To the guy above that asked how to set up the 80E's to shift-you are correct, Trans-Go makes a shift kit called the 4L80E-3 Stick shift, that makes the trans a full manual affair. Whatever position you put the shifter in, that's the gear the trans will be in. Not fun having to always upshift, and downshift for every gear change that is needed. But, it is effective. Jakes transmission is also now selling a gadget (I say gadget because I have no first hand experience with it personally) that will do the same thing but with significantly less work than installing the Stick Shift Trans-Go kit. In the end, I always recommend that a customer run a stand alone controller as it just makes it so much more practical. Here's a link to the Jakes piece;
https://shop.jakesperformance.com/sh...al-control-box
In regards to the TV cable on the 700's... If my only goal was to make the OP aware of how critical the TV cable is-WE, all of us together-have surely done that now. Goal achieved!
As DaveP notes... If someone is going through the trouble of swapping over transmissions and you have to rework the cooler lines, the driveshaft length, shift cable bracket and or gear position lens... if you are doing all of those things anyway, then a stand alone controller and an 80E is just a little more work.
It sounds like there are some proponents of the 700R transmission here. I won't begrudge you for your choices. I know that many of you will run them for years & years and never have issue with them. My career is different. I ONLY see the broken down units EVERY SINGLE day of the year.. So, my opinion is definitely skewed. Maybe for each broken unit I see, there are 10,000 that are running along just fine without issue. I don't know that though.. I only know what I see on the bench each day and 700's...... well....... It's just not something that I would ever consider utilizing in any vehicle that I personally own.
I should post up some pics of what happens when a reverse input drum splays out the tabs and cuts the case in half from the inside out... To say that it is an explosive event is an understatement. I had a customer bring me a trans that did just that and the explosion severed the fuel lines where they pass the trans, and also chunks of the transmissions guts almost penetrated the underside of the customers vehicle. This was not a unit that I built.. It was a "home build" using the Monster in your wallet, er, I mean "box". Granted, the guy set the shifts up to be too hard and this is what splays out the tabs on the reverse input drum... But, have you ever seen that happen on a 4L80E, or TH-400? I have not. For this reason alone, BOTH Chevy trucks in my household have 4L80E's in them. If you are going to do it.... Do it once... Do it right... It's what my daddy always told me. I want the BEST transmission GM ever made under my truck, and I have it!
My shop has installed 80E's into almost every Chevrolet product, some Fords, International Harvester, Range Rovers, 1st Gen Camaros, Chevelles, Nova's, Impalas, Ford Mustangs, Ford F-150's, Toyota Land Cruisers, Model T (with big block chevy!), and hundreds of other vehicles that I can't remember right now. The hardest swap we have ever done was putting an 80E into a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette. Parking brake bracket on the cross-member, and fiberglass body that you CANNOT massage for fitment. We did it. It took a while, but we did it. The Corvette had a 700 that was supposedly "built" (as it relates to transmissions, what does that [I]really[I] mean?) by a well-known, reputable builder/company that did not last 2 months.This was a $3400 transmission. Broken output shaft the first time. That's how I came to know the customer. He brought me the trans and asked me to replace the O/P shaft so that he did not have to ship it all the way back.. He then broke the turbine shaft right above the sealing ring lands.. After that, he pitched the 700 and we put an 80E into it. That was 4 years ago now and we have not had to touch it since that day. Like I mentioned before.. For every person that has no problems with a 700, there could be 10,000 that have had them fail.. Oh wait, I reversed it didn't I? I'll let you guys decide which way the equation rings truest.