Best Automatics for V8 swaps?

OK I know... Manual or nothing..

However manual Trans options behind V8 swaps tend towards expensive.

I can pick up V8s and Autos all day long. Trans availability is much higher with manual take rate under 10% on most cars. So what's the best trans for each engine type?

LS V8? SBC?
SBF?
Lexus/Toyota V8?

For the LS/SBC (you can use a SBC trans on a LSx) there's always the 700R4/4L60E with a full manual valve body, or you can run the 4L60E manually with the shift solenoids IIRC.

non overdrive you can go with the th350 behind the chevy products, 4l60 or 80 if you want over drive. ford non overdrive would be a c4 with overdrive your looking at the aode(fairly weak) or the 4r70

If you are going auto, the 1UZ starts to look pretty interesting to me. Lextreme (I think thats it) has details on making the auto have full manual control. Those motors are just too cool.

I say use whatever its attached to.

since the gm computers are so tunable and stand-alone-able, the 4L60/65/80-e are perfect for ls swaps. they come with the engine, and the computer makes them work. no cobbling parts, flexplate spacers, etc to run an older non computer controlled unit. i put one in my impala with the 5.3 and it is flawless.

4l60 or 4l80 plus this.

shop around and you could get a decent manual trans to put behind a small block or LS engine for the price of one of the controllers to run the later electronic transmissions.. starting from nothing, the costs to go manual would probably be very similar to going with an auto..

Is your plan to just bolt in and go with an auto? Because that is pretty cheap when it works. But when I put the TH400 in my jeep I bought a rebuild kit, a mild after market torque converter, and a manual valve body. With me supplying all the labor I had roughly $800 in parts alone. I happened to have a hurst shifter and trans cooler on the shelf at the time, but if I would have had to buy those that would have put me over a grand. Now for a trail jeep it was exactly what I wanted and performed flawlessly, so it was worth it, and I would do it again. But I hate to settle for something less than I really wanted because it was cheap, only to end up spending as much or more than if I would got what I wanted in the first place.

I'd like to try a LS with 4l60 or 80 and megashift.

When I did the 5.0 swap in my RX7, I used the AOD (not AOD-E) 4 speed with a shift kit in it for strength and shift speed improvement. Had to mod the "kickdown" rod to work with the carburator, but that was fairly simple (a little lengthening and a mount on the carb). That car shifted very fast and firm (would bark the tires even into overdrive).

In reply to EvanB:

I have also been curious myself about computer controlled autos being ran by an after market controller and shifted by flappy paddles. Sounds expensive, (but in my mind anyway) would be a very sweet setup. I would love to see how something like that would compare to ratchet shifter and manual valve body.

T56, might seem expensive but it's cheaper than your soul.

gearheadmb wrote: In reply to EvanB: I have also been curious myself about computer controlled autos being ran by an after market controller and shifted by flappy paddles. Sounds expensive, (but in my mind anyway) would be a very sweet setup. I would love to see how something like that would compare to ratchet shifter and manual valve body.

This. If anyone has any information, I want it. Surgery didn't make my leg much better, so I'll be using auto trans in all future builds.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

The Lexus unit is your ticket then. Go to lextreme and start poking around. It is the best grassroots support of an auto I have seen. Lots of ways to make it flappy.

In reply to gearheadmb:

Looks like it would be under $300 to build the MegaShift controller. Add in whatever parts needed to make the paddles.

I was thinking more of a tall lever like a sequential shifter in a rally car.

I've recently done a couple AOD behind SBF roller motors and used a Lokar kit for the kickdown.

In reply to gearheadmb:

From what I'm reading here http://www.msgpio.com/manuals/mshift/control.html if you just want full manual flappy paddle control, it should be as simple as some 74 series logic, a handful of power transistors, 2 PWM controllers and a TPS signal. No real computer needed.

For the GM stuff I like the 200r4 as well. Smaller than the 700r4 (almost same length as the th350) and the Grand National guys figured out how to make them last for decent hp. I have one bolted to a truck 5.3 with a Holley Economaster 4-bbl waiting on a pallet to go into the wife's Nova as soon as I can't stand the 305/th350/2-bbl in it now. Trans with a warranty used from the jy was $250, application early 80s Caprice or Cutlass.

For ford drivetrains, a c6 is probably the most stout in stock form.

For GM, if you're making any power, you'll need to build the 700r4/4L60e, but the th350/400 would do well.

Chrysler......lol, if it isn't a 727 torqueflite, forggeddaboutit.

oldopelguy wrote: For the GM stuff I like the 200r4 as well. Smaller than the 700r4 (almost same length as the th350) and the Grand National guys figured out how to make them last for decent hp. I have one bolted to a truck 5.3 with a Holley Economaster 4-bbl waiting on a pallet to go into the wife's Nova as soon as I can't stand the 305/th350/2-bbl in it now. Trans with a warranty used from the jy was $250, application early 80s Caprice or Cutlass.

+1 on these, albeit from third hand information. My Dad has rebuilt a number of these for the turbo Buick guys and they can last with as much power as a 700R4 can handle, are smaller, and have better ratios.

oldopelguy wrote: For the GM stuff I like the 200r4 as well. Smaller than the 700r4 (almost same length as the th350) and the Grand National guys figured out how to make them last for decent hp. I have one bolted to a truck 5.3 with a Holley Economaster 4-bbl waiting on a pallet to go into the wife's Nova as soon as I can't stand the 305/th350/2-bbl in it now. Trans with a warranty used from the jy was $250, application early 80s Caprice or Cutlass.

Another +1 on this. I want that 5.3/4bbl/200-4r combo for my cutlass.

yamaha wrote: Chrysler......lol, if it isn't a 727 torqueflite, forggeddaboutit.

You can make a 904 live. And live repeatedly behind serious horsepower. It does, unfortunately, take cubic dollars. For what they spend on Powerglides, I'll never understand why super 904s didn't take off.

In reply to Appleseed:

Consistency, one less shift to worry about.

oldopelguy wrote: For the GM stuff I like the 200r4 as well. Smaller than the 700r4 (almost same length as the th350) and the Grand National guys figured out how to make them last for decent hp. I have one bolted to a truck 5.3 with a Holley Economaster 4-bbl waiting on a pallet to go into the wife's Nova as soon as I can't stand the 305/th350/2-bbl in it now. Trans with a warranty used from the jy was $250, application early 80s Caprice or Cutlass.

GM put the 200-4r in cars until the 1990 model year.. the best ones to get are the later ones since they already have all the production improvements in them... try to get one at least from a Monte SS since they got better valve bodies and calibration than the more pedestrian applications, but the one you really want was used in the 86 and 87 GN and T Type.

but i still say that if you are starting from nothing and you would prefer a manual to an auto, something like a T56 or even a later T5 from a V6 F body would be the way to go..