4l60 or 4l80 manual shift trans?

[69496]

I am in the process of converting my chevelle from drag to pro-touring. I still want it to perform well on the drag strip as well as on the street and hopefully roadcourse. Like most of us the problem is money. I am trying to get into a 4l60 or 4l80 trans but after computer and everything the price gets steep. I saw a few places that sell full manual trans that does not use the computer. Would this be ok to start with as price is alot better and can I upgrade to a computer controlled or paddleshift later?