First off thanks to everyone for their help and advice. 'Preciate it very much.

I'm currently living in North Jersey, in the Morristown area. StinkinLinkcoln - are you anywhere in the tri state area, and if so at what stage are you in your tranny swap?

Last question I have is regarding automatic transmissions, which I admittedly have very little experience with. Basically I love everything about a stickshift - being more involved and having full control of your car, taking advantage of low end torque, higher efficiency, etc. Is it possible to get some sort of manumatic transmission that I can shift manually and lock in the gears so I can get effective low end torque at low revs without downshifting (similar to standard automatic transmissions in most Audis, BMWs etc) or are my options pretty much limited to a C4, AOD or AODE? My car is fairly light on the engine mods so being able to handle 500 ft/lbs of torque is not an issue here.

 

you can get a manual valve body installed, i hear people with autos get some shift kits and love that. personally i'm with you on the std tranny thing

 

are you going to do this with a blown knee? Do you have insurance? The surgery is so common and dependable that that I would get that done and maybe get a rental or trade cars with a good friend.

 

I've had a family member blow out an acl and some other "cl" in their left knee and can now drive a stick after a year or so. I'd say have the surgery then think about doing the swap.
BUT. you will be very happy with a manual valve body which will turn the aod that you swap in there into

P
N
R
3-od
2
1

instead of

P
N
R
OD
D
1

And wont shift without you changing the gears. (I could have the P, N, R wrong, it's late )

And you can pick one of these up here....
http://www.lentechautomatics.com/aodproducts.html
Click the "view Pricing" link.
Good luck with your injury!

 

lol i live in louisiana, so yea.

well with the up40 pcm -thats the one i have, you can change rpm upshift and downshift points, i have a tweecer r/t so that i can do that, a baumenator (spelling) can do that also.
a manual valve body is another option, you have to upshift and downshift with the lever, just like a stick, but up and down on the lever with no clutch.

 

get a pistol grip shifter with a lever on the front, or make one, and make the lever your clutch, problem solved

thats what i would do, manual or die

 

Are there any books or manuals available that would describe in depth how to go about a transmission swap, manual to auto preferred but just auto would also probably work. The only one I know of and am try to locate is the AODE/4R70W service manual. On that note does anyone have any information about what model year 4R70W transmissions I could use, or even if I could use one at all? Manual valve body sounds like it’s exactly what I’m looking for. Anyone have further information or manuals on how to install one or what it entails?

 

yes you can use the 4r70w, the main difference is the gear set inside, they have a higher numerical1st and 2nd vs the aod/aode. (2.8 vs 2.4 1st)
theres is some wire splicing that needs to be done, and if you keep the pcm to control it, (not having a manual VB) then a tune will be needed for it, to make it shift correctly.
the 96+ v8 mustangs have the 4r70w and the v6 have them also, but they need a couple upgrades to put them up to par, but thats it.