manual to auto trany swap need info

[rookie911]

hi guys i have a 1996 chevy 1500 with a 4.3v6 vortec,with a 5 speed manual, the clutch went in the truck today and the second gear syncro was gone so it was hard to shift into 2nd anyways, im wanting to convert it over to a automatic tranny but im un sure of what i would need to do,so can you guys help me out on what parts i would need to do this swap and what vehicles i could find the parts in.

thanks rookie

[hotrodpc]

Unless you want to get very complicated, plan on going with an older 700R4 aka 4L60. DO NOT go with a 4L60-E which is model correct for your year of truck. Then again, your ECM may already be set up to handle the wires harnesses for computer controlled trans. Check it out do the research. I dunno about that. And if you go with the 4L60 NON E trans, you will also have to figure out where to hook up a TV (Throttle Valve) Cable which is a MUST. Repeating, TV Cable is a MUST or you will trash the trans in about a 10 mile ride. I can not recall for certain if 96 is still linkage or drive by wire. Check into that also. Also linkage geometry for the TV cable is important. Improper adjustment is just as bad and will cook the trans in no time. It may be challenging either way you go, 4L60 or 4L60-E either one. You might try looking into just doing the clutch and put a brass (synchros) and bearings kit in your 5 speed. Probably alot cheaper. Maybe not. Just a suggestion. With a V6 in a full size truck, myself, I'd prefer the 5 speed. You go to automatic, you can kiss away a little mpg and torque loss leaving a light. It will be noticeably slower. Auto trans absorb horsepower and torque just to be operated. If you know someone with an equlivent truck in with auto trans, see if they'll let you take it for a ride. You might not like it, then again, you may love it.

[mudseeker]

the 60e may be his only option with a new harness and brain. can the throttle bodies on a sfi engine hook up to a tv cable?

[hotrodpc]

That was what I wondering about Mud, if the SFI had linkage or drive by wire, or anyway to hook up the TV cable. Yes, if it were TBI, it could run the NON computer 4L60. I do not believe E trans started until 93 or 94, so any 87 to 92 TBI truck would have been 700r4/4L60 without the E.

[hotrodpc]

Correction, I now re read your question about the SFI Throttle Body. NO that I do not know for sure. I know it can be done on 87 up until 95. 1996 is the first year of SFI and transmisisons where E a few years by then, so I doubt GM made provisions for the TV cable on SFI motors.

[rookie911]

would the parts from a 96 and newer chevy astro van fit like the trany and the wiring harness and stuff like that, i was aslo wondering if the astro van computer would work in the truck.and when you say TV (Throttle Valve) Cable is that the same thing as a kick down cable, and i love the stick shift i just wanna know what i would need for the swap so my wife could drive the truck as well.

thanks rookie

[mudseeker]

depends if the astro was awd, the tail shaft may be different.
and yes, tv is also the kickdown.

[hotrodpc]

Some people call it a kickdown cable, but its the far from a kickdown cable. It does do that too, but it does many other things. In a 700r4aka 4l60, it also regulates fluid pressure. Example. If you are going full throttle and the trans does not know this, it will not apply maximum fluid pressure behind a clutch drum piston to compress clutches, so although you may be moving, your clutches are slipping and spinning like no other, creating massive heat and burning up the clutches.

[rookie911]

the astro van i have is a 1993 ,would that be the same tranny or would it have to be out of a 96 and newer and its just a 2wheel drive, also my other queston is the throttle intake since the truck is a standard does it have a spot fo a TV cable on the throttle.

Thanks for all you help guys

[hotrodpc]

If you are going with a computer controlled trans, it will not matter what year its out of as long as its computer controlled and vice versa. Your other question, that is our question also, and it would not make a differnace if its auto or manual trans. See above when we are asking if SFI throttle body has provisions for TV cable. I don't know that.