Rebuilding 4l80e
 

I have wanted to put a 4l80e trans in my firebird for a while. i recently was given a 1995 4l80e and was told that 2nd and rev. were out. Fluid is black and smells burnt so it really does need rebuild. My question is this. If i have the local shop rebuild my tranny, what special parts do i ask for? ie kevlar bands, sprags, etc.... it is going behind a 427 bbc with about 500 horsepower. what controller works well and is there a 2500 to 3000 stall available? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to get ripped off buying what i don't need, and don't want to break it either. overkill is always a little better. thank you -wade-

We are in the same boat. I have a tranny that I was told was fine when it was dropped. Never the less, we want to have it rebuilt. I second all the questions above. Thanks to anyone that can help.:lateral:

A stock rebuild with some Red Eagle(?) clutches would be fine, but I would look at and call www.transmissioncenter.net they would know what you need.

I am putting a 4L80E in our project Nova and I was told that the transmission in stock form will hold up to a lot of horsepower. Up around 500, but it is always nice to be on the safe side. This was the same answer from a few different transmission shops.

They are basically a 400 with an overdrive and electronics.

4l80e rebuild
 

The local trans shop said that good clutches and a shift kit could handle the 427. However, later on i want to put in a 6.0 and a belt driven supercharger around 650-700 horsepower. I wanted input from the guys who have them and thrash on them and knows what works and what doesn't. I have the money to build it right the first time, but not for trial and error. The local shop and i trade parts regurlarly so the cost is down somewhat. I would like a quick laundry list of parts that work in the real world and get abused daily. I have also heard different opinions on alto clutches versus raybestos clutches????? Thank you for your help. -WADE-

4L80e
 

on paper they sound stout, I work in a fleet dept and we have like 5000 veh with these trannys in them 6.0liter and they are 1 ton box trucks we have alot of issues with trans/and especially breaking flexplates . I have to say im not sold on them. My job isnt directly with mechanical repairs- its body repairs but one vehicle a 06 comes to mind - its trans has been in and out of the truck like 4-5 times and was replaced with a reman unit once already and 2 flexplates all before 50k!! you really do need to speak to a builder of them.

A broken flex plate sounds like a driver problem to me!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

i found an older thread i missed on my first search (oops). it referred to 300m shafts, specific clutches and billet torque conv. Is that about it? who makes the best shift kit and converter? thanks, -wade-

I guess I was foolish to think that builders were actually going to say "Just Rebuild It". That doesn't sell enough parts. LOL. We are going to take our chances with a rebuild I think. 600hp and 600 ftlb sounds like alot until you combine a pickup truck and 295 street tire. I'd say the tires are going to be the consumable!

not to say the drivers are wonderfull but GM knows they have issues with the flexplates - they have been redesigned IIRC