My 1938 Chevy Business Coupe with a 502ci GM Performance engine is now under construction and my builder suggests that we go with a 4L80E transmission. I want to use an "old-school" style floor shifter (e.g. B&M or Hurst) and I want the tranny to shift manually through the 1, 2, & 3 positions but shift automatically in the Drive position. I notice that Hughes Transmission offers a fully manual 4L80E but their on-line description states that this tranny is "fully manual in all modes". So, can someone out there enlighten me about the possibility of getting what I want from the 4L80E..??
The 4L80E uses solenoid valves to shift. It either needs an external computer or switches to manually operate these valves to shift. All the shifter does is move the gear indicator switch to tell the ECU what gear you are supposed to be in. The trans does have a normal shift arm that you can connect to an aftermarket shifter to (the factory shifter in my truck uses a cable), but you still need the computer.
I had this same dilemma, and, after searching around the only unit I found (that offered three modes: standard shifting, "gate or ratchet" style, and paddle) was the TCI Outlaw:
As mentionned earlier, you need a computer for a 4L80E anyway.
You also need the mechanical gear linkage to, as also mentionned earlier, tell the computer switches which gear you ant to be in.
So, if I understand your question correctly, you can manually shift your 4L80E as any other auto trans: shifter in first, trans will stay in first; shifter in second, trans will only do first and second, etc... Shifter on 4, trans does all the shifting.
So all you need is a 7-position(4-3-2-1-N-R-P) shifter, with some sort of positive locking mechanism so you can shift by hand without skipping a gear accidentally. Many an "old school" shifter as you mention should work fine.
Remember also that the 4L80E is programable/tuneable via the computer, it is pretty cool to choose your lock-up RPM, shift hardness, shift RPM... to what you really love.
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