I just remembered, there is a tail shaft housing available that accomodates a Corvette driveline support beam. It is made by The Turbo Shop, in Cali, Steve Cole I believe is the guys name. I tried several times to get one from him, but he would always tell me he was out of stock, or needed to get one machined. I finally gave up and made my own.

I believe if you look at their website there is a picture of one.

 

Have you looked into a 4L65e transmission? It solves all the weak points of the 4L60e and 700R4 transmissions. You could then get that transmission built to handle high horsepower.

 

You can put a torque converter in a TH400, some manufacturers make units that fit both the 350 and 400.

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=547616

http://www.twinturbovette.net/Updates.html


[Modified by reallycoolcorvette, 3:08 AM 2/7/2004]

 

Sorry, CFI-EFI, what I was talking about that you had said was the manual part. I should have seperated the part about robbing horsepower.

Seperate here: Why is the cost part coming in here? If we wanted to save money wouldn't we all be driving Hyunday's?

Locking torque converters? Who needs 'em? It's not that big a deal to be the decision maker as far as I'm concerned. So you get what, a couple hundred rpm drop when it locks up? Okay then. I don't see that as being the determinate for which way to go.

 

No Prob.

I am not advocating one trans over the other. I merely wanted to point out that neither conversion was either simple or cheap.

"Who needs 'em?" You do. It isn't as simple as just a couple of hundred rpm drop. With an overdrive, your engine runs at lower rpms. With a performance set up, you are likely to have a higher stall converter. Between the two, you will end up cruising down the highway with major converter slippage. Major slippage, equals major heat. Major heat, equals minor transmission life. Have you EVER seen a factory overdrive trans WITHOUT a lockup converter? Think about it.

RACE ON!!!

 

I am going to do it on my 1984 Corvette.
I have a 4L80E HD long and a TCI T-Com controler.
http://www.tciauto.com/electronics/
http://jobyteknik.homeip.net/corvette/2003-10-13_4L80E/

John Meaney's 1989 1,300hp Twin Turbo Corvette has a 4L80E http://www.erie.net/~gfalbert/johnm.htm

Jerry Myers' 1987 Twin Turbo Corvette has a 4L80E http://www.twinturbovette.net/Updates.html

Monty's 1982 1200HP/1000TQ Twin Turbo SBC 427 Corvette has a 4L80E http://www.montygwilliams.com/

 

I wasn't speakng against such a project, just pointing out some of the pitfalls, for the unaware. I know YOURS will turn out right, JoBy. good luck, and...

RACE ON!!!

 

I dunno. I have a 2400rpm converter. I have a 3.07 Dana44 rear diff. I have a large B&M supercooler trans cooler. Lockup converters havn't been around forever and I don't know if there was a huge problem with overheating before they arrived. I wonder how just having an overdrive would make a trans overheat if you didn't have a lockup converter? I guess I just don't know enough about all this stuff. Here's a clip from my web site about tranny temps from my limited experience: I ran four hard laps on the road coarse the other day, 85 degrees ambiant temps, and when I pulled into the pit I grabbed my temp gun and shot it at the tranny pan and it was 179 degrees. I don't have a tranny temp guage now. I had one but it was malfunctioning so I have resorted to the gun. I trust the gun. I also ran 8 laps hard with about 10-15 minutes wait between each lap. Ambiant temps were 80. Each run was a little over 2 miles. I never shut off the engine while waiting for my next run. After my last run I pulled into the pits and grabbed the temp gun. 185 degrees.

I'm certainly convinced that a 4l80e would be a great tranny to install and I'm glad people are doing it. The more people that do it I would think the more availability of parts to make it work in our C4's. But, I sure am happy with my trans and have no reservations about recommending it to my closest friends.

 

I installed a Th40 into my corvette last summer, cost me about 700 for the rebuild heavy duty plus the TQ convertor and then maybe 75 bucks on aluminum to convert the stock C beam a little. Thing is Just to give me piece or mind, I used 2 flat 2.5inch wide by 30inch or so 1/2inch thick plates of aluminum. One on top of the Cbeam and one on the bottom just to give it more strength.

I read somewhere that a 1/2inch plate of aluminum has the strenght of 1/4inch plate of steel but considerably lighter. Anyway it took me about a week( 1.5-2hrs a day) to get it all togther, a little grinding here and there but it came out pretty good.

I heard that the 4l80e weighed 300lbs compared to about 200 for the 700r4's?

 

AMEN ! It is only logic. No special knowledge required.

An overdrive trans can cause overheating in a non-lock up situation, because when the transmission shifts into overdrive, the engine rpms, drop. That is the reason, purpose, of the overdrive. As the rpms drop closer to, or deeper into the converters stall range, the conveter slips more. More slippage equals more heat. A lock up converter doesn't slip, when it is locked, regardless of the stall speed. That is why they call them "lock up converters".

My car cruises down the highway at 2000 rpms. I have a 2600 rpm, stall converter. Without a lock up, the trans would overheat quickly and cook the trans.

RACE ON!!!

 

I run a non lockup converter now...it's not that big of a deal to me. I run a pretty heavy duty tranny cooler and my trany temp never goes over 200.

I wouldn't recommend a non lockup to any daily drivers but for racing I think they are better. The only down side to my non lockup is the gas. With all the crap I got on the car and the non lockup I get about 10mpg.


[Modified by zelement, 6:17 PM 2/8/2004]

 

u have a th400 or 700????? theres also a 4l60e are u sure u dont mean this one the 4l80e is a truck tranny i think

 

I do have to admit, when my lock up converter wasn't working on my trannys I toasted a few of them. That's why I lost 2 or 3 of the 6 trannys last year.


[Modified by mn_vette, 2:40 PM 2/10/2004]

 

Did you have cooler? Or do you monitor the temp at all?

 

Light84, so you installed a 400 trans in your 84 without overdrive? What's it like driving it without the OD?

Paul

 

And he doesn't have a locking torque converter either.

 

Here is some links of the mods. A fellow member did the conversion. Had some troubles with his motor and ended up saelling th car.
http://bowtye8.tzo.com/hovmovies/pics/tom4l80etn.htm
http://bowtye8.tzo.com/hovmovies/pic...es/tom87vette/

Dennis


[Modified by BOWTYE8, 6:18 PM 2/11/2004]