I had some time to think about my swap.

1: I compared the auto tranny from a 1987 4 cyl to the same basic model but from a 1990.

1: The valve bodies were definitely different. My 1987 valve body did not have the extra valves to control the lockup converter.

2: The cases were identical.

Looking at this as critical thinking exercise, all I proved was that my 1987 4 cyl auto does not have the correct valve body for the swap.

So the question is, did they put the valve body for a lockup transmission into non lockup transmissions?

It's possible and reasonable that the extra valve does nothing and hurts nothing so it could be in there.

Most manufacturers roll a change in all at once. So it seems unlikely they would just put a new valve body in and not the other lockup parts (including the different ratio gear set). You never know, you might get lucky.

How can you tell? The lockup valve body uses a different filter. If you go to sites like Rockauto, you should see two choices for filter screen in 1989, one for the lockup unit and the other for the standard unit. Still... Kind of confusing.



The above guide should help. The filter on the bottom left is whats used on the A44DL AKA the lockup unit. If you don't have that filter on your valve body, you don't have the right one for your lockup converter.