ausls1

I'm currently building a 2002 ls1 into a 383 stroker, hoping for roughly 450-500rwhp.

May do FI mods later on and push to 800-900rwhp depending.

I'm trying to work out if its worth rebuilding my 4l60e or do a conversion like a 4l80e, th400 or a glide.
Manual has been suggested to me but i like the cruise factor of an auto and can hit the gas when i want with out having to down shift my self etc.

And if so what would be required for a conversion?

Its a late 2002 holden commodore, basically a 4 door version of the 02/04 pontiac gto's (not sure which year they came out in the states).

its a weekend car but will see some day to day driving every now and then as well as the strip a couple of times a year.
Will have a convertor in the 3500-4000rpm range and 3.9 diff gears (not sure if that helps).

Thanks in advance, Any more info required let me know.

F-BodyMind

iTrader: (12)

Id say go with a 4l80e which i believe is basically a 4 speed th400. I personally would hate having only 3 gears. There is a few threads on here that explain the conversion in detail. Try searching "4l80e conversion" in the automatic transmission section, that should give you an idea. Im sure its not all that different from a GTO or f-body.

Tank2260

If you get it rebuilt it COULD handle that power, but the better idea is to move up to the 4l80e which can be made almost indestructible. You won't have much to worry about once the car is going down the road/track.

ausls1

Sweet that sounds like a plan, did a quick search but didn't find what I wanted the other day, will search that and see what comes up. Yeh like I said its just a 4 door version of the 04-07/8 gto's.

ausls1

Reliability is what I want, don't want to be driving with hope it holds up in the back of my mind on long road trips and track work once or twice a year.

mred

iTrader: (5)

You gotta be honest with yourself,what's your goal or plans with the car.
A 4l60 can be built to handle your combo under the circumstances of weather you track the car often or street race the car.
4l60 will require 2 different styles of build up.
Track cars are far from bullet proof.
Straight track use will last for a short while and will require alot of attention and more $$$$
Street build will last but will be not be cheap either.
You can't have your cake and ice cream....
Find the right builder and he can guide in the right direction.
Good luck
Ed

ausls1

yeh hearing a lot of horror stories, i'm going to put a convertor in mine and shift kit and see how it goes, and make plans, if i go FI will need it to handle 700+rwhp, or round 500 hp n/a. Going to talk to a few places and go from there, thought about a manual but i like the auto for cruising even with cruise control.
This is a weekend car so wont be driven all the time but when driven will get a decent work out. Motor is currently getting built to a 383 stroker and decent cam.

So see how the trans holds up, i service it every 20,000km's so should be ok for a bit, just want to look at some alternatives if it says good buy. Had a mate who's friends have had there's built a number of times and blown up and there not pushing big power.