standard trans

[gimpymcss]

this post is for afriend of mine building a gutted 85 monte ss. hes rebuilding a 454 may be pushing around 500 hp. he dont wanna hear the automatic route. any recomendations. i think he currently has a munci i think an m22 or 1 of those versions, also considering dragging it. any info i can pass would be greatly appreciated. also give some automatic input if desired.



thanks much

 

[NOSjohnWE4]

trans

gimpy,
it's a trade off. i have a manual valve body automatic trans in my monte and it gets great 60 foot times as well as ET's. (12.80's consistant before the #3 exhaust valve went). consistancy is the key to racing. i feel with an automatic and a nice big trans cooler, you will have nice even ET's...no wavering 12.90 here, 11.10 there, 12.80...get the picture? i see it a lot...especailly with a big block which is going to put a bit more heat to the trans with the amount of torque they are capable of producing.

the nice part about a stick car is that you can launch the bastard wherever you want provided you have a good clutch in it.
the dudes over at Car Craft were launching a new Camaro SS somewhere near 5500 RPM. as far as consistancy goes, it's tougher to be consistant with a stick although i've seen some do it (with years and years of racing).

if he's talking of putting in a 454 (don't know specs) i would try and direct him to a TH400 trans although i've seen 200r4's and TH350 live behind mild ones for a while with nominal power (450-600 horse). again, it depends on what he wants to do. if he's just going to cruise the streets then build a 200r or th350 - they weigh less and cost less (uh, maybe not vs. a 200r) than building a th400. i hope this helps...later.