th200r4

[fastbagged68]

My buddy has a 200r4 tranny that has been rebuilt, i have talked to some people an they say not to run it. i have a 402. They say it blow it apart. I have the edelbrock performer intake and cam and 3.08 gears. My th350 is on its last leg. I have not drivrn my truck in about a month or more and looked an d my tranny has poured out a ton of fluid, about a 2 foot circle. I would like to get a 700r4 but money issue, or could just rebuild my th350, or buy the 200r4. Let me know what you guys think.

[chevy lover]

between the 200 and 700 r4's you would bre better off with the 700r4. the 200r4 is just to weak for that 402. If you wanted something stronger find a th400. Otherwise the 700r4 can be built to handle the power.


Mike

[Project1970]

For the record, anything taller than a 3.73 is pretty steep for a 700R4 or 2004R in a truck. Don't know if I'd do it with a 3.07-range rear in a 4000+lb truck...in a car, no problem, though - 3400lb Camaros came with LT1s up front, 4L60E's in the middle, and 2.73's out back all the time. Of course, they also have 26" tires, give or take...the smallest I've seen on a truck is 28" diameter...

[chevy2racr]

why do people say the 200R4 isn't strong, they put them in grand nationals and look at the kinda sh*t they do! stock trany, wiht a spool, slicks and a litle motor mods I've seen runnin 6.3 1/8th miles pullin hellish wheelstands, tell me the mother f*ckin 200R4 can't handle power

[Stroker]

I agree with chevy2 the 200r4 can be built to handle plenty of power. Plus it has a more favoralble gear rations IMO. I talked to a guy who has made over 100 1/4mi passes and about 15,000 street miles with a blown 454 with no proplems. This is the shop that built his tranny.. ..If they only had 1/2 price sales.
http://www.2004rperformancecenter.com/
If your talking about a stock rebuild you may be better off with a turbo 400. With the 3.07 the Revs shouldn't be to bad without the overdrive anyway.

[slam33]

Unless you plan to dump $1500 to $2000 into a 700 or 200, your better off with building a strong 350 or getting a 400. Your going to have to build the OD trannys to get the same life that you got with your stock 350. On top of that your already setup for the 350 as far as mount location, drive staft, and colume linkage. Build the 350, save some cash or get a 400

[68 with 350 TPI]

Just speaking as a guy that has built a few 700r4s,200's,350's,400's and powerglides.

They can all be made to handle power.
But power costs$$$ and its all how fast you want to go.

In order of popular transmissions that will hold the most power for the least $$$.

Powerglide, TH350, TH400, 700r4/4L60E, 4L80E ,and then the 200.

now for order of power handling.

powerglide , th400, 4L80E, Th350, 700r4/4L60E , 200.

Im just saying this based on the holding power of basic hop up parts.

Alot of the guys that run the GN's and T type cars that have not done a tranny swap have some serious parts like blue clutches,hardend parts like the sunshell ,sprags with a new drum to fit it and extra clutches .Not just simple stock parts with a shift kit and good clutches.

I have heard a lot of the guys at the track talk their talk whenever I bring out my camaro.
And some of them do have some fast cars without a doubt.

But if you have ever seen the sprag in a TH350, a sunshell in a 700/4L60,200 you would know there is no way to have one live with a really high HP car that hooks up on slicks.

The 700 and 200 for a example have a sunshell that is a stamped steel part and is not made much better than a ash tray!

I know anyone that runs a full slick (not drag radial) and hooks will find out soon enough.

But as I said you can make anything hold given the right parts to do the job.
But in a stock form I would never have a 200 behind a big block and neither would the factory.
I think a mild big block would be ok with a stock 700 as long as not "put to the test"

If I were you and your not into a real hurry to get the truck running I would get a (ATSG) book from a tranmission supply shop and do a rebuild on your TH350 yourself and save a lot of $$$.

For every part I can think of including the converter,seals,band,steels,sprag,bushings etc you should only be out 200-250$ (not including a few tools).

All you need is a clutchpack compressor, vasaline, some light feeler guage and a air compressor with a air gun that has a rubber tip.

I have even used a pair of c clamps to compress the clutch packs before if you cant get a tool to do it.

[Woody]

I had a T-Type w/ Turbo V6 (Gran National running gear) and blew the front pump at about 65k miles. Soon found out that in the early 90's the only parts availible for the 200r4 was standard duty parts. The GN/T-Types(w/ Turbo V6) 200r4 trannies had beefed up parts from the factory. The GSCA (Gran Sport Club of America) let GN/T-Type owners into the club since it was a Buick Performance club. The GSCA went back to GM and got them to release part numbers and parts (that were factory hardened like the stock parts were) for the GN/T-Types so that we could get the correct parts for the trannys when we blew them. This happened some time in the mid 90's. So while the Turbo V6 did have a 200r4 behind it, it was a lot stronger tranny then what came out in other cars with the 200r4. IF you can find a 200r4 from a 87 buick GN/T-Type it probably would hold up behind your 402, at least longer than one from something else, but it is still big $$ to rebuild.

[oteixeira]

These trannies have great rebuild kits available now. I had mine rebuilt for about 700, and it is bulletproof. They can be built with the aftermarket parts to eliminate their weeknesses.....