Borg warner clutches are fine, used in plenty of high performance builds. Whats more important is the type of steels used, if they used a waveplate (which softens the apply), and what the clearance in that clutch pack was. I think spec says 40-70 thou, but you want to be on the tight side of this with a high hp build. But keep in mind if everything wasnt torque and measured properly then it doesnt mater what hardware is used.

 

Wonder what size the feed hole is in seperaror plate? If pressure is high enough then it could be a volume issue.

I am not a trans expert though so just thinking outloud.

 

How about fluid level? Since this is a swap, have you double checked the dipstick full mark while in the trans with the pan off? I had that issue with mine, reading full with ~.5qt low, it would slide into second at wot with firm shifts everywhere else.

 

The tech is supposed to call me back later after he talks to Chuck and I'll find all this stuff out. It was like pulling teeth getting him to tell me about the clutches because he kept saying it dyno'd perfectly at their shop and there was no way any of that could be the issue.

 

No I haven't! I re-used the dipstick from my 60 because they are supposed to be the same as the 80 I heard. I think the tech ended up putting in like 12 quarts but there was at least a quart or more he put into the converter before he installed it too. It's worth it to take the pan off to see where the dipstick sits Luke your suggesting...thanks!

 

I found the true level needed to be .5" above the full mark on a 80e dipstick. I pulled the pan, and marked the dipstick at the same point of the valve body to the case mating surface.

I also have Borg warners in mine.

 

When I first installed mine it was a little low on fluid also and it would slide into second gear with anything more than light throttle. Sureshot burned up his first FLT level 4.5 4L80E a few years ago. It had a soft 1-2 shift also. Chuck rebuilt it and all he could find was the pan had a slight indent where the pick up tube is causing low line pressure. We think this happened because the tractor trailer that had both of our 80's on the same pallet flipped over on its way here.

 

Chuck puts a plate below his dip stick to make sure it sits at the right level to ensure proper fill of fluid. I would definitely double check it though... if nothing else try adding a little and see where that gets you.

 

So I talked to the tech again this afternoon and he refused to tell me what steels they use because it's "their recipe". Again he insisted it was my truck, tune or PCM and insisted he was 100% certain it was not the trans. and told me they had NEVER had this problem with anyone else before! He suggested using the PCM out of a Silverado that came with the 4L80e from the factory

Also I called Chevy and found out that '96 and earlier 80e's have a different part number for the dipstick but no one in KC has one in stock so I ordered one that will be in Monday. I added about an extra quart of dex 6 just out curiosity to see if that would solve the issue and it's still doing it. Here's a short log I just made

 

What config are you using? Your posted log does not seem to have any logged trans parameters.