
im not messing with the engine, gonna see how fast I can get it with a mostly stock motor, add some pullies, take off smog pump,etc maybe a 100 shot :)
Most upgraded valve bodies will revise the AOD shift pattern to:
p_r_n_4/3_2_1
instead of the stock pattern:
p_r_n_4_3_2/1
The Lentech V/Bs have a P R N 3 2 1 pattern... O/D is controlled by adding a switch to activate...
My V/B is modified for a P R N 4/3 2 1 pattern(basically it is still normal but only shifts to 2nd in the "D" position).... Have no way to keep it out of O/D except floor it. With the 3.73s I'm happy to see 45mph when it shifts. Works very well for street and strip.
WTF are you guys talking about my gears are P R O/D D 1 LOL
That's why I want a Lentech valve body so bad. O/D is locked out so I could run around town and not have the tranny shift into O/D. That way I could safely run more stall and not worry about always being "in the converter". Plus I'd still have O/D on the highway. That V/B is an all around win/win situation.
I know a valve body install isnt bad or rocket science, but would running the wires for the switch an everything be difficult?
switch? AOD right...?