manual valve body

[luckythirteen13]

been thinking about putting in a manual valve body but have a few questions.
will it help the trans shift faster? i would think since it flows oil better right?
what type of shifter would i use, ratchet?
how hard would it be to put all this in while in my driveway without a lift (jack and stands is all i have)?
ive heard of a company that makes manual valve bodies that have an auto setting so you dont have to do the shifting when you dont want to. the name lentech (sp?) sounds familiar but not sure. any one know what im talking about?

 

[Modular2v]

the manual valvebody makes it so you HAVE TO shift the car manually! yes you will notice the tranny shifts 100% better....you can use your stock shifter....L=1st d=2nd OD= 3rd and then for your fourth gear there are directions that come with most manual valve bodies for the aod that show you how to wire in a switch. when the switch is flipped on you are automatically put into overdrive/fourth gear

 

[Modular2v]

oh and it is extremely easy to......yes you must have some mechanical skill.......lentech is a good company too

 

[bobbys9350]

whats up Jeremy! Yea, The name is Lentech. They make an AWESOME valvebody! its fully auto, but then hit a button and its FULL manual with OD lockout~! im gonna get one and prolly get a UILT tranny from them also, BTW the VB is $400 TTY on AIM.

 

[luckythirteen13]

what type of mechanical skill? able to do a head swap skills or top fuel car crew chief skills?
after suspension, a some tranny work would be nice. i already have a high stall converter, shift kit and trans cooler but i want it to shift harder and faster

 

[89MustangGX]

The skill involved isn't terrible -- hardest part is probably drilling/tapping the hole for the wire(s) to run through the case of the tranny. The rest is simply taking out bolts and keeping track of which ones go where (different lengths, that's all).

Lentech makes several different VBs. The more street oriented one is still automatic, but will allow you to shift 1-2-3 (electric OD) manually, or leave it auto. The race oriented one is full manual all the time and you must shift it yourself. The street is nice and will definitely do what you want it to. The race is harsh and is like a full throttle powershift at every single shift no matter what speed you are going. The full manual also has an optional transbrake.

You can call and talk to Len, he is very helpful and will lead you in the right direction.

I have a full manual Lentech myself (strip terminator) w/ brake. I am switching to a T5, but I don't think you could get a better VB for an AOD. I can't imagine shifting as fast in my T5, but I miss banging the gears myself.

 

[bobbys9350]

why would u switch!?!?!?

 

[Modular2v]

why would u switch!?!?!?

sometimes nothin can replace the feeling of a clutch ...yeah the mechanical skill i was talking about isnt too tough! you might as well replace the tranny filter while your in there ( it hangs of the bottom of the valvebody) and there are three different lengthed bolts holding the valvebody on if i can remember....there are like 20 bolts total lol

 

[SilverFoxbody]

Lentech sucks....great products, the rest sucks though IMHO....only from expereince from others and the fact that they are GREAT salesman. You can't hardly call them without buying somthing

 

[inklvr]

Replaceing a vb is very simple. Jack stands are fine to take it out, I just took out the whole trans and rebuilt it with only jack stands (and some 4x4's stacked on top ). I think the worst part is the fluid all over. It will never drip exactly where you want it to. Lay plastic under the car, easy clean up. Put bolts in a cup as you take them out so none roll or get kicked around. There's 2 different size bolts, you can tell where the longer and shorter ones go. Make sure to tighten them down exactly to the right #'s. Good Luck!

 

[Foxfan88]

I went in a ride in some guys 12 sec olds a while back, he spent thousands on it its a nice street car, i asked his tranny, i forgot what he said but he said it was about the best tranny money could buy, plus he has a full manual VB. When just even cruising the shifts were so fast and crisp.. I mean the shift was instant, hard to explain but its cool.

 

[luckythirteen13]

sounds like a pretty dam easy install. ill defenitly give lentech a call about it

 

[BlownStangGT]

Yeah the install is not hard at all, and this is much better then adding a shift kit, this will help ur tranny out big time!

 

[luckythirteen13]

i already have a shift kit, high stall converter and trans cooler so im hoping to see some quick shifts

 

[89MustangGX]

i already have a shift kit, high stall converter and trans cooler so im hoping to see some quick shifts

The shift kit and the vb will definitely feel different. I have a shift kit in my F150 (AOD) and the Lentech in my Mustang (AOD) and they are not even close.

 

[luckythirteen13]

how exactly does a shift kit work? just a vb that flows better?

 

[Modular2v]

a shift kit is a spring change a a little bit of boring on the valve bodie and relocation of the balls......while a valve body is a whole new unit alltogether

 

[inklvr]

I cringe now whenever someone says they're putting in a shift kit. I totally fried my trans with in 5 miles after putting one in. It was real bad. If you are doing it yourself, make sure your tv cable is set correctly. If I could do it over, I'd have bought a new vb instead of a shift kit. A $60 project turned into about $700 and my car down for 2 months.

 

[DTT92LX]

I cringe now whenever someone says they're putting in a shift kit. I totally fried my trans with in 5 miles after putting one in. It was real bad. If you are doing it yourself, make sure your tv cable is set correctly. If I could do it over, I'd have bought a new vb instead of a shift kit. A $60 project turned into about $700 and my car down for 2 months.

Inklvr, what did you do wrong on your install? Why did the tranny go? Was it just the TV cable that needed or should have been adjusted? Many shift kits installed and working fine in these forums. Might help someone else if we knew what to look out for when installing them...

 

[Modular2v]

i drove mine about a mile before i realized the tv cable was off lol