the only time i ever ran a full manual valve body was on Malibu1 with a 3400 stall converter...light throttle shifts weren't all that abrupt cuz of the converter, but any more then about 1/2 throttle, it'll bark the tires
plus with a converter like that gas mileage was out of the question...i went from upper teens low 20s, to 12-15mpg with the car just being parked & not driving it :P