It's getting close to "go time" for the 80E swap. I just wanted to see if those running 80E's w/ Transgos had any tips for setting it up. Is it really something that a novice can do, or should I have the tranny taken to a shop for the install? How many washers did you use and how firm is the resulting shift?

 

I don't think the 80e has washers like the 60e. I plan on taking mine in to have done. I'm going to run it without a shift kit for about a week to give it time to soak in good and wash everything off. Maybe in that time the filter will soak up all it's going to. Then have new fluid and a filter changed.

 

I haven't even opened the box yet. Guess I should do a little more research on my own b/f posting dumb questions and assuming stuff. :lol

I have someone in mind to do the shift kit, and it would be easier to take the tranny to him than to get my low *** truck on a lift, so I'll probably do that first.

 

The instructions are a lot more in depth than the shift kit for the 60e. They also look a lot morew complex, that's why I was going to let a shop handle it.

 

i did my shift kit and it was prety complex. seems like i went on the firm side when it had options and it had a great shift. not harsh at all.

 

There are three holes, A, B, and C, that are drilled in the separator plate for shift firmness. The 80 kit calls the three calibrations "softer", "average", and "firm."

"A" = Fourth Clutch
"B" = Direct (third) Clutch
"C" = Intermediate (second) Clutch
If the 4L80-E is being built with conventional stock paper type clutches, use the "Firm" setup drilling all three holes. If it's getting performance clutches, set up B and C for "average" and A for "firm" since the 4th clutches will still be paper even with a performance rebuilding kit. There seems to only be performance materials available for the Forward, Intermediate, and Direct clutch packs.

"Average" uses a 0.086" drill bit, "Firm" uses a 0.096" drill bit.

If you have any question along the way, ask here or in the Automatic Transmission forum. I will find them. I know this trans fairly well.

 

I did my shift kit when I did the swap. It was a little difficult but it was the frist one I'd ever done and I know little or nothing about automatic trannys. I did a lot of walking in and out of the house to rewatch the video but got it done. The paper instructions were a little lacking but almost everything was covered in the video. One suggestion I have is using pin vises to drill the very small holes in VB. Try to tape everything off to prevent any damage to VB. I dinged it a couple times then figured that out. And myself I think that doing the kit when the trannys out had to be a lot easier then laying on your back getting covered by ATF. Transgo even gives you a pic of were to put check ***** back in when the tranny's upside down. I drilled the A,B,C holes to .120 I belive. And It doesn't shift harsh. I do have a 3000 stall so I think that softens it up quite a bit.

 

Like this?



Cramming some shredded towel into the passages worked well for me. Keep in mind this drilling is being done with all the valves still installed. Parts that have sub-1000th of an inch clearance don't play well with little bits of aluminum frass.

 

Cramming some shredded towel into the passages worked well for me. Keep in mind this drilling is being done with all the valves still installed. Parts that have sub-1000th of an inch clearance don't play well with little bits of aluminum frass.

 

Just like that. Great minds must think a like. But I used pretty blue tape.

I foresaw the problems with the aluminum chips, so I took everything a part before I started with any drilling. Then took what seemed like a hour to blow off and out every little partical. The instructions kinda have you jump around between drilling and reassembling. I didn't like that.