I was talking to a friend of mine and I told him that when I floor it to a lay a patch on the road with the tranny in Low 1 I do not shift it by hand from L1 to L2 that the tranny shift it self. He said that this should not happen that I must shift it from L1 to L2 by hand. Who is correct?

I'm pretty sure that if you stick it in low, it should stay in low, unless your shifter is not adjusted correctly or you've got some strange valve body set up ? anyone else ?
dave

Back in '72 I had a 66 Caprice 396, pull it into low and go, it'lll shift if you have the guts to keep on it...

If you rev it hard enough it will shift by itself.

Thats a function of the Governor that can be altered but unless you are real good at controlling your rpms you should leave it alone.

As previously stated, a stock TH 400 will shift automatically at a certain RPM but they can be tweaked to not shift no matter what RPM is being turned. When my tranny was rebuilt a couple years ago, mine was converted.

I've never had it happen, but it looks like you're right, I hope you put money on it ?
dave

It will probably shift around 6000 rpms if you leave in first and let the trans shift itself.
I wouldn't reccomend trying it
The factory governor calibration for an SS396 TH400 should have some decent WOT shift points so I would just leave it in drive.

I wouldn't convert it unless it is primarily a drag car.

My best friend's 66 Impala SS396 car does the same exact thing and it's completely stock.

When the transmisson shifts it actually pins you back to the seat. It shifts really strong. The patch it lays on the road when it shifts is quite impressive. I found this by mistake. I was about to manually shift it when it shift itself.

The patch it lays on the road when it shifts is quite impressive. I found this by mistake.

Thats one of those good mistakes :)

I wouldn't convert it unless it is primarily a drag car.

I would agree with this statement if you are talking about going to a full manual valve body (where you have to manually shift the car for all gears all the time). I can put mine into drive (or 2nd) and it will shift just like a normal 400. The modifications on mine just keep the tranny from automatically shifting to any higher gear than the position the gear selector is currently in.

when you put the th400 in low in my chevelle and punch it, it shifts from 1st to 2nd by itself. like you said luis, it will shift really firm.