200 r4 questions

[chevybill]

I have a chance for a 200 r4 tranny with 61,000 miles out of an 85 monte carlo. This is an overdrive tanny that i would use in my corvette.

He wants 350 for the tranny and converter is this a fair price?

Thanks for the assistance.

[woodridge]

87 was the last year for the 4R so cores are getting harder to come by. I read a while back where someone was offering $200 for cores. The gear spacing is better than a 700 but overall are not as strong. IF it is a good unit that would need no more than a new filter and front and rear seals I would say that is a fair price. Being an 85 it should have most of the updates that were offered for a 4R. I've never seen one in a vette so I don't know what issues you may have with the rear mount as it is at the very rear of the case and the cross member.

[chevybill]

thanks for the reply woodridge,
according to the vette boards it's supposed to be a direct bolt in replacement for my current turbo 350 tranny.

[woodridge]

Overall length is the same just not sure about the mount issue, what is the vette board saying? Good luck and have fun, one of these days I'm gona have one, it's always been the one car that has eluded our ownership.

[speedracer]

the 2004r is the same length as a 350 but mounts sames as a 400 so you have to move your crossmember or get one from a c3 with a 400. I think a few 81-82 vettes rolled off the line with 2004r's I'll have to look in my corvette black book

[qksilver]

They are just as strong as a 700r, they used them in turbo buicks. They have a better gear ratio and are more efficient

[ABHaulR]

I run one in my sub with 40's on it. havnt had any issuse as of yet. been in there for 3 yrs now. if its going into a 4x4 it wont work, because it doesnt have a removable tail cone. I used a divorcied np 205 with mine.
Dwayne

[SactoJim]

I'll agree that the 200 is a better choice as far as gear ratios and less power to operate, but I believe side by side the 700 is stronger. Remember that GM put these in just about everthing with a small V8 in it for alot of years, including full size trucks and Corvettes.

Everbody talks about the 200's being in the Grand National Buicks and how if they live behind those beasts, they can live behind anything. They only reason they lived behind a "stock" Turbo V6 buick is because boost in a turbo comes on later in the RPM's after your rolling.....this is alot easier on a tranny than shocking it with a crap load of torque right of idle. Put both of these tranny's behind a roots blown V8 ( or any healthy V8) where the majority of torque is generated in the lower RPM's and I imagine the 700 will edge out the 200 in stock form.

Regardless, both trannys can be built to withstand massive amounts of torque and I would pick the 200 because the 1st to 2nd gear spread is narrower than the 700 and I believe overdrive is a little more "overdrive".

I ended up with a 700 just because of one of those "buddy" deals.

[Longhorn Man]

the 200 is stronger in some areas, the 700 is stronger in others. I would personally opt for the 200 for it's ease of instalation, lack of drive shaft or yoke mods, better gearing, a much better kilgore rating (less power to run it) and address the waeknesses if needed.

[chevybill]

Thanks for all the replies.
This tranny is going in my corvette, rather than my truck.
The tranny has 61,000 miles and I got the tranny and converter for 300.
It's coming from a co-worker and fellow hotrodder I have known for 5 years
and he is an honest guy.

[SactoJim]

I'd say that tranny will work fine in your vette (I'm assuming it's the one in your ID) as long as it's not heavily modified. Late 70's vette stock small block probably making around 200 hp or so.

[chevybill]

You have it correct, SatcoJim. It is a stock l82 with headers and chambered exhaust. All blow(sounds really good) and not too much go if you know what I mean.

[chevymad]

Check out CK performance if you ever want to upgrade the trans at all. They've succesfully built the 200 to take up to 1200hp. The 700 has a couple of weak points that generally will limit it to 700hp.

http://ckperformance.com/select.html

He also sells a book telling all the in's and outs of the 200.

[BarryB]

I have personally seen and riden in a car pushing 500 hp. on a stock 200. ran low 11's in the quarter. It was in modified 1989 turbo trans am. Held up nicely.

[Racer X]

Check this site for much more info on these trans. units.

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/tran...transpage.html

I beleave that the 200-4R in the Grand National (BRF) & the other GM vehicals are differant. The buick buy like my self will not us a trans. out of anything but a GN to put back in our cars. One for the bolt pattern & two for the internals are a little differant.

Check out the page on Transmission Models for gear ratios.

Hope this helps there is lot of good information on this site.

[tnblazerk5]

not to change the topic
but i got a 87 olds cutlass (youngest kids car)that hada 200metric in it and well it died , so i looked around and found a th350 with a lock up converter that came out of another olds i had and went to put it in the 87 now for the bad part the trans are not the same length ,the 350 is shorter by about 2 inchs
so i kept lookin around in my parts stash and found 2, 200r4s but havent dug them out of the yardbarn yet anyway will they fit where the 200 metric was without changing anything like the crossmember and drive shaft and flywheel ?

[Longhorn Man]

bellhousing would be the same on the buick and almost all the other 200 4R's... 90% of them were daul bolt pattern, a huge advantage for those uf us with brand X GM motors in our trucks.

[chevybill]

UPDATE: He backed out on selling me the tranny, I had it bought for 300 even and he decided to keep it(no money changed hands). So the vette will not get an improved tranny for a while yet.

[SactoJim]

That sucks.....hate when people change their mind! That tranny would have made your vette a great highway cruiser and made it quicker off the line.

[Longhorn Man]

the 200 4R is farly common in the wrcking yards... cuttlas monte carlo, all the clones...pretty much all of them were 200 4R equipped. Just look for the tranny mount being all the way to the back and the pan covering the whole bottom of the tranny (to the crossmember).. look at the chart on the link.
http://www.maliburacing.com/auto_tranny_id.htm