How does having a .69 4th gear overdrive transmission sound for very little money vs. stock?

 

LOTS of threads about this swap in the transmission forums. Just sayin...

 

Yeah, but some people want to keep their cars stock and I just wanted a consensus. It's really a question of preference than a How To.

 

If your happy with the car as is, leave it alone.

If you need transmission repair, now would be the time to do the swap.

If you want a little more get up and go, but don’t want to mess with the engine, the lower first gear of the 2004R or 700R4 makes a big difference in acceleration. The overdrive is an added bonus.

If the car has a lot of rear gear, the overdrive will tame it easily

Either trans in good condition will handle a mild small block with a good valve body kit. More powerful engine mean more expensive upgrades.

 

I'm disappointed that the replies don't have a like button.

 

Ok, I'll play. I did it. My Hooptie is a base model 67 Cutlass convertible so no real collector value. I have EFI, 200-4r, GM 12 bolt, aftermarket disc brakes, '89 Toyota bucket seats, home made electric windows, aftermarket electric locks, and even LED headlights. About the only thing left that is stock is the body.

 

I very much doubt that.

 

You use a th400 crossmember and a kick down cable for the 200r4. It's stone age 80's tech to begin with and is relatively inexpensive to make an old car ride like a more modern one.

 

It sounds like a very future friendly car.

 

LOL! You're not regurgitating the info properly. Use the factory crossmember, it's the same for 300, 350, and 400, but use the 400 mounting location. It is inexpensive compared to a high-perf engine build, but not cheap. And it has very little to do with ride comfort.

 

As said above, you’re not regurgitating the information correctly. In addition to the crossmember info, it’s not a kickdown cable (which the TH 350 uses and is connected to the gas pedal), it’s a TV cable and is connected to a bracket on the carburetor. This requires modifying the factory carb bracket and adjusting the TV cable so the trans doesn’t self destruct. Which may happen anyway if the engine has any amount of power. This is where it gets expensive: building the transmission to handle the increased input torque.

 

Nobody w/ a numbers-matching H/O or W-machine is deviating from the factory equipment. For everyone else who has a car with a "collector value" that would be unaffected by a A4 upgrade, game on. But then again, this would apply across the collector car spectrum, so why are you so obsessed by the Olds community w/ this rhetorical question?

 

In my 79 Calais, I'm 100% happy with my conversion to the 200R4 due to the fact I went from a 2:29 to a 3:08 differential at the back end. No torque/horsepower issues for me as I have the 260 wheezer with its 105hp. The O/D gets me back to 1850 rpm at around 65 instead of around 3000 which trust me the 260 does not like at all.

 

I have a 2004R in my 70 Supreme with a 3.90 rear and I love it. It's a stage2 from Extreme Automatics to support the 400hp/400tq 374 SBO. The custom governor shifts around 5500 to 6k at WOT and I now have the stock console shifter with the upgraded detent plate

This is what I'm referring to: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ilable-157347/

...that allows me to manually shift with stops through all the gears. I added a shift light on the column that goes off at 5600 to allow the trans to shift around 6k manually. I run a 28" rear tire (275/60/15 BFG TA) and can do a 50 yard burn out through 2nd gear and chirp the tires with ease on the 1-2 and sometimes 2-3 shift. I can cruise around 2500 RPM on the highway in the high 70s. It's not cheap to get one of these that can hold up to a beating and get everything dialed in, but when you do it's well worth it in my opinion and from my experience. I'm actually considering swapping the 3.90s out for 4.33s for even more fun mainly so I can get more use out of 2nd gear at WOT on the street (right now I shift around 82mph into 3rd at WOT and the 4.33s would drop that down to 73). With the .67 4th gear even with the 4.33s I could still cruise on the hwy in OD around 2700 in the mid to high 70s.

-Joe

 

Forgot to mention, I also got my 200R4 from Extreme Automatics, mine is the Stage 1.

 

I did a search (advanced) off “200” and my user name and thought these threads were relevant. You could pick other people and do the same thing for more variety. I think it will be helpful for OP and others with similar questions. I like my 200s but they have been like raising toddlers and angsty teenagers through multiple learning curves, but my OCD & **** retention helped aggravate it. Once I got them optimized to my tastes, they were great. Installs I helped others with went well. They’re a good choice for many but not the only choice and like most everything, are a substantial expense.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-200r4-159089/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...1/#post1534292

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...upreme-138017/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...4-swap-147171/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...8/#post1529355

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...cement-167356/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-200r4-166765/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-200r4-154888/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-trans-150754/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...1/#post1168183

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...200-4r-120651/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...o-help-103056/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...r4-pics-97551/

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...nverter-49686/

 

The 200-R4 is the same case size as the 400 so a 350 crossmember won't line up. And if you ever had a car doing 5000rpm at 65 mph, it's not a comfortable ride.

 

No, it isn't. You're still not getting it. And you're using the wrong number. The "200-4r" has the same mounting length. That doesn't mean it's the same size.
It's the same crossmember, you just use the 400 mounting location.

No production car ever made does that.

 

The TH2004R swaps right in place of a TH350, same driveshaft. The crossmember goes in the TH400 position. It is not strong stock, it needs upgrades to live behind anything above a smog Olds 350. Love the gear ratios, hate the leaking, like all old GM transmissions and weak stock form. I have cooked 4 or 5 of them, going 4L80E this time.

 

Apparently, the only difference between the Cutlass, Skylark, and Gto crossmembers is from coupe to convertible.
My original question was how classic car owners felt about converting their factory transmissions to a 4 speed auto.

 

They have a thread here about changing to a 4L80E. Do you think it's more trouble and expense converting to the 4L80E than to beef up the 2004R?

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...needed-155049/

 

I thought about it back in the 90s but after running the numbers on the cost of a built OD transmission + torque converter + incidentals and the amount of miles I drive vs. the original TH350 it wasn’t economically feasible.

 

On a mild build, no. I went SEFI with transmission control. Otherwise it will be much more cost with less ideal gearing than the 2004R.