TH350 Full manual valve bodies on the street?

[hardline_42]

Anyone out there running full manual valve bodies on a street driven car? I'm dropping a 400 sbc and TH350 combo in my 81 camaro and I'm thinking about a full-manual reverse-pattern valve body for the tranny. This is my first automatic car and I miss the ability to shift at will. I don't mind the constant downshifting at stops but I hear that manual valve bodies on the street are bad ideas, especially when it comes to downshifting at high RPM's. My question is, what is the best way to have a reverse pattern shifter with atleast part-time manual control without risking having to rebuild my tranny after an hour in stop-n-go traffic? Thanks.

Brian

[NJSPEEDER]

i haven't had one personally....yet but i do know several people who have used manual valve bodies on the street and ran them for years with out issue. it is just like any other auto trans, if it is built properly it will last.

[Slow 88]

No problems here!

[Injuneer]

I run a TH400 with a reverse pattern manual valve body, and its a lot of fun to drive on the street. I'm not aware of any problems with driving it on the street. You will find there is nothing in the way of compression braking when you shift to a lower gear on coastdown. That was a bit of a surprise..... I'm like you.... NEVER owned a performance car with an automatic tranny, so when the TH400 replaced the T56, it was no big deal to keep shifting the gears. I do miss the rumble of the exhaust that you get with downshifting the T56 though.

[radialtireking]

Had a full manual valve body in my car for the past 6 years. Never had any issues driving it on the street.

[camaroracer1992]

ive had a rev man valve body in my th700r4 for 3 years now and no issues. my valve body doesnt have engine braking in it. only thing you gotta watch is to make sure you dont down shift too fast with it or start out in second gear or else you will burn out the clutches in it

[Pampered-Z]

I ran one in my Challenger back in the late 70s/early 80s and I did have problems with it braking the shaft for reverse, but that was a known problem with the mopars. I liked the MVB, specially with the full race trans and 4800 stall convertor the car chirped the tires every gear change. 8)

[unstable bob gable]

I have a full manual reverse valve body equipped 200R4 in my AMX, and I love it. It really is lots of fun to drive. And I find when I downshift from 3rd to 2nd that I do get a compression braking effect going on.