Hey guys, resurrecting this thread.

I'm having a lockup A999 built for my effort. Briefly, I'm setting up my 73 Barracuda as a "jack of all trades" with Power Tour (and One Lap if I can make that happen) in mind, as well as autox and track days and lots of street time. LA408, A999, 8.75 w/3.55 (may go to 3.23), 26.5" tires. I anticipate a shade under #3500 when it comes off the stands. I want the lockup for highway cruising RPM drop and reduced fluid temps(gear vendors will happen down the road as well). I want to automate the lockup with the vac/oil pressure switch method.

Anyway, I've never done OT or Autox with anything but a 5spd. My trans guy (noted Torqueflite specialist in my area) who primarily sets up beefy drag race slush boxes posits that an FM VP would be better for my purposes, particularly OT. Unfortunately, an FM VB will not use the governor circuit so I have to operate the lockup with a toggle switch, which I'd prefer not to do. I'm still coming to grips with the fact that the older I get the weaker my lifelong "stick shift or die" outlook on life becomes.

As Mitch has pointed out, 2nd is the bomb for autox and zipping around back roads. Having D also lets you focus on driving for OT efforts.

I'd like the thoughts of Brain Trust on tracking with a FM valve body v. keeping the "D" in my shift window.

Some questions I have, are there reliability issues that arise when manually grabbing 2nd for corner exit and bumping to D in certain situations when carrying speed or when manually shifting in the 1320? Are there any internal trans tuning tricks to delay upshifts until nearing redline at WOT? Are there other considerations I don't have the experience to take into account?

Let us discuss!