vannmike

I've been off the forum for some time now. Just figured I would give an update on the things I've been doing. I've had a busted th350 for a while behind my sbc 396 striker. Did a ton of research on transmissions and decided to go the 4l80e route with a standalone US shift controller. All the research says that it's the strongest.

here she is with the 3600 stall from circle D torque converters. It is substantially bigger than the th350 sitting next to it.
This is part of the shift works kit i used for the install. A lot of talk was made about the fitting of the 4l80e into the c3. To be honest this was my first install of a trans. And it fit really well with no issue. I ordered a crossmember that was premade for the 4l80e into a c3 and 400 yoke and that was really it. It's obviously a tight fit but the only massaging it took was on the corner of the floor pan to clear the joint.

as for driving it, to me I feel like it completely transformed the car. You can set it up to where you can't even feel it shift or shift like a race car. You can monitor line pressure and temp.its self learning as well. And shifts like it's supposed to when going up or down hills. Record all kinds of data and completely tune it from your front seat with a laptop or controller. You can have it lock up in 3rd and 4th. I also installed all autometer phamtom gauges and the controller drives the speedometer and tachometer. So no more inaccurate readings. It has a ton of features but im still in a learning curve. Also plan to install paddle shifters at some point. People mention loss of power because of the 4l80e size. Imo this car feels faster if anything. But that could be due to the great quality of the circle D converter.


the next project I took on was a bumper conversion. If you would like to know the vendor pm me. My car is a 77, and I never cared for the roll over style of bumper for these cars. So I did a conversion. The quality and fitment of this conversion was incredible. Once again pm me for the vendor. Here are the photos




Thanks for reading. I know most of you guys like pics of projects so I figured I'd give and update.

doorgunner

You've been holding out! Chrome and Black

vannmike

Lol not so much a holding out as working my butt off!

'75

I like it, a lot!

vannmike

thanks man.

EarlyC34me

Tail looks great

vannmike

appreciate it

TimAT

NICE!! VERY NICE!! That convertor looks like art stuffed in the front of that trans. Picture looks like it's a billet piece. Gauges look great-

Tim 1973

Looks Great


Tim

vannmike

I agree. It's almost a shame that it's hidden from view. Pricey but we'll worth it.

vannmike

thanks alot

Rescue Rogers

Awesome job. If you get the paddle shifters post pics and a review. I think it would be cool. Your car looks great

vannmike

will do. And thanks for the compliments

502 C-3

Very nice! That's one good lookin ***!

Jeff k

great one liner! Made me spit out my gatorade

vannmike

Ha! My wife said it went from Taylor swift *** to Kim kardashians.

NewbVetteGuy

Love! You just don't see 396 stroker conversions very often; if 383s and 396s were closer in price I'd be tempted, too.

I did a 4L60e swap in my 79 and it fit shockingly well (one small dent required for the coolant lines-that's it!); kinda surprised that the 4L80e fit so well. What trans computer did you go with? -Are you planning to go with paddle shifters? (Saw a comment on that in the thread.)

Modern large wheels and a chrome bumper conversion?!?! -We have shockingly similar taste. I was going to guess a Custom Image for the rear bumper conversion but I'll ask in a PM- I remember the custom image rear conversions having C5 script letters, which I didn't care for, but I don't see that in your rear bumper.

What did you do for the actual chrome bumper parts? -are they actual metal or painted to look like metal?



Adam

NewbVetteGuy

Were you able to use your 77 tail lights in the new rear bumper or did you have to buy new chrome bumper-style tail lights?

Did you have to remove the actual steel bumper for the rear bumper conversion?


Adam

vannmike

I was able to use the original 77 tail lights. But it took some modding to do so. Just to the light's. Not the bumper. Eventually I will get the 70' lights that it's set up for, but I couldn't justify the 200 dollar tag on them right now. I went with US shift as a controller. There kind of the top dog in controller and always developing new software. Tci and others have just followed there lead. You should.go to there web site and check them out. It's impressive what there doing for these electronic transmissions. And there customer service is unreal. Any and every question I had they answered. Pretty much walked me through. They also offer paddle shifters which I will get one day. No script on mine. I opted for the 70 -72 letters and installed them which was very tedious but worth it in the end imo. When i started the conversion I was going for the 70-72 look. I didn't want an in between. So that's why I used the letters as the script. The chrome look bumpers was the hardest part. There actually fiberglass as well. So I did a ton of research on quality chrome paint and duplicolor chrome is what I tried and it turned out nice I think. I also tried chrome wrap but failed miserable bc of the contours of the bumper. I did remove the crash support beneath the old bumper. I'm ok with it as I believe 68-72 doesn't have it anyway. Suppose if I wanted to fab up a support back there I could. Thanks for the compliments!

vannmike

and the 396 stroker is from.blueprint engines. It's been a good engine. Want a big block or LS though.