stilealive

Well, its in, got the tuning done today. Its pretty damn awesome. Its a Level 4, 1400 HP rated. I only have 400 RWHP, but that change is coming soon.

-Used my factory LS drive shaft, fits perfectly.
-1998 PCM with Frost 60E-80E wiring harness. (works as advertised, plug it in and thats it....)

WARNING: This swap is a friggin pain in the ***....People that say its easy are full-o-crapola.....My installer wanted to burn the car a few times...LOL It was his first swap, but he had write ups and he knows his stuff with FBodys.
Lots of grinding and cutting to make it fit. I mean grinding ALSO on the tranny mount, crossmember brace, oil pan, torque arm, and other parts, of course the exhaust needs some adjusting, its just temporarily connected again and in place, Banjo cooler fittings DID NOT work they leaked like crazy, we needed ICT straight -6an cooler fittings with 90* turns to clear the tunnel and have the hoses properly placed and mounted.

So...its absolutely a faster, quicker, better pulling car with this 4L80E.....than it was 2 weeks ago with my 4L60E. Who knows why.......its definitely heavier. But this was my guess that it would be faster.........

I went to the 1/4 mile track and ran it several times with the 4L60E late last year.......when I get a chance I'll go to palm Beach and do it again. My car dead hooked almost WOT from the launch with the 4L60E so if I get traction again it will be a unarguable accurate test.......absolutely nothing is different except the tranny swap. So we'll get some 1/4 mile comparisons. But it definitely feels faster tonight after tuning it.......

Questions:
Anyone know how to make the gear shifter be more tight into each detent for each gear....? Now it goes into each detent, but its a little loose and real easy to push into another detent while driving.

Where to connect an aftermarket tranny fluid temp gauge? We never got over 189*F doing our runs tonight, but I want to be able to watch it regularly.

Is there a dust/debri cover of some kind for the area where the flex plate and TC are located? Its a huge opening.....fluid

My tranny builder gave me a deep pan. Do I need to use it for normal daily driving.......? Or just leave the regular pan on it thats there now until I do my boost project...?

How many miles to put on it before I do a fluid and filter change?



Thanks.

MY_2K_Z

iTrader: (1)

I did the 80e swap myself and it was easy. I repinned my harness myself and smacked the area where the harness hits the body with a hammer and it fit great. You do have to cut the "ears" off the sides of the trans but it takes about 2 minutes with a sawzall.

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

Trans dust cover is actually structural so I would it on. This similar to what you need but I would contact the trans builder to see what year the case is.

E-bay Cover


You have a lot of money in the trans and more fluid is not a bad thing but you don't have to have it, You just have to make sure you can keep it cool.
I would ask the builder, He probably has a suggested time for a fluid and filter change.

MaroonMonsterLS1

Stock pan is fine
Built properly you shouldn't have to do a fluid change for quite a while. But changing it more often than not isn't going to hurt a thing.

KEEP IT COOL. monitor trans temps and shoot to keep them under 185 at all times. going over 185 won't kill the trans but it's a good target to shoot for so you know if your cooler is adequate.

ddnspider

iTrader: (26)

Assuming the 4l60e wasn't slipping and was working properly, the 4l80e is not a faster transmission unless you had traction issues with the 4L60e (you said you didn't).

4L60e gear ratios
1-3.059
2-1.625
3-1
4-.696

4L80e gear ratios
1-2.48
2-1.48
3-1
4-.75

MaroonMonsterLS1

Depends alot on converter @ddnspider
and the 1-2 split is much more favorable with the 80e

an 80e with a properly matched gear/converter can easily be faster than a 60e with mismatched gear/converter.

the 80e is only about 45lbs heavier and "robs" less than 15 horse

ddnspider

iTrader: (26)

I'm talking apples to apples. You can't compare a stock stalled 4L60e to a 3600 4L80e obviously. The 1-2 split may be narrower on the 80e, but the 60e still has higher ratios meaning there is more acceleration.

stilealive

I'm so new to the 4L80E I did not know that existed. Thanks. Mine is a PN 24208421 case. I look that up and the years are all over the map........I think its a 2007 case.

stilealive

Plus, I only need to drive this car for a couple months, then hopefully the shop here in town can take my car for my F1X kit. So I just plan on driving it around normally till then.

I'll have them put the deep pan on it during that project.

The temps yesterday during our 10-15 normal drives......temps stayed in the 160's. It only jumped up the 180's after a hard run, like 40-130mph.

stilealive

Thats why I said FEELS faster........I'll tell you one thing for sure, 1st gear pulls harder and longer....and so does 2nd but not as much.

I have an FTI Triple disc 3200 stall. Feels very tight for hard pulls.

I'll get to the track soon hopefully and see what the ETS/MPH look like.

stilealive

FTI triple disc 3200

I spoke to FTI when I ordered it and told them I will be doing 99.99% highway pulls...40/50mph to 160mph. And I want it built for a future 1,200 RWHP. So they sent me this converter.

I know feeling can be different than actual......but it clearly without a doubt feels quicker, faster, smoother......everything is just better. And when I drive it very casually it shifts like a luxury car......I give throttle hard and the gears hit hard and shift very fast.

MaroonMonsterLS1

Not always how it really works, but I see where you're coming from

vorteciroc

Guys...

The Ring and Pinion ratio has to be discussed as well.

Should the vehicle have a 2.73:1 ratio differential; the wider ratio 4L60E will have a more prominent 1-2 shift over the 4L80E.
However; should the vehicle have a 4.30:1 ratio differential; the wider ratio 4L60E will be practically indistinguishable from the 4L80E.

It is all very relative...

stilealive

So in my case, 3:73 gears, 3200 stall.....should it pull better.........

vorteciroc

IMO there is very little change between the two transmissions with 3.73:1 gears.

Generally vehicles that do not have engines producing a good amount of low RPM torque would benefit from the wider gear ratio 4L60E...
In that same vain... the closer ratio 4L80E would benefit an engine producing more low RPM torque/ or more torque over all...

With 3.73:1 gears, there is enough multiplication done at the differential that the transmission gearing is less relevant.

Two vehicles that are identical except in transmission type (4L60E vs 4L80E) with 600 HP LS3 engines, 4.10:1 gears in a 12 bolt and 30" diameter tires would drag one another and the track times would be very similar.
The main factor in this case would be traction. In my experience the 4L60E vehicle will have far worse traction from first gear through second.

stilealive

First gear I cannot go too hard on the throttle...it just spins. 62% throttle just broke loose. After it hooks and I can slowly go WOT and then second hits it really feels like it pulls harder through 2nd then the 60E did. I have a feeling at the track 1st gear is going to be really sweet for the launch if I dead hook like I did with the 4L60E.

ddnspider

iTrader: (26)

There is no arguing that the 4l60e's steeper 1st and 2nd gear will accelerate faster assuming you can hook. Like I said, compare apples to apples. You can't say the 80e is faster because it hooks....that just means that it isn't setup right to use the additional torque multiplication.

stilealive

I hear ya......we'll see. Hopefully I can get to the track soon. ET and MPH will tell the story if its quicker/faster.

stilealive

So how hard is it to set the proper pinion angle...?

Its vibrating after about 60mph.......and gets bad. Then cruising steady at other lower speeds it comes and goes.

stilealive

Another question:

I have an 11" x 11" fluid cooler now. Will I create any issue with flow from the tranny pump, line pressure...anything..........if I run two of these coolers in series?

If its not an issue, I have room for two coolers in series the way I'll be setting things up later.....and I will do the two coolers later also.