I am looking for an transmission for my 67 Nova sedan that is going to be fitted with an LS1 engine. First stage of build it will be delivering around 500hp. In a year or so it will be made twin turbo and set for 700-800hp. The car will be driven on streets but also do a lot of dragracing.

I have chosen to have one of the following:

TH350 with fully manual reverse pattern, transbrake valve body, rated at around 700-800hp(depending on who i will buy it from) or

TH400 with fully manual reverse valve body but without transbrake rated at 850hp.

The most important is the reverse manual shift which i think is the best to drive with. But will the TH350 do the trick given the light vehicle with light engine or should i go for the TH400 that lacks the transbrake but can handle a bit more? And will the TH400 steal more power than the TH350? Will there be any difference in a TH350 rated at 800hp against an TH400 rated at 800.

I have never driven a car with transbrake and i do not know how much i will use it? How good is it at the strip?

That was quite a lot of questions, i hope someone can help me a little as i cannot decide which to go for.

 

No point in getting a RMVB unless you get a transbrake. There are certain rules you need to obey when driving a RMVB car on the street and downshifting.

 

true about the downshifting but that is like anything you do you get into a pattern of just doing it all the time without thinking about it. if i where you man i would go with a rossler th400 with a T brake and all like you wanted. that kind of power that you are talking about making in the long run i would just do it once the right way and be done with it.

just my .02

 

I'll 2nd the vote to go Th400 and Rossler. I run one of his TH400's in my car and had him setup 2nd gear so I don't have to worry about the overrun when downshifting to 2nd. I still follow proper procedure when downshifting, but it's one less thing to worry about.

 

Definitely go with the th400. You won't have to spend as much to beef it up either.

 

I know about the issues of driving manual valve body on the street, but as someone pointed out, this should just be a matter of getting used to it. I like the ides of the manual shift but i am not all that sure that this is what i absolutely need. Thought about sticking to auto shift..

Seems like you all agree on the TH400. I have actually looked on one fram ebay and havent seen Rossler's transmission until you mentioned it. They seem to be fair in price but there are no HP ratings on the site. Then i have to mail them to get to know how much power each of them can take.

I also had a third option which is to go with an automatic TH400 rated at 850hp. But how will this do on the strip? It will propably be more nice to cruise around with since you can put it in Drive and just cruise along. But will i still be able to pull good ET's on the strip. There must be someone running on the strip with a lot of horsepower that does not have transbrake or reverse shift patterns?

 

If I were to buy one rather than build it myself, I wouldn't buy anything other than ATI.

 

What or who it ATI? - *edit

Google found out for me

ATI also have both the 350 and 400. Are you guys sure a well buildt 350 would not be enough for me. I am sure the TH400 will last forever almost but would a well buildt 350 not do the same when put into a light vehicle like the Nova with the light ls1 engine? I know the 700-800 hp i will throw at it later on propably will stress it. But aren't anybody else running these transmissions with that amount of power?

I know i have a lot of questions but i hope you can help me in the right direction. As one of you said i rather buy the right transmission first time!

 

If you are looking for max output and don't mind the risk of a rebuild, go with the TH350. It is a little lighter and easier to turn, so you will get a little more power to the ground.

If you want maximum reliability, go with the TH400.

 

I think mine is the terminator 2. I know Rossler said mine is rated for 1000 ish hp. He also said some people use them in the 1100-1200 hp range but it's not reccomended, a lot depends on setup. Light cars can get away with more. I absolutely love my transmission. It drives and shifts absolutely perfectly and it sees a lot of street time.

 

for 500 hp id stick with a 350.
a quality built piece with a good drum/sprag will last forever.
if you just want added insurance of safety, add the weight and the powerloss, go with the TH400.

FYI, i recently purchased a th350 and i was set on a ATI until i called them and there is 150 core charge, and then 100 to crate it up and then 60 to ship.
310 bucks over the actual price of the tranny wasnt what i was looking for.
good luck!

 

I have recently ordered a Rossler RMVB T-braked TH400. There was about a 1 month waiting list for Rossler though...he's a popular guy when it comes to well built trannies. A lot of people trust his work.