I’m not seeing what the advantage would be with a full manual valve body besides maybe the trans not shifting up or down at the right time because of low vacuum. Is that the biggest issue?
I think the real reason is that it makes you feel like your car is really racey. I see no purpose to a manual valve body in a street car, unless you have something like Mr. Forbes you use for drag and drive. Then again I don't see the point of floor shifter for an automatic. I'd rather have the floor room. I can shift my automatic trans into any gear I want anyways. That's good enough for my use. To make the owner feel like he drives a high performance machine.
If you had an intake setup that didn’t have manifold vacuum such as a old hilborn mechanical injection or even 4 Webers, neither have a plenunm so manifold vacuum signal is difficult, a manual shift valve body may be a good idea.
I agree with that, but you can always shift manually anyways. I do when my trans is cold. It’s erratic for the first 5-10 miles, after that I can leave it in D and it’s fine. Maybe the manual valve body jacks up the line pressure so it really slams it into gear? Best thing I did with my C6 was install the R-code servo. Really tightened up the 2-3 shift that would flare when you were hard on it.
The more knobs and switches the better. About a year ago I had to get a rent car and they wanted to put me in some kind of newer Mopar. I got in to check it out and saw that the gear selector was a big knob like what comes on a clothes washer. I got out and said, "Naw. That's an appliance. Put me in a car of some sort".
I ran one in my 67 Chevy II wagon. It was a standard pattern shift. Loved it. The trans was a T-700-4R. I HATED that transmission. The first to second gear shift sucked. making it a full manual, at least relieved some of that, by allowing me to start from a stop in..."second" gear . I used first for getting on the freeway. And NO, none that I've ever heard of will "automatically" down-shift. I just bought a 10 second...street car that has a full manual, reverse pattern, shift sequence. Looking forward to putting some miles on it. Mike
With a full manual valve body, you can run a later model electronic transmission without needing to use a TCM. These transmissions are probably a bit OT here though.......
Exactly, and I drag race my coupe. Fun on the street, wicked on the track. I also have a trans brake.
We can do that with both of our daily drivers, my wife's 300C and my All Black Dodge Ram, 5 speed and 8 speeds respectively. They both have full manual shift options, the Chrysler on the shifter and the Ram on the steering wheel. I've tried it with both, and find it annoying, but I guess if you want to do it, that's OK with me.
Right now it has the old 4L-60 (NON E).(700R4) It has an OD in the top gear. Wonder if...........with manual valve body would I still have the OD feature? Thanx guys..........good info so far 6sally6
There are 2 kinds of Manual Valve Bodies. Over the course of the last 2 seasons, I have owned both. The first is a MVB in a Performance-Built Automatic Transmission installed in a Performance Based Hot Rod. I had this in a '32 3 Window Coupe I owned. The "Auto" was fully Manual with a loose convertor behind a 540ci BBC. This car was a blast to drive and, as others have stated, the shifting made it even more fun. The second was in a '40 Ford I purchased. "It has a manual valve body" was the message when I bought the car. I thought, that it was weird to have a MVB behind a 283. Turns out, the transmission was simply an automatic with the modulator removed and plugged with a wine cork. No shit! The rest of the car was equally cobbled. It has taken over a year to right these wrongs. Not fun to drive or clean up after considering it leaked like a sieve. I certainly recommend the earlier version if you are going to do it. No longevity problems provided quality parts and craftsmanship is exercised. Good luck!!
A 4L80e is a good overdrive option for big power Chevy applications. An electronic box is essentially the same as an older box. Just the shifting is done with solenoids.
Newsflash.... some people are running more than 95 hp. Some run WAY more. And I did point out that an "e" box is not traditional. Even manual valve body talk is borderline. What's your point?
That basically all your arguments for it are way OT for the subject matter here. Many guys here are running flatheads or sbc's in a street application. Far from the high-power application you mentioned.
No arguements for it. Just info. But thanks for getting me on the straight and narrow. Appreciate it.
I think if you have a need for one, as Jim mentioned, use one. But for (imo-and not having used one) a cruiser, basic ride, etc, I don’t see the purpose.
thanks! Another thing about having a manual valve body, if you drag race, you can do a burnout starting in 3rd gear...which works out well if you don't have a line loc.
The trick is to think about it from a manual transmission mindset. It's a manual with which it's harder to stall or miss gears. Reverse pattern seems more intuitive to me, especially with a ratchet shifter. Not only does pulling back for upshifts feel right to me, only ratcheting twice to alternate between reverse and first should be more practical for low-speed manoeuvres. Engine braking in all gears is often a by-product of clean neutral. That'd be on my wish list, as would a lock-up converter, as that makes going deeper into high stall feasible. A thought I had: using a ball valve as circle track racers used to do, as a "finesse pedal" to allow rev-matching on downshifts etc. It also puts neutral right under your left foot when you need it.
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