G50 Transmission questions for drag racing application

[savatoge]

My current project is a street/strip drag car setup. Car is a '92 240SX coupe. Motor is from a '94 Q45, in the process of a complete rebuild, keeping stock internals for now, single turbo, low boost. transmission is from a '91 Q45, as well as the LSD. ECU is from a '91 Q45, plan to go with NisTune for tuning (currently plan to run E85), as I am already familiar with tuning 240s with NisTune. I have a couple questions regarding running the RE4R03A, hoping some of you can help provide some insight and/or guidance.

Transmission is currently at the transmission shop, where they are giving everything the once over. I would like to eventually go with a reverse manual valve body and transbrake, however, my budget is not going to allow that for this stage of the build. In the meantime, as I build this setup, am I going to need to install the TCU and associated wiring to drive this car? Or can I just shift manually using the existing shifter? Apologies if I sound like a noob with this question, as this is my first foray into drag racing and automatic transmissions.

Second question involves the stock torque converter. Those of you have tried out forced induction on your G50 Qs, did you stay with the stock torque converter? If so, how has the stock torque converter performed with the additional power? Anyone have any insight as to what the maximum amount of power the stock torque converter can hold?

Thanks.

[AZhitman]

I don't have answers to most of those questions, but these guys do:

http://www.levelten.com/

[elwesso]

I have an old level 10 trans for a Q that was setup for drag racing. It needs some freshing up, but a couple years ago Level 10 said they could freshen it up for under 2 grand I think, I don't know how much they could trick it out with things like transbrake..

I don't want much for it, I kept it "just in case".. It still shifted great when I took out of the car, the torque converter needed work but I would imagine the hard parts are still good.

[maxnix]

I don't have answers to most of those questions, but these guys do:

http://www.levelten.com/

Thought there was someone in AZ rebuilding these to owner's specifications?

Some have been happy and some not so happy with L10.

[savatoge]

I have an old level 10 trans for a Q that was setup for drag racing. It needs some freshing up, but a couple years ago Level 10 said they could freshen it up for under 2 grand I think, I don't know how much they could trick it out with things like transbrake..

I don't want much for it, I kept it "just in case".. It still shifted great when I took out of the car, the torque converter needed work but I would imagine the hard parts are still good.

elwesso, I'll PM you off list to discuss.

I don't have answers to most of those questions, but these guys do:

http://www.levelten.com/

Thought there was someone in AZ rebuilding these to owner's specifications?

Some have been happy and some not so happy with L10.

After performing some more research, I have found that IPT has received a greater positive to negative satisfaction ratio vs Level 10. Not very scientific, solely based on what I have found here on NICO and a couple other sites.

I have a couple Z32 buddies who swear up and down on SpecialtyZ, that I should have them build my transmission, however, I found Glenn McCall of AAA HighPerformance-Auto (Dallas, TX) who says that he has even grenaded SpecialtyZ's fully built RE4R03A trannies...and as a result he dissected it and further improved on it's weakness.

http://www.aaa-hiperformanceauto.com/#!built-automatic

McCall ( I believe his handle on NICO is txQ45) is the source of the reverse manual valvebody and transbrake components. However, I'm now considering going with just the transbrake and setting up an aftermarket TCU and paddle shifters instead: http://twistmachine.com/Paddle_Shifters.html

[maxnix]

Good research! I think IPT was the one I couldn't recall. McCall looks like a viable option. Wish we could get some of the Nistune boards for the VH45DE if they have any.

Their VH45DETT racing boat build is legendary.