Lentech Valve Body Questions

[macx]

I'm tired of trying to program up and down shifts to happen at the right rpm and the 1-2-OD shift pattern
of my AOD.

I've been looking at the Lentech valve bodies, but
am confused by different info in different mag articles,
and Lentech doesn't really fully explain the differences
in his website. I emailed them a few days ago, but
no answer yet. Are they normally good at responding,
or not, or are they just quite busy? You know how
it is when you want to know something!

Does anybody run a Street Terminator Lockup
and does it modulate the line pressure with the
tv pressure cable & valve, or is it set at a steady
(basically full) line pressure all the time and, if
so, are the shifts annoyingly hard at part throttle?

I'd like shifts that aren't too harsh at normal
part throttle acceleration, but of course want
the firmer shifts under hard/full throttle.

I've got a 2500 lockup stall, and have done some
internal beefing, but don't want to eliminate
lockup in OD because I do lots of hiway miles
and don't want the mileage penalty.

Also, with more torque on tap now with my
new engine, I don't want to risk twisting that
thin inner shaft on a hard 2-3 shift, so like the
idea of rerouting power flow for the 2-3 shift -
but does Lentech use just the fwd clutch, or just
the rev clutch, or a comb of both for the 2-3?

Different articles say different things there.

Thanks for any details you can provide, and
what you think of that Street Term Lockup
valve body.

And, with the right governor, does it shift
at decent rpms, both full throttle up,
AND down? With my shift kit, I have to
force the engine down to 750 rpm with
the brakes to get it to downshift, any gear!
(I might also have a low rpm governor -
while I was away on a job the wife needed
a car & mine was torn apart so she took
the trans to a local shop - I think they
maybe put in a low rpm gov - it now
full throttle shifts 2-3 at only 3500!!)

Thanks!!
__________________

 

[89MustangGX]

They do respond to emails, but Len does it himself and he is an admittedly slow typer.

If you have a lot of questions, call and ask to speak to Len. He will spend some time with you on the phone and make sure you get the right parts.

For the VB, I believe only the Strip Terminator does away with the TV cable, but check with Len on that too to be sure.

 

[TheBocSez]

I can answer some of your questions but some are more technical that I can handle.

I am running a Lentech Street Terminator VB with a non-lock 2800 rpm stall. To be honest, I dont know which version of the street terminator it is since it was already installed when I bought the tranny. I did install the non-lock converter and have had no issues what so ever with the transmission.

Line pressure is controlled by the TV cable. To my knowledge, the only time you can get rid of the TV cable with an AOD is to install a full manual VB which the street terminator is not.

Shifts are firm but not uncomfortable at part throttle and tire spinning at full throttle. For me, they are perfect. One thing I have noticed is that when you come out of OD either by speed reduction or by manually turning it off with the switch, the disengagement is sharp.

I dont know about clutch use and since I have both a non-lock converter and a hardened 3/4 input shaft. I dont really feel that I have issues with twisting the shaft. Not much help there.

As far as shift points. With 4.10's it upshifts at part throttle pretty close to the stock points. At full throttle in D, it shift out of 1st at about 5000 rpm and out of 2nd at a little less, 4800 maybe. But this is using the stock tach so it maybe a little inaccurate. As stated above, not sure about any special govener in the tranz. bought it rebuilt and installed it.

Hope it helped some.

 

[macx]

Yes! Good info.

I'll have to give them a call.
If he answers all his own mail, I can certainly see where that could easily get to be a full time job by itself, and he's got to pay attention to business too.

A couple articles in some of the Mustang mags confused me, one (at least) said that the Street Term Lockup used the tv cable but that line pressure was set at constant near-full
pressure. I thought, like you said, that the tv system controlled line pressure, so that threw me.

I like "firm" part throttle shifts, so that's no probl.
And a reasonably well built trans will hold hard
full throttle shifts (once I get away from the 2-3
with that spaghetti input shaft) and that's where
a lot of the fun quotient lies! What good's a nice
motor if you can't turn it into forward motion?

That sounds about like stock HO Mustang shift
points which would be perfect for me with a
torque peak of around 4000. So, the valve body
basically doesn't screw up the shift points like
some shift kits. How about downshifts? Do they
occur at a useably high rpm rather than having
to force the motor down to a low idle to get
it to downshift?

Thanks for the info! AND glad to hear a "good experience" - sometimes things are hyped up and really don't deliver.