dizwiz24

drcook

Read these:

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/tra...00-horsepower/
http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/tra...-transmission/

These will give you an idea what needs to be done. As the Corvette other platform's engines got stronger past 1997, GM morphed the 4L60E into the 4L65E and 4L70E. Just as the TH350 morphed into the 700R4 which turned into the 4l60, then the 4L60E.

Fortunately, the parts that are used in the 65/70's are retrofittable into the 60E and probably the 60, I am not sure of the 700R4, but Confab or one of the other transmission experts could chime in.

I will be updating the 4L60E in my 96 to handle the additional power levels that I am building to the engine to.

aklim

700 to 800? Not sure how you would do it. Gentle driving with a 400HP motor broke it. Just forget the whole thing and be prepared to rebuild it when it breaks to something stronger.

drcook

You can build them to handle up to 1000 hp, but it isn't cheap, just to get it to realiably handle 450'ish or so, I have a list of parts that total 1300.00 so far.

I was quoted 2000.00 to pull, rebuild and put back in, plus parts, so if I did none of the work, we would be talking 3300.00 at least.

I have not totalled up the price of what it would cost to build the 1000 hp one.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/tra...andle-1000-hp/

I know that eventually the trans in my 96 will get wasted, even babying it as you say. So I have been researching, talking to a board member that has a trans shop, ie: preparing for the inevitable.

aklim

Try Rosser trans in Ohio .Won't be cheap but nothing good ever is.

Kevova

I stumbled on to thread somewhere, it looked at the 700 failures from a different angle. Engine mods increasing hp and raising powerband. RPM increasing shift speeds above 5500 tended to lead to more failures particularly in the 3-4 clutch. There was no conclusions as to root cause.

aklim

Which is what? People often forget to mention that. I usually say that if you want to build 500HP, make sure it takes 700 to give yourself a bit of buffer for abuse. Otherwise, all you do is granny it and what is the point of building power if you don't burn off rubber whenever you can?

drcook

Target is in the 450'ish (+ or - a bit) at the crank. Not everyone is into frying their tires off. I do like x-way ramps, mid to southern Ohio roads out through the country (down into the hills) and over into Pa, up through the hills that way. With all the suspension, engine parts I have already acquired (and soon to acquire) I am building myself a spirited driving machine that will last, handle superbly and be really fun to drive. And the real reason, just because I can. This one is for myself. I am gradually losing the battle with the orthopedic issues (from a childhood injury) and doing this is for me. I would have started with a M6 car, but realistically, you can't shift well when the right hand doesn't work very good.

Also.

We all know that the weakest link will eventually go no matter how easy you are on it. The trans will be the weakest link in my car until it is done.

Additionally, with a higher performing trans comes the need for better cooling. I am going to fab up spare tire replacement bracket and mount a trans cooler with fan in the back.

If there wasn't a speedometer issue with the Gear Vendors overdrive and the 4L60E, I would save my dinero and turn it into an 8 speed.

In fact, there was a project to do so with a C5, but GM ultimately effed over Gear Vendors for some very big money.

http://www.superchevy.com/features/v...ight-speed-c5/

aklim

Rossler can build up your trans. I like the Precision Instrument torque converter. I have not needed a cooler like what you described according to Rossler so I am running the stock system. Last time I hit the pan with a gauge it wasn't bad. Average to. Cool, IIRC

drcook

Thanks for that lead.

Rossler is only a little over an hour (including stopping at McDonalds for a cup of coffee) from me. I live straight west across I-76 from Girard. I'll call them and maybe take a drive one day.

We also have Janis Transmission local to me. Vince is well noted for making the OEM autos live behind high horsepower Grand National engines. He also did the transfer case for me in the 2500HD.

aklim

I beat the F-body several times a day with the LPE 383 and it broke the sun shell gear after 4.5 years and most of the soft parts were intact-ish.

IDK about Janis but LPE did recommend Rossler when he tuned my 383.

drcook

I would imagine that different folks are better on specific trans than other people. No matter how good a person is, they can't know every little nuance for each transmission family. While attention to detail can build a good transmission, experience builds a great transmission.

I have to find it again, one of the builds I found showed how to use a dremel and put 4 small relief slots in one of the parts that allows fluid to get to a common failure point. One of the high HP 4L60E builders shared this trick.

Once I pull the heads, if the cylinder walls are pretty good and can get by with a hone, I do believe it is going to become a 377.

383vett

My Rossler 4l60E has been bulletproof for my power levels along with a Precision Industries converter.

aklim

In theory, along certain limited lines, you can combine the best of all tricks to get an even better trans. In practice, this is going to be a big pile of crap. This is what will happen. Assuming nothing goes wrong, it might not work as planned. If something goes wrong, you hold the bag of dog poop. If you find a builder, go with his build and leave it alone. Otherwise, what will happen is he will execute your plan and blame you when things go wrong. Ask me how I know. If Janis builds it, tell him what you want and give him free reign. If Rossler does it, let him tell you what he wants. What you are doing is like taking a great intake, mesh it with a great set of heads and cam. None of these things might work well together since it is a Frankenstein thing now and nobody might stand behind it

drcook

Picking parts out is easy. All a person has do is the research. See what the successful builders are using. Read on the web what breaks. No rocket science in that. It is assembling the parts where the expertise is important and having the correct tools to do the job. I will pay someone for their expertise, no problem with that. Also their investment in tooling as they have spread the cost over lots of jobs, not just one.

Case in point, the 5 gear pinions. OEM ones from GM last, out on the web are reports of aftermarket ones cracking due to a variety of reasons.

It is not rocket science, at least for me it is not. I learned a long time ago when I was building computers on the side (before they got so cheap you couldn't make any money on them) on how to research intercompatibility on parts. You just can go buy a vid card or any other component unless you research the components on the motherboard and what is supported. Same concept.

I also learned a long time ago how much mark up is on parts. I called and priced a brake job on my old 3/4 ton pickup. The guy wanted X amount of dollars just for the parts. I asked him why he was charging me so much for the same parts that I could walk in the same store he just quoted me from and buy them for x amount less. He didn't have anything to say.

aklim

So say you owned a restaurant and I came in with a bag of ingredients and I tell you to cook me a mean with my ingredients and I want you to stand behind that meal, you wanna? I'd pass. Yes, I charge more because if something goes wrong, I have to stand behind it. In this case, I'd tell you to go pick your own parts and build it yourself since you are so good at it and want to cut me out. Sure, I know the auto shop, depending on how much it spends might get a better price at Autozone than I. Sure I know he will mark it up to make some profit. I also know that if I refuse to allow him to make money here, he has 2 choices. He can accept the terms of the job or tell you to stick the parts at some painful location. If he accepts the job, I'd consider him desperate enough that I wouldn't want him or he might find another way to make it back. In either case, why would I use him?

drcook

I have noticed you always tell people on the forum they can't do this, they can't do that. You know, if I mess it up it is on me. Then I just spend more money. If I don't well I will have a good transmission.

It is not rocket science, and yes I HAVE worked on rockets. When the majority of the people on here were still in school, or out messing around or weren't even thinking about driving yet, I was working on guidance systems for nuclear missiles. I was involved in a program that helped bring down the Soviet Union.

I have more of a technical background than most folks from all kinds of precision machining to writing software for tire companies, defense companies, major telecos and a national level bank, so I find it a challenge.

aklim

Let me explain. I have a style most don't like. Doesn't bother me as long as they aren't sleeping with me or writing my check. I am tactless and insensitive and I don't bother to sugar coat. I call it as I see it so until the day I run for office where I have to appeal to people as part of my job description, it isn't necessary. Obviously, if you mess it up, it is going to be on you. OTOH, you can't say "OMG! You had this happen to you. You should have said something at least.". Consider it free advice and you don't have to follow it if you don't like the content or the messenger or the delivery of the message.

Can you bring a pile of parts to somebody for assembly and tell them how to do it? Sure you can. Are you willing to risk them telling you to go to hell (I would if you approached me with that)? If you are, no skin off my chin. Yes, I did that before and the results were, shall we say, less than spectacular and I ended up paying for it IN SPADES. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did. You want to argue with the builder and he says "It failed because you gave me or ordered me to use these parts.", go for it. You want to buy an LPE short block and against their advice, tack on a set of TFS heads which caused an issue and neither TFS nor LPE nor the assembler takes responsibility for the mess? It's not my wallet. You want to have arguments where the builder blames the parts and the parts blames the builder? If that entertains you, I'm fine. You want to pay someone to drop the fuel tank, save a few bucks and use your own pump which fails a couple months later and pay them to redo the job when it gets towed in again, I suppose. In that case, I chose to buy their marked up pump and dinged them for the tow charge and redo. Yes, there was no challenge or excitement in that one incident but I was fine with that.

I probably don't have as illustrious career as you did but I have had enough challenges, aka problems, that I prefer to farm that excitement to the vendor wherever possible. I specify what I want, you deliver as we agreed. It goes south, I hang you with one call to the credit card company. I've had enough of the games where you blame someone else and he blames someone else and so on. If that is boring and lacking in challenge, mea culpa.

Bigpoop

So sorry..

You ask an honest question and have to hear some horseshit restaurant analogy and another using a dremel tool. Good lord.

I've been running 409 rwhp for 2+years with simply increasing line pressure on a stock 1996 trans to 120psi (Software). Smokes on WOT in 1st and barks 1-2. Skip over to the LT1 Camaro forum for more performance insight. This forum is great for polish and waxing advice.

Common mistake of rookie tuners is to change shift speed and/or gear change timing. NO NO

I've "tuned" for YEARS with LT1 edit × HP Tuner and others.

For my 1996 GN with 600 rwhp I had the 200R4 built by a Houston specialst for $2,000 installed. Ran like a CHAMP.

And That is my recommedation.

Point is, get some local recommdations, NOT ON THE INTERWEB. Go to your local 1/8 or 1/4 mile track and start talking.

Best of luck my friend.

Poop