Been trying to deciede what type of trany to put in my streetrod.It is a moderate horsepowered 327 with an RV cam, the rear end is a 3:73 posi. If I will go with a 700R4 trany or be satisfied with a TH 350? I know the 700 will help lower the RPM on the highway and secondly save fuel and make it much more enjoyable to drive at cruising speed on the highway. I want a trany that shifts like the car or truck that it was originally designed for,smooth and not hard. Seems there is a lot of talk about problems people have with 700R4's with getting and keeping the TV cable adjusted properly. In a 700R4 what is the best way to make the 4th gear lock up? Will it downshift like an OEM trany? What stall speed converter should I use? Seems everyone I talk to about stall speed gives me a different number. I don't want a ride that launches at every stop light. What should I have done in the rebuild? I want to spend my money wisely and not over do it on stuff i don't need. Not intending on racing this car, it's a cruiser. The longest race it should see is across an intersection. Need some input from someone that has already done it.................Many thanks
This totally depends on how you intend to use the car. If you are going to be doing plenty of highway driving, you'll really appreciate the overdrive with those 3:73 gears.
Here's what I did. I had a couple of th350's in the shed, and three 200r4's in there as well. I first built the car with a TH350 but figured I could benefit from an overdrive trans. I sold off the 200r4's and installed a standard trans Borg Warner T5 (with the S10 tailshaft to move the shifter to a better position). This eliminated the trans cooler and lines, the worries of setting up the throttle valve cable correctly, any issues with wiring-in and controlling the converter lock-up, AND gave me the overdrive I was wanting.
Worked GREAT .... till the release bearing started to bind on the bearing retainer that I should have changed BEFORE I installed the new clutch. Got pissed at the standard trans deal, pulled the stick and installed the th350 again.
I should mention, I had to craft the clutch pedal and linkage too, so it wasn't all simple.
I should also mention. The car is MUCH nicer to drive (as a regular car) with the automatic.
I should also mention I now have 2.56 rear gears so I literally have no use for an overdrive trans.
With 3:73's, if it were my car, I'd definitely want the overdrive. There are kits that deal with the TV cable install and I'm sure there are also kits that deal with the lock-up converter issues too.
It's a good idea to make your final decision before you complete the car (unlike me). It sucks changing stuff you knew you should have done (the right way first) when you built the car.
-- Edited by pint and a pound on Thursday 5th of February 2015 03:13:46 PM
you can buy a shift kit that eliminates the TV cable adjustment issues, as the TV cable then only tells the tranny to downshift into passing gear, and the shift firmness can be tailored to whatever you like - my friend used the towing version on his and it shifts fine
The 700r4 is a great transmission. You can by a kit that corrects the TV linkage for a Holley or the afb carbs. There are also kits for the lock-up as well. You will need a brake switch that has both NO and NC circuits, it is a 4 prong brake switch. I will get you the part # for the lock-up kit when I get back out in the shop. There is lots of info on the net about the 700r4 and how to set the TV cable.
bowtie overdrives has everything to swap the th350 to a 700r4 or 200r4. i plan on doing the swap with their stage2 200r4 and kit in my vette, the driveshaft doesn't have to be altered either when going that route.
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If you are rebuilding a trans, go with a 200r4 with a standard converter. It takes less hp to operate it than a 700r4, and I got tired of the high speed converter in a hurry.
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Its worth the effort to go with the 700r. I put one in my 57 Chev 305, stock rear. Made a huge difference. Im installing one in my Cadillac behind a BBC this winter. Lots of info to help you. .Go to- 454 to700r4- in this tec section
-- Edited by hotrod-steve on Friday 6th of February 2015 08:44:20 AM
South shore, I put a700r4 into my 57 chev behind a healthy 355. AND I did it long before kits came out for the TV cable. I had some help from Sumner at the Purple Sagebrush Trading Post in Blanding Utah. I made a gauge to make a bracket to mount the TV cable to a holley so the geometry would be right and used it again for a Quad-ra-jet. If you want a copy of the gauge e-mailed, PM me for it. Wayne
I'm dropping a 350/700r4 in my 58. I managed to find a Q-Jet from a mid 80's Camaro w/auto trans linkage and the OEM Chevy Bracket that came standard on SBC's in the 80's. This way for me no need to fiddle with geometry.
If you don't have a 700r4 and are looking for one, try to get 1989 - 1993. The ones prior to 89 had weaker internals and a smaller input spline.
I'm dropping a 350/700r4 in my 58. I managed to find a Q-Jet from a mid 80's Camaro w/auto trans linkage and the OEM Chevy Bracket that came standard on SBC's in the 80's. This way for me no need to fiddle with geometry.
If you don't have a 700r4 and are looking for one, try to get 1989 - 1993. The ones prior to 89 had weaker internals and a smaller input spline.
Yup what he said I like the 200r4 because it fits where a short shaft t350 and aluminum power glides comes out of like early nova's it also has a dual bolt pattern for chev or pontiac. Some say they are not as tough as a 700 and that might be true but I put one in my 72 chev 3/4 ton loaded it up with a 10' camper and pulled our 18 foot boat with no problems. Buick also had them in the 12 second Grand nationals.
1987-1992 700r4 is the way to go. The first 700r4's 1982-1986 are all the transmissions you hear about having problems. Anything newer 1993 and on is the electronic 4l60e. The TV cable issues come in when you change the crabs or shim them. or change intakes the cable doesn't come in perfectly straight/parallel any more when you change out those parts but they do sell tonnes of adapters to fix it. And as for a toque converter you just need to figure out were your engine makes its power with an rv cam I would think around 2500-2800 would be safe. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me
It's a little more work but I'd use either the 700-R4 or the 200-4R. You'll love the way the car will practically idle down the road.
Most RV style cams are pretty mild so you should be able to get away with the stock convertor. The 3.73 gears and the lower first gear in the overdrive should give you plenty of bottom end power.
If your cam is bigger than I think and you have a pretty rough idle, you could opt for a looser convertor but I would only step up just a little from stock.
For the lockup, I did one that had a vacuum sensor and it worked great after I got it set up but on the next one I did I just set it up to automatically lock up the convertor when it hit high gear, and that worked just fine too. I did those swaps years ago, I'm sure there must be good kits and info out there now.
The whole TV cable issue isn't a big deal. It's fairly simple to set up if you just read up on it a bit to know how to do it.
I think part of the problem guys sometimes run into is more related to the governor on the transmission. If the transmission came out of a car that shifted at 4,200 under full throttle, you can't make it shift at 6,200 just by adjusting the TV cable. You can get a kit that allows you to adjust the shift points if necessary. (the governor has weights and springs much like a distributor)
If you use a shift kit, I think B&M shift kits usually have a shift firmness setting they refer to as a "Police or Taxi" setting. That's probably the one you'd want to use. The shifts are just a tiny bit firmer than a stock passenger car but not rough at all.
Anyway, if you go with an overdrive, you won't regret it.