Valve Body Mods, Giant Leaps Forward!!!

[ClimberDHexMods]

Wow. Great thread, and excellent work/investigation, climberd.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I am one the sheep slaughtered by IPT- my 05 does shift quicker than before, and is holding fine for now.

If this works out like I think it will, and I get my turbo sorted, I may have to change my mind about sticking with stock fueling, esp since E85 is available closeby now...

Thank you.

 

I was also very upset at IPT, but after giving it some time I now feel that the burden has been and remains on US the enthusiasts to do out own homework and be accountable to the choices we make. The IPT VB mod was a virtual mandatory mod for a while as it was the only plug and play service to up line pressure to hold more power. IPT did nothing wrong. Perhaps not what any of us want to think, but the responsibility has always been solely on our own shoulders to make the right choices. There are a million shops out there like IPT that want a lot of money to do something simple. $150 oil changes, $400 transmission flushes, $1500 to repair a scratched bumper, $20k race engines. The burden and responsibility is on us, not these shop owners.

[ean611]

I was also very upset at IPT, but after giving it some time I now feel that the burden has been and remains on US the enthusiasts to do out own homework and be accountable to the choices we make. The IPT VB mod was a virtual mandatory mod for a while as it was the only plug and play service to up line pressure to hold more power. IPT did nothing wrong. Perhaps not what any of us want to think, but the responsibility has always been solely on our own shoulders to make the right choices. There are a million shops out there like IPT that want a lot of money to do something simple. $150 oil changes, $400 transmission flushes, $1500 to repair a scratched bumper, $20k race engines. The burden and responsibility is on us, not these shop owners.

 

+1

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Awaiting on pins and needles your 08-09 analysis. I'd love a full TransGo kit before I shred my clutch packs.

[fishbone]

ClimberD: keep two things in mind:

-daily drivability

-WAF (wife approval factor)

For some of us those are important, in the sense that not all like each and every shift to feel like a monkey banging the tranny with a giant metal hammer.

Maybe this presents potential for (more) "staged" upgrades?

[ClimberDHexMods]

ClimberD: keep two things in mind:

-daily drivability

-WAF (wife approval factor)

For some of us those are important, in the sense that not all like each and every shift to feel like a monkey banging the tranny with a giant metal hammer.

Maybe this presents potential for (more) "staged" upgrades?

 

I would never sell a kit that slammed shifts or pissed off my wife

[fishbone]

Phew!

[blongo804]

I cannot wait for this.

 

My next mod!! Will be stalking this thread.

[snow05gtRI]

well this certainly gained interest quickly. too bad you have a job midweek and the weekends... well, saturday's a rugby day, sunday is a resting day...

[hadvw]

Car: 05 LGT (5EAT)

IPT mod: no

Will pay? Heck yeah! (Assuming I can find someone local to install it, etc)

[Subadozer]

Now, if you have a 05-09 5eat LGT and are interested in having your valve body modified (some of you for a second time), please post the following information and feel free to ask any questions.

 

LGT 5eat car year? 05

IPT VB mod already performed? No

Are you willing to pay close to but less than IPT prices (perhaps again) for a proper shift kit modification performed by fellow 5eat performance enthusiast ClimberD himself?

I've been looking into this since I have a 16g turbo upgrade planned. I'm not planning on big boost but still have some concerns about the 5eat overall and especially if I'm beefing up the torque. Because of some more important and imminent projects I don't have anywhere near the $ available for the IPT price but somewhere I saw the figure of $250. That might be doable for a parts kit. Super if it also included labor.

[oldschoolimport]

ClimberD: keep two things in mind:

-daily drivability

-WAF (wife approval factor)

 

I would never sell a kit that slammed shifts or pissed off my wife

 

That seals it for me. I'm very interested. The wife is taking over the LGT in about 6 months, and has already told me to not make it loud, so hard shifts would not go over well either...

[JaeGT]

LGT 5eat car year? 08

IPT VB mod already performed? No

Are you willing to pay close to but less than IPT prices (perhaps again) for a proper shift kit modification performed by fellow 5eat performance enthusiast ClimberD himself? Yes

 

ean611, i'd like a local place too for the vb mod and/or rebuilt transmission shop so keep me in the loop since we're relatively close.

[ChicagoSam]

It is a resistor. I have installed them in cars. Nothing visibly different except the inline resistor. My 2008 was the first VB mod done by IPT. They had such a hard time figuring out resistor value to trick the ECU that my resistor is outside the VB. It is in the wiring harness on thee side of the tranny. They did not want to go back in and pull the assembly again, lol.

 

My tranny also blew up on my third pull with OEM fueling and a BNREVO16g. So, whatever they did was useless. Total waste of $1200.

 

Have installed a few IPT modded VB's since and am very ashamed at what I paid for.

 

I've been wanting to do a 16g, but sounds like I'll wait for some options to hopefully become available here. I'm all for it. I'm holding with a stg2 and a TMIC- would love to push- but....

 

anyways:

'08 5eat

no

yes

[cholmes1]

Great Work ClimberD. I hope your hard work brings you to the results you are hoping for. I am very interested in the 08 TransGo swap like many others so you certainly seem to have a potential market. But as you know...take your time with the little details and make it how you desire and the customer base will take care itself.

 

Out of curiosity (looking into the not-so-distant future) if I were to have your TransGo kit on my 08 LGTLM and then purchased the IPT torque converter would I see even greater gains/reliability or do you suspect they took 'cost saving' shortcuts there as well?

 

Awesome project and keep up the great work.

[executor485]

LGT 5eat car year? 05

IPT VB mod already performed? No

Are you willing to pay close to but less than IPT prices (perhaps again) for a proper shift kit modification performed by fellow 5eat performance enthusiast ClimberD himself?

I've been looking into this since I have a 16g turbo upgrade planned. I'm not planning on big boost but still have some concerns about the 5eat overall and especially if I'm beefing up the torque. Because of some more important and imminent projects I don't have anywhere near the $ available for the IPT price but somewhere I saw the figure of $250. That might be doable for a parts kit. Super if it also included labor.

 

That's not for a full setup, if you were interested in the full setup. The $250 price is doing the same thing that IPT does, add a spring and a resistor plus labor (if I read that correctly). The full kit would definitely be more than that. I think I read the trans-go kit alone was $250, add in labor and R&D and the project wont be anywhere near $250, but ClimberD did mention similar price (hopefully better) than IPT.

[ClimberDHexMods]

Out of curiosity (looking into the not-so-distant future) if I were to have your TransGo kit on my 08 LGTLM and then purchased the IPT torque converter would I see even greater gains/reliability or do you suspect they took 'cost saving' shortcuts there as well?

 

Supposedly they increase the stall speed of the torque converter. This, as far as I know, involves plasma cutting open the torque converter and separating the innards apart a little more (to reduce the tendency for the TC to want to transmit torque at a given RPM, which will still ramp up as engine speed climbs). They may also install "heavy duty clutches" in it, I don't know though. The higher stall speed allows the engine to rev higher/further away from the transmission input shaft speed. Engines usually make more power at higher RPM, so it's a way to get more power to the wheels by being able to rev to a higher RPM before the torque converter refuses to stall any further apart of a given engine vs transmission rpm, and then you get slapped back in your seat as it tries to engage. The engine being more in its sweet spot is what allows it to make you faster. They should also do things such as braze each fin when they're in there. Adds strength for very high engine outputs.

 

High stall torque converters are the province of drag racers. Value for dollar, find someone who is super into drag racing, and take it to them if you want it done. Tell them it stalls at 3500rpm stock, and you don't want it much more than that because you don't want to be too disconnected between the engine and transmission. You should be able to get this done for <$500. Perhaps have them drive the car first so they can watch the tach as they accelerate, and then have a discussion about what it could be, etc.

 

Frank_ster had his modified a little by a local shop to him. They said his torque converter is very stout straight from the factory. Some transmission shops will tell you if you make big power and don't beef up the torque converter, it could take out the whole transmission. But our torque converters hold up to performance very well. One of the few things that doesn't fail. I think IPT also does torque converters for their $4500 builds, but I'm not sure. Whatever IPT does to torque converters for their full builds, it appears to make people happy. You would have to really dig into reviews or talk to folks to find out the pros and cons to driveability and whether it's worth it for you. I would look outside this forum, since few people here (including myself) really know about torque converters. Drag racers obsess over them , so that's where I'd go.

 

 

That's not for a full setup, if you were interested in the full setup. The $250 price is doing the same thing that IPT does, add a spring and a resistor plus labor (if I read that correctly). The full kit would definitely be more than that. I think I read the trans-go kit alone was $250, add in labor and R&D and the project wont be anywhere near $250, but ClimberD did mention similar price (hopefully better) than IPT.

 

Correct. Only correction is the 05-07LGT doesn't use a resistor from IPT. Or so mine didn't, and they said they had not changed the process since they did mine. I can do a service similar to IPT if someone wants that level of improvement for half the cost of the proposed TransGo adaptation still under development.

Edited April 21, 2011 by ClimberD@HexMods

[seabass07]

The simple answer is try to match your stall speed close to your peak torque. You want to have your peak torque at your stall speed with as much of your torque curve after the stall speed. The main reason is that when at WOT, if your peak torque is below stall speed, then you are wasting that power. With a bigger turbo, it isn't a bad idea to have a higher stall speed. It will also make you forget that it might be slow to spool by bringing the engine to higher RPM.

 

IOW, it's only worth it to me with an aftermarket turbo that has a lot of high end and spools at higher rpm than the stock TC.

[notthesnail]

LGT 5eat car year? 06

IPT VB mod already performed? No

Are you willing to pay close to but less than IPT prices (perhaps again) for a proper shift kit modification performed by fellow 5eat performance enthusiast ClimberD himself? Depends on how close.

[fishbone]

This thread is about ClimberD's efforts towards a VB mod. Anything and everything in general, especially about IPT's work, I think would be polite to talk about in the dedicated 5EAT thread. I will say this though. Having found out what their VB mod consists of, everything from here on out that IPT says to me is suspect.

[itsme]

Hi-stall torque Convert(t/c) don't make any "more" power it just gets you to your power band quicker buy slipping more. Think of it this way. It's like having a stick and letting the clutch engage at 3000 rpms instead of 2000rpms. You didn't make anymore power but, it will feel faster and launch better. They also called them hi stall(or loose) because old cars with big cams had to rev higher just to be able to idle so they won't stall.

 

My '56 F100 has a Chevy 327 with a hot cam not crazy and it would idle at @1200 to 1500rpms just to smooth it out. Below that it would have rough idle sound like it was about to turn off. Stock stalls from @1200rpms and @1500rpms. I had to get a @2500 rpm stall just to drive the truck with my cam. If i had a stock t/c the motor would be fighting the tranny and t/c at every stop light and cause alot of heat like when you power brake.

 

Downside to hi stall too high is they are no fun to drive in a daily driver. They slip more then standard until they lockup if it's a lock up T/c and that kills MPG. Back in the days before ECU and Variable valve timing you needed a high stall just to drive built motors. If you built a motor that made power on the top end you had to do something to get the rpms up to make the car move at low rpms. If you every been by a V8 with a hi-stall at a stop light you will notice they don't creep forward at a light like most autos. They roll back like a stick in neutral. Because the engine is not turning fast enough to move the fluid in the t/c fast enough to move the impellers on the front of the trannies input shaft and front pump. When the take off you can hear the motor rev faster then the car moves. Before lockup t/c you wold have to live with that slip all of the time even on the freeway. Now lockup t/c solve that problem by locking up so there is no more slip. If you are using this car on the street get hi stall with lock up t/c.

[fishbone]

Stock stall speed is 3500. You can even get it above that if you're an asshat.

We seldom hear about torque converters that crap out. It's mostly other components, such as grenading center diffs from launching.

A higher than 3.5K stall speed I cannot imagine being fun to drive daily, not to mention it will probably feel slower below stall since it swallows up so much torque. We all know the induced feeling of turbo lag thanks to our slushbox.

So for these reasons I don't think a converter mod would be warranted. I'd even say, if the stock one took a crap, just replace it with another stock one unless you're an insane Stage 3 set-up with a giant turbo or something. Even in that case, it would mean peak power would be way past stall speed which technically should actually be safer.

Either way, we're getting off-topic here again

[ean611]

I'm GETTING A TRANSGO KIT!!!! (i just heard from them)

 

I need to photograph any differences between the instructions I get and what I take out of my 2008. Bottom line, this kit is real.

 

ClimberD, they sounded like they expect this kit to be done by hobbyists, so that makes your mod service very helpful to everyone, plus, you may have instructions to work with.

[fishbone]

Done by hobbyists, meaning the execution of the work? So this kit comes with instructions for a Subaru valve body?

Good things come to those who wait. The rest get a giant 700 dollar shaft

[ean611]

It's a Subaru 5eat kit. They need the differences between instructions. I think they said the instructions say "07". I mentioned that ClimberD found it was a 3 channel design, which they said sounded about right.

[snow05gtRI]

hmm wonder if they have a kit for the 05/06 as well. I asked in the other thread, but is this the full kit including clutches or just their VB mod kit?

[ean611]

Sounded like they have a kit almost ready to go. That means that mailing your VB to ClimberD will be even easier, as he'll have ready made instructions, plus, he'll probably be cheaper than a local shop. (plus, he knows what he's doing)