727 trans manuel valve body question.

[hard-charger]

Hi, i have a 727 manuel valve body trans. A friend of mine built it as his collage project. He told me he took the stock valve body, drilled it out. And presto! Manuel shift. My knowlege of trans stuff is oretty basic. My question is, can i convert it back to auto with a auto type, vavle body swap? Or should i just get a new trans? Thanks for any help.

[rebby]

I asked this question a while back and, IIRC, the answer really boiled down to how the manual valve body was installed as a whole. Since I wasn't sure, I took my transmission to a pro with a fantastic reputation for knowing the 727. He tore it down while I was there and we went through the entire thing. In my case, I needed a complete rebuild (and he showed me why). I also needed a few small parts in addition to the new valve body but, my case/tailshaft hadn't been modified so I was good to go there.

My recommendation, talk to your friend and get more details about what exactly he did inside the transmission. If you're luck, a valve body swap is pretty straight forward (I wish that it had been that easy for me). Good luck!

[John_Kunkel]

He told me he took the stock valve body, drilled it out. And presto! Manuel shift.

I'd love to know how he built a MVB by simply "drilling it out". Not very likely.

[hard-charger]

@ rebby. Thanks for the reply. Id like to get a hold of him, but hes off somewhere in the world as a member of our nations armed forces.  He went on to be a jet engine mechanic. So ive gotta try and figure this one out. @ J K. So what your trying to say, is that there was more than a vavle body modification done?

[John_Kunkel]

No, I'm saying you can't build a manual VB by simply "drilling it out". Even a home-spun forward-pattern MVB requires parts, not just drilling.