Tranny advice for a Chevelle guy

[Justin Wray]

Well, I just fragged the 700R-4 and converter in my 1970 Chevelle. I'm a little torn as to whether I should rebuild/replace what I already have, which by all accounts should be cheaper, or "upgrade" to a 200-4R.

I'm pretty familiar as to what needs to be done conversion-wise, but was curious as to which builders/companies you guys like for the 200 trannies and converters.

The specs, etc.:

1970 Chevelle 3540 lbs. w/driver and a full tank of gas.

355cid small block Chevy w/ approximately 435hp/400ft. lbs. tq. at the flywheel.

3.91 gears in a 12-bolt Posi rear.

28" tall tires.

My intended usage will be for a daily driver come next March (as I have no other alternatives at this time), but an OCCASIONAL trip to the track over the next 2 years. After that, hopefully I'll have more opportunity to get more track time and she won't be a daily ride anymore.

My previous best E.T. was 8.36 in the 1/8th on the brakes. I've done several things to improve the combo since then and feel that she should be a solid mid-12 second combo (I know...nothing for you Buick GN boys )with more seat time. I don't want to sacrifice much in the ways of performance, but I'd like something that is dead reliable (when set up properly of course).

My previous converter was a 10" custom NON-LOCKUP piece that flashed to 3500 or so. It felt good. However, I'd like to try a LOCK-UP this time around if it would work for my application.

So, short story long, I've started to check around. Bow-Tie Overdrives has a Stage 3 200-4R tranny for $1284. Other incidentals, such as flywheel, flywheel cover, converter lockup kit, dipstick tube, cooler lines, TV cable kit, throttle bracket and installation kit run about $500 total. That gets me for about $1800 total without a converter. However, it's a pretty thorough kit that would give me some piece of mind.

Does anyone offer anything competitive like that? Anyone ever deal with BowTie Overdrives or some of the other performance tranny places? $1800, again without a converter, is a huge chunk of change for this guy to swallow, but I put right at $1000 into this 700R-4 and custom converter that only lasted 2-3 years and ~2000 miles. :sad:

If it makes any difference, I could get a core 200-4R at a local yard around here for $10-20. However, I don't really trust any of the local builders. It would have to be sent off for a good build. Would having my own core put me ahead any at all?

Thanks for any and all help. This is my first post, btw.....

 

[Drac0nic]

no offense or anything, but there's something wrong if you're fragging a 700 at those power levels. A bit over a stock rebuild should be able to handle that much power, if you want peace of mind find a good builder and have em throw some hard parts in it. I'll give you the buildup of the one I'm planning
-9 clutch pack
-13 vane pump
-hardened pump rings for above
-better sun shell
-shift kit (most any 700 should have one of these)
-bigass cooler (ditto)
-'vette servo or billet super servo
-.5 accumulator piston
-WOT mod (full 4th gear)
This should hold what you want to and probably a good bit more honestly, even a step above a stock rebuild is supposedly good for 400 HP. Consider that a stock 700's put behind an LS-1.

Now don't get me wrong, the 200's got some good advantages to it but IMHO by the time you get all the work done to put it in you may as well rebuild the 700.

 

[Justin Wray]

Drac0nic, no offense taken. I'm not completely sure what fragged first, the tranny or converter. The fluid is burnt and dark, so I guess the clutches are gone, but there is a HECKUVA a nasty chattering and squalling coming from somewhere. The flywheel and converter seem to be bolted up tight, but I get the feeling that something has come loose in the converter itself. A friend said he had a 700R-4 make a similar sound (like a turkey call he said....which is a surprisingly accurate description ) and it was the input shaft if he recalled correctly.

So, I'm really guessing that both are toast. I had the BEST local builder that we have in these parts build this tranny for me. He does much of the race stuff around here and is highly thought of, but this is a rural-type area. He seemed very knowledgable and answered all my questions. Heck, he was the only tranny guy that I talked to that even commented on how critical it was to have the T.V. cable set properly . The others just said that if you had it in the ballpark it would be fine . Bottom line on that is....we just don't have top, top quality tranny guys around here. Good local guys probably, but....well you get the idea.

Anyway, he doesn't seem like the internet type, so maybe if I do the research and get the really good parts, he can do the dirty work. All I really had in it before was the standard extra clutch packs, Corvette servo, a lubrication plug (? so it wouldn't lockup as I used a nonlockup converter), Transgo shift kit, AC Delco sun shell (I think that's what he called it) etc. etc. Nothing fancy. Nothing billet. It cost me $620. I use a fairly good sized TCI auxiliary tranny cooler and run it thru the radiator cooler as well.

I'm just wondering if it wouldn't be worth it to go the 200 route since I might possibly need a converter anyway.

Thanks.

 

[chris718]

i think a 700r4 will be more than adequate also.it sems that the person preparing it may not have the right skills to built it to work behind your engine,or there is a tv issue.we have something comparable in price to the bow tie od unit but with an e4340 shaft forward drum,something they dont use at all.IMO you cant get a stronger 2004r than youll find from those of us here who develop and use the products and tech to get them working great even into the 9 second zone.