powerglide to 350/200-4r conversion help

[Sneaks68]

new to the board. been reading some articles about this swap. but a lot of conflicting info. so I have a 68 c-10 2wd with a straight 6 and powerglide. reverse is out on the powerglide so figured it is time to swap out for either a turbo 350 or a 200-4r. price and modifications are a big concern. I do not want to buy a 2000 dollar rebuilt transmission and want this to be as painless a bolt in conversion as possible. can you guy (and gals) please help out with suggestions, pitfalls, tips etc? thanks in advance from the new guy.

Jeff

[leftybass209]

The 2004r is a good trans. The issue you run into is, you don't want to spend a lot of money so you're limited to a used trans, or a cheapie rebuild. The bare minimum on the swap is lockup wiring, a possible cross member (depends if you want to remove the cross member when you drain the oil or not) and possible driveshaft lengthening/shortening. Some people don't have to shorten their driveline but good common sense says prepare for the worst and anything else is a plus. You never know what the PO has modified. I'm not familiar with the yoke splines on a glide but a quick Google search can net you that info. Also, what is your rear end gearing? With an i6 I'll assume 3:73 or lower? Even 3:42 would be fine. You'll also need some setup for the TV cable. I'm stumped as to how it works for an i6. I know the trucks! Guys put a 700r4 behind a 6 in their 49 pickup. You may find info in that.

[Turbo1dr]

A friend of mine done the 2004r swap. I believe this is what he had to do. Anyone correct me on this precedure if it's not 100% correct.

2004R will physically bolt right in. Just unbolt the cross member and move it back to where the 2004R mount sits and bolt it back in. You can use the same yolk, driveshaft, cooler lines and shift linkage. The only two critical things is to get the throttle valve cable set up and mounted properly. If you don't get the TV cable working good you will not like the way the transmission is going to work...shifting-wise. Also, you must hook up the lock-up torque converter. A huge trans cooler will be required if you don't use lock-up to keep it cool.