So I am slowly starting towards this swap. I think the biggest question I have is will a 4l80e handle the power i am planning on putting to it. I know they use it in the vans but they arent really what i would consider a hot rod. Talked to a few people some said 4l80e and some said a 6 speed from a viper perhaps. what do you guys think? I really dont want to add the clutch pedal even though i think a 6 speed would be cool.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/garage.php?do=view&g=1817

The general consensus is yes and no. Yes it can take the power, but not in 4th gear. This is if you have a fully built one though, a stock one won't take too much abuse(ask lotsofmiles about his in his van). The 9 second DURAMAX MUSTANG is using one as well as the DURAMAX GRAND NATIONAL. I've heard that MIKE L is trying to get the weak links out of the 4L85E so it can hold up to a DURAMAX for racing purposes, but you would have to ask him to see if he is or not.

alright i will resource him! thanks

just installed a new rear end. It is a a-body 12 bolt with 35 spline moser axles and spool, 4.33 pro gears, aluminum girdle cover, wilwood disc's

no updates?

well i have kinda put this on the back burner till i get my dually done. should have it complete in a couple weeks. i am still looking for the right deal on a motor as well. I do have a junk bare block that i am using to make the motor mounts. ill post up a couple pics with where i am at with it soon.

The general consensus is yes and no. Yes it can take the power, but not in 4th gear. This is if you have a fully built one though, a stock one won't take too much abuse(ask lotsofmiles about his in his van). The 9 second DURAMAX MUSTANG is using one as well as the DURAMAX GRAND NATIONAL. I've heard that MIKE L is trying to get the weak links out of the 4L85E so it can hold up to a DURAMAX for racing purposes, but you would have to ask him to see if he is or not.

I never had any problems with 4th gear, converters on the other hand were a big issue.

LB7 right ?

LB7 right ?

depends on what i find for the price. but yes i am mostly leaning on an lb7.

sorry guys no updates yet. been heller busy with vacation and working out of town and the dually and my sons 1st bday coming up.

Post pics of the car when you get bored....

okay ill try to get some up in the next couple weeks. it hasnt changed much as im still motor searching.

Whats your budget, I may have access to some take outs... not sure about a LB7 probably newer and with trannies....

well id like to just find an lbz short block thats in good shape for under a grand or a long block for a little more. dont really need the tranny unless its a 2wd 4l80e out of a van. if you come up with something let me know.

well i made a phone call today and i believe i have found my lbz base. its a top burn engine out of a total. actually fire does not look to have made its way much past the injector lines. gonna have to drive a few miles to pick it up but thats half the fun anyway. ill post up pics if i end up with it.

:d

I got it bought today. Going to pick it up next Wednesday. Going to do a little work on it this weekend. Will post my progress. Also am gonna get ready to have my buddy mini tub it about 2.5".

pic of the rearend

well i made a phone call today and i believe i have found my lbz base. its a top burn engine out of a total. actually fire does not look to have made its way much past the injector lines. gonna have to drive a few miles to pick it up but thats half the fun anyway. ill post up pics if i end up with it.

Where did the engine come from? What is the VIN?

Its in columbus oh. Its an lbz, don't know the vin.

plan on running the 1/8 gears are to low for 1/4!

yes that is the idea right now. i know it sounds crazy but i would love to be able to run a couple osca events with it which are 1/8 mile events. eventually will gear swap for a taller set and probly a 4l80 so i can street drive it some as well.

well here it is! Its in awesome shape. 4 injector tops are melted, glow plug module, high pressure lines on 4 bad injectors, wiring harness, most of the top stuff is junk. looks like the filter head started leaking and caught fire. i think it was worth 8 benji's and a road trip.

Man i can't wait to see this in the Malibu.I have a 79 with a 383 and 4 speed.It was an original 6 cyl auto car.Check out www.malibuthunder.com

have you ever looked at a tci 6x its a 4l80 turned 6 speed

Man i can't wait to see this in the Malibu.I have a 79 with a 383 and 4 speed.It was an original 6 cyl auto car.Check out www.malibuthunder.com (http://www.malibuthunder.com)

mine was orig. a 6 cyl. car and i drove it to and from high school then made it a 1/4 mile car with a mild 355/th350. best et with small block was 11.93@110

have you ever looked at a tci 6x its a 4l80 turned 6 speed

no i havnt but i will be checking this out. thank you much.

http://www.tciauto.com/products/6x/

this thing is way rad but there is no way i can swing 6k for this right now. it is a cool tranny though.

ya i know but to have some thing that will last behind big hp/tq i think its worth it

Started taking motor apart on top and it is looking good. Cp3 is good, and the turbo can probly be cleaned up good and used on something else. Got the egr outta there and there wasn't much coking in the intake so im just guessing but I would say this motor is lower miles. I am definately gonna do some porting on the heads and put delipped lb7 slugs in it and probly a socal cam and key the crank,head studs,main studs,new bearings, beehive valve springs,......ill think of more later. Don't want to get to crazy on this build cause it wont take much from this motor to make the car stupid fast. I am gonna look for a core 4l80 to put behind it and go ahead and make it what I want. It is def gonna take me some time on this cause I have a baby on the way due in april. Ill post more pics tomorrow.

what 4l80 will have lockup but still use manual valvebody for transbrake? are the cases the same for all years? wanting one so i can finally get going here. what tranny am i looking for here?

has anybody heard or had any experience with this company?
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/4l80e.htm

they say the level 3 is rated for 1200hp. wonder how this would handle a duramax? they also sell a kit to make a level 3 just have to get the hardened input and intermediate shafts for it i guess.

$3300???

You can build a T-400 3-speed for about $1500 that will handle about 1500HP. A $529 dollar torque converter isn't going to hold 1200 HP for very long, nor will it do it consistently.

Why not just do a T-400 and drop your rear gearing down to 3.55 or 3.23?

I think I've got about $3k total between trans and converter, and it's held up against my blown alky BBC for years and years reliably at 1600HP de-tuned at 3500 Lbs race weight.

has anybody heard or had any experience with this company?
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/4l80e.htm

Yup.... That's where I got the stuff to rebuild my 700R4 from... Great place to work with. :thumb:

has anybody heard or had any experience with this company?
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/4l80e.htm

they say the level 3 is rated for 1200hp. wonder how this would handle a duramax? they also sell a kit to make a level 3 just have to get the hardened input and intermediate shafts for it i guess.

I got my transgo kit from them and some other transmission parts, but never complete transmissions or kits. When I've called and spoke with them, they seemed knowledgable, but I wasn't a 100% pleased with some of the customer service. Once I placed the order, they pretty much got my information and then said thanks and hung up. I didn't get any kind of confirmation of the order. After not seeing my parts after waiting a week, I called and kind of got the run around and finally was told the kit was on back order and it was another week before I ever saw it. I feel they could have informed me at the time of order they didn't have any in stock. That side of customer service failed in my opinion, but there knowledge of transmissions was good.

I think i can get the transimission without the converter for about a grand less. Is there any way I can have electric lockup with a manual valvebody?

should be able too with a switch. i know it uses pwm stock but simple on off will lock it fast and hard with no slip. i say look up finish line transmissions. they have some awesome stuff and one hell of a 4l80e.

So its been a month since last post but Im having the motor mount plates waterjetted and I have a 4l80 case bolted up for mock up. Bought my turbo for it which is a bullseye s475 with a 1.0 exhaust housing and going to fab up a side mount pedistal on the pass. Side. Pretty slick setup my buddy came up with on his puller. Ill post up more pics when I get the plates back and start getting the motor put in place.

I'm having Performabuilt do a 4L85E for me. I had a brand new 4L65E from them that they're giving me a credit for.

putting the motor in for mock up now, will take pics as i am giong.

Coo.l Kinda interested to see how it fits, even though its more of a race car.


You using inner fenderwells? Heater box?

it is very tight, have to cut a tab off the bellhousing adapter, and possibly make a notch in the oil pan to clear the center link. may have to also shorten the height on the lower oil pan and modify the oil p/u tube. will do pics tomorrow.

Check that, Perfomabuilt tried to rip me off once they had my 4L60E trans down at their shop. I'll sell it and go with a Jake's Performance 4L80E once I sell the 4L60 I have.

heres a couple of quick pics. they dont show much but the motor is tight. i may have to go to a rack and pinion or definately notch the oil pan.

subscribing, looking at doing a 60's station wagon and looking at using the 4L80E or 4L85E.

pics of the new wheels and i had to put a pretty good dent in the water pipe to fit pass. manifold backwards on the drivers side. gonna use another stock pass manifold to 180* the (up-pipe) exhaust into the pedistal. still have to figure out what i am gonna do with the pan but.........

got my wiring harness also. i am going to go lb7 electronics mostly because i already have most of the stuff to make an lb7. does anybody know if you can fire an lbz injector with lb7 stuff?

there is write up, about 2 or 3 years old. he routed LLY harness pins to line up into LB7 connector. he had been running for years. from my memory he talked to bosch and isuzu techs, my take listed injector voltage changes but with PWM control, the inj. never see long term voltage that would burn solenoid coils. rickdlance had done LLY conversion to his LB7, think he did topend change with electronics(?) been long time since read write up.

it would be awesome if i could figure out how to fire the lbz injector's, then i wouldnt have to find a set lb7 heads.

I'd find LBZ harness and go from there. Just a far superior platform in every way IMO. I can get you in contact with a guy that can build you an entire harness if you'd like?

I'd find LBZ harness and go from there. Just a far superior platform in every way IMO. I can get you in contact with a guy that can build you an entire harness if you'd like?

I would like to use the lbz stuff just because of the far superior electronics, but I already have an ecm,ficm, almost every hardpart except injectors and heads to make a running motor. I would consider having a harness built just to advoid the time I would have to make one work with a pin out diagram. Do you know what kind of money he is wanting to build one?

Any progress? My body is at the blasters getting dealt with. Once we're done with the welding, the engine and trans get fitted!

No news right now. Been working way too much. My next step is to remove the oil pans and cut off a bell housing tab to fit in the engine bay. Still looking for a core 4l80 also.

I ordered my 4L85E through Jake's Performance Transmissions at the beggining of this week. Stage 3, billet internals and front cover, good for 900hp for $3300 shipped!

what's it's torque rating? :D

The trans? 900ftlbs.

so here's where i am at right now with it. had some spare time last couple of days to get some fitment work done. cut the front sump off the oil pan for clearance from the center link, and also cut off an idexing tab on the bellhousing for clearance against the firewall. you can see in the pics the steering arm is very tight to the manifold. hopefully when all is said and done everything comes to a rest about where it is at. this motor is huge compared to my old small block. haha lmao!

Try using a steering shaft kit from a company like Flaming River. That might get you some extra clearance with the steering shaft.

http://www.wizardsteerclear.com/aboutuswizard3.html

Give this a look. It might help out with the steering situation also. I'll most likely be using one in my camaro. Your oil pan looks very similar to what I did to mine, nice job.

My trans came in today. Body is fixed and in primer!

Man I want to do this in mine so bad...

I havnt had the extra time right now to put in it. Wife and I bought a new house and that has cost me a lot of time and money. Only thing I've done to it in the past 3 months is move it to my new shop. I am eagerly hoping I get some time here soon to devote to it. I believe my efforts will be well worth the long build process that I have to deal with.