I knew I should have just done the 80 when my 60 ate it last year. Local rebuild of a performabuilt that failed from installation f-up (that shop since closed). The trans shop that did my rebuild is going to help me out with costs since this was within a year or so of install.

So the 80 it is. My truck is a 2003 SS with about 350 wheel hp with plan to do 370 with a blower some day over the rainbow.

I have most of the parts I need here or on order. Dipstick/tube, front drive shaft, speed sensor wire/harness, shift bracket, tuner who will do the segment swap. Dirttrack racer is getting my crossmember ready, and time2kill is waiting for my input gear to come back from the machinist. Ordered my PI vigilante for 80e with ls1 bolt pattern so I can run my current flex plate. Rear driveshaft will go to a local shop once we know how much to shorten it. (Am I missing anything?)

So all that’s left is picking where to get a solid 80e. I’ve been researching and using search on here, but am looking for any guidance.

I would prefer to buy a converter/trans to cover both now and later when I up the power if possible. I don’t want to buy a used unit and rebuild.

Jakes is high cost iffy customer service so right now I am leaning FLT lvl 4 with the shaft upgrade.

Thoughts?

A rebuilt 80e with internal dual feed mod will hold you for a while.

No need to go deep unless you have to.

True, but the itchy part is with “for a while”. I don’t mind spending now to have a transmission that will hold up to much higher hp than I have right currently.

Thanks for that information. My area is not to heavy on performance, so I will have to call around to see if anyone local sounds competent enough. I also wonder the cost difference. Used 80e+rebuild parts=?

Still looking for opinions on aftermarket builders, if anyone wants to chime in. Based on what madman is saying, I see no point is paying thousands more for something from Jake, RPM, or Rossler. If I go this route.

I paid $2250 to a local rebuilder that had good feedback.

That was Feb this year. All I asked for was the internal dual-feed mod and he said no problem. I’ve been driving it ever since. I’ve got a 2yr, 24k mile warranty also.

Prior to that from Oct 2017-Jan 2018, I pulled the 60e about once a month because the clutches kept burning up.

That **** gets old, quick.

If I had to buy one from someone, that’s a tough call. It wouldn’t be RPM just because I’ve been burned by them.

Have most of the parts now, and after talking with Chuck from FLT as well as some local builders I decided to go with FLT. No one around here builds for power at all, and Chuck knows his sh*t.

That said, dirttrackracer builds a really nice crossmember.

I'd check out RPM transmissions as well.

The guys over at jakes have had great customer service with me.