Anyone use a Hughes TH 350 with the 2.75 first gear? Thinking about using it with a Gear Venders.

 

For that kind of money, why not go 4L80?

 

Trying not to mod too much from stock architecture. I would go 200R4 if it was bucket seat console shift but not a great solution to the column shifted bench seater plus the TV cable bullshit. 44k mile untouched barn find too

 

I have a Gear Vender in my car. They will not go in without some minor floorboard modifications.

The 2004R has a 2.74 first gear. The overdrive with a lockup converter will offer lower cruise rpm than a TH350 with a gear vendor. That covers your goals related to your questions regarding lower gearsets, and overdrive.

A 2004R can be reliably built cheaper than the modifications to the TH350, and the gear vendor, and would fit the car far easier. The column shifter is easily modified.

 

It's a 200-4R (not R4). I don't know why you would go that route except for mounts, but I respect your opinion.

 

I think Lokar makes different brackets/linkage for column shifters. Might be worth looking into.

For the money the aftermarket gearset and gear bender will cost, you can buy a pretty stout 200r4 that will do everything you want and better, with a bunch of extra gas money.

 

Gear Vendors will cost you $2,600+

You can get a Stage 2 setup 2004R for about $2,700 plus a lockup converter
http://extremeautomatics.com/product...romc=17&fromt=

Gear Vendors doesn't give you a lockup converter option. Having a lockup coverter drops your RPM by about 200-300 and it drops transmission fluid temperatures by about 30-50 degrees.

You can go with a numerical high differential gear like a 3.73 or 4.10 with a 2004R. A gear like that makes the car accelerate faster and puts less stress on the motor and trans as the gear is a huge torque multiplier. Remember, the new C8 Corvette has a 5.11 gear with an 8 speed trans.

 

The 200 might as well be stock architecture, it was the next generation transmission for rwd GM vehicles. Depending on your (anticipated) power level and driving “habits” you may not need anything more than a mid “stage” build, the minimum I would do with that trans. It fits in place without mods (frame holes already there), same driveshaft, linkage, etc. it works fine with no mods to column shifter unless pulling down into “low 1” is desired. If that is the case it is about an hour’s job to remove the shift detent and modify the notch/stop. I have also seen some columns that needed a little grind at the shift arm end of the column (in engine bay) to allow for the extra travel, really not a biggie.

Parts Needed-
-Trans & Converter
-Rear Trans Mount & some metric bolts
-E Brake Cable(s) TH400 Primary, TH400 Secondary or this one can be shortened and use a cable end stop on one or both sides @ rear cable clips.
-3 Metric Torque Converter Bolts
-TV Cable and Carb Bracket.
-Throttle Arm Kit or Mod (a few ways to skin that cat).I simply drilled a hole and added a cable stud on 5 that I’ve done, all still good after 6-10 yrs.
-Lockup Components & Wiring- Lots of ways to do this. Search it. FWIW I like the Bowler Delay Unit, with OD only lockup, Cruise Brake Switch and vac switch on ported vac. Wiring is simple. This requires correct switch in valve body (NO?) and 700-4R connector in side of case.
-Speedo will likely need the correct gears acquired.

I’m not saying this is the best solution but I do think it is the cleanest, simplest and least expensive. If big power the 400/GV or 4L trans are the ticket, 700 takes too much finagling for no gain over 200 imo. FWIW I would only buy a 200 from one of the specialist builders, not any national chain. Competent locals, particularly performance oriented can do 400 and back to specialist for the 4L. If using a 200 in a powerful car or you beat on them a lot go straight to a full billet build, ask me how I know! I have 2 “mid stage” cores in the garage with a soft 2-3 shift and have killed a sun shell(?) back in the day so I have been through some learning curve in the mid/high 300’s hp range.

FWIW my blue car has CK built 200 that’s still going strong after 10 years. Red car (325-350 hp) has a stock BRF that has appx 200k on it with a CK shift kit/servo. The original D5 converter went **** up this past spring and I had a replacement sitting around, 1 day’s work and back on the street. Red car has 3.08 rear, cruises 70 mph at appx 1800 rpm locked up, blue car appx 2300 locked up with 3.90.

 

Adjusting the TV cable is about as complicated as adjusting your brakes.

 

Agreed. In my experience with 2004R/700r4 swaps people want to cheap out on the TV cable stuff. People either don’t want to accept it, or just plain deny the importance of proper cable adjustment AND rate of cable pull. They try to cobble brackets together thinking the cable will self adjust at WOT. They fail to understand the tv cable controls line pressure, and needs to raise that pressure in proportion to throttle opening.

Im convinced that’s why so many people still believe the 200/700 transmissions are “junk” 🙄.

“How good can they be?! I tore one up behind a 350 2 barrel!”

 

The GM cable is actually self adjusting. You simply pull the sheath out as far as possible from the adjuster housing, then floor the accelerator, and the cable ratchets to the correct position. Excellent point about the correct throttle arm ratio.

 

FWIW, I did a 200-4r swap into a 70 Chevelle with a bench. Same steering column, chassis and whatnot as the Cutlass. Used the Lokar universal kit. Took an hour or so of fiddling with bending the rod and trying different offsets, but got everything to work great. Being a Chevelle, we even got a 4 speed stencil for the speedo. No such luck for the Cutlass though. You'll have to count detents instead of looking at the indicator.

 

You guys have convinced me, especially since I'm so close to Lonnie at Extreme Automatics.

 

I wish the gear vendors was a better option. IIRC, it used to be quite a bit cheaper 10+ years ago. But now that it costs the same as a full trans swap? Yikes.
Chris is the guy that usually builds the 200-4r's at Lonnie's shop. Good guy, easy to talk to. Occasionally they get BOP cases. Double check what happens with the torque converter. I think they've changed shops they use for those, but a few years ago there were communication problems between them which caused some delays and I got a converter that was waaaay looser than I spec'd. It's worth finding out who's doing it now and talking to them directly.

 

"Occasionally"?? Are you talking about the early 200-4R cases that are BOP-only instead of unisex? Any 200-4R will bolt to a BOP engine.

 

I used a Kugel Komponents shift arm kit on my column / bench car. That adjustable radius on the slotted arm on the trans lever allows you to correct for the 200-4R's longer swing compared to the ST300 and keeps the "gates" and neutral safety switch on the column functional.

 

Right, that's a BOP case. My understanding is that case - with only the BOP pattern - is very rare, especially compared to the universal case. At least in the aftermarket rebuilder world. Most 200-4r cases have the universal bellhousing.
Yes, all 200-4r's will bolt to an Olds, But having a BOP bellhousing instead of a universal is nice, IMO. That ugly hump always annoys me.

 

Correct. Only made during very early production.

I guess we all have our crosses to bear...