Hey everyone, I am new to this forum. I own a 1985 oldsmobile delta 88 with the vin Y 307. transmission is a 200-4r and rear gears are stock. I have tried to look for other threads on getting performance but I havent really found any. Most just say to swap a 350 and right now I cant really afford a 350 so I have to make with what I got. I was thinking of swapping in some 3.73 gears. Around how badly would this affect my gas mileage? Would this create faster wear on the engine? It currently has 175,000 miles and I dont want to rebuild it. How about shaving the heads? would that give me good power? If it does how badly would it affect my gas mileage? Thanks, any suggestions or responses will be appreciated.

 

I too have a 85 Delta 88, right now it sits due to the 307 going BOOM.

I put 3.42 in the rear and my MPG dropped from 16 to 12, no big deal though, but now I'm swapping in a 68 Olds 350 and 350 trans the car.

My advice, don't waste too much money on the 307, do what you gotta do to keep it running, and save money for a swap

 

I'll second that, only I'd recommend a 403. The only substitute for cubic inches is rectangular dollars. (and the only reason I haven't replaced the 307 in my wagon is that the 307 was rebuilt just before I got the car)

 

Yeah I totally agree as well, the swap would be best, its just that I cant afford the swap until maybe another year, so on the mean time I am putting parts transferable to the 350 (K&N, muffler, ignition, etc...) I am starting to get decent power. Just last week i almost beat a v6 ford and v6 gmc pickup (Which does not sound good but is, considering I have stock rear gears). Since I dont have much money my next "project" is a carb spacer, clean EGR tubes in manifold once carb is removed, edelbrock primary jets, and secondary rods and hangers for the carb. Does anyone have recomedations for jet and rod sizes?

 

its a 307. dont bother. it is te weakest chevy motor ever built. cam is low profile and soft. you could add headers, ect. it may help a little but not much.carb spacers, or even a new carb will not help. one thing that might help alot is to swap that tranny for a turbo 350. junkyard will be fine. and it'll double the 1/4 time of the car without changing anything else. the 200 is the biggest piece of junk since they unhitched the horses. they may make a shiftkit for it but i;m not sure. check with summit racing. it may help some. other than that , save your money. you're doing cosmetic things that wont help you. more carb,more exhaust flow, ect are designed to free up extra horsepower. your motor isnt creating any. there are no boltons that can change that. you have to start inside the motor. besides, with that mileage, be thankful it starts. in fact, its pretty impressive that it has survived that long

 

His 307 is an Olds, not a Chev.

The rest of your post is just as useless.

Norm

 

The 1968 350 Olds motor is in my Delta right now. Don't know what it's running but it is running strong. It's got a 400 turbo behind it

Going to adjust the carb a bit and put in HEI next week, plus I gotta repalce the valve cover gaskets.

The Delta with the 307, I ran an avg of 20.30 in the 1/4 mile. If I worked it, and it would have cost a lot of money to do with not so good results.

K&N, ign, and exhaust are good, becuase they do transfer over with no problems. but if it's newer than 85 the ports won't match an aftermarket manifold.

Plus the 307 is too weak to handle a lot of power. It's strong enough to handle the 180 hp that the 442's have, but nothing more than 225 or 250 HP which most older small blocks start at


Do you have emissions testing? I would take off those EGR tubes and plug up the holes. That will give you a bit more power, but bring on an SES light and will fail a visual emission test

 

I think your right, but we are talking olds motors here. the 307 Chevy was back in the late 60's

LOL don't tell me you seriously think that LOL

Not true, it can be built as strong as the 700 and with a lower first gear, best thing for drag racing. And they do make shift kits for it.

Anything else?

 

I too have an 85 Delta 88 haha. This may be off the subject matter a little bit, but Is there a difference between a 200 4r and a 200 c ? I remember I couldn't find a pan gasket at the local parts stores and I had to order one from carquest for a 200 c. It was a few years ago so I could be mistaken though. I just remember being like !?!?! wtf is a 200metric? What a gip.

307- - -If you weren't in Texas I'd tell you to grab a 350 off my garage floor and start shinin'
I have crap everywhere lol.

 

The 200 (with or without "C") is a three speed. The 200-4R is a four speed. The trans pans, gaskets, cases, etc. are different, so a 200C gasket will not fit a 200-4R.

 

Makes perfect sense.
Delta--> no overdrive
98--> overdrive
Thanks Joe. You are most helpful to this site.

 

my fault reddog, i meant olds, not chevy.as far as tranny's go. i agree a 200 can be built to run as good as a 700.so can a go cart.. i am not an olds expert like many of you.i build hotrods mostly. gm's so called performance 700r is junk too. with alot of work and money, you can make a 700 as good as a turbo 350.but it still wont hold up to the abuse a 350 will.there is no comparison. i have a 94 z28 that i swapped the tranny in and gained a full 3 seconds in the quarter with absolutely no other changes.today's trannys are built for fuel economy, not pure performance.

 

by the way 88coupe, i've spent some time reading all the posts on this site from the beginning and i have to say, someone here is useless.and has been for a while. and since i'm new....?in my post, i wasnt trying to be rude. you seem to answer every post with a rude response.you sound like a real jerk. i wont waste my time responding to anything else you say, but i see your in Pa and i'm in ohio. thats pretty close if you would like to get together and discuss this further.

 

I am impressed.

Norm

 

Again, I am impressed.

I repeat: If you have a problem with the content of my post(s) bring it on.

If it is with my posting style, send me a PM.

Norm