84OldsName

I'm an owner of a 1984 Olds Delta88 and i have a chance to get a Turbo350 trans.. Now my question is,is the Turbo350 better then the stock tranny i have?

Thanks in advance

Allan R

The 84 D88 has a 200 4R tranny with overdrive, and upgraded sun gear/clutches etc from the 83 offering. The gear patterns on the 200 4R are better than the TH350 and also gives you a final drive of .67:1. So, my answer would be why mess with something that doesn't need fixing? All the TH350 will do is increase your fuel consumption and rpms especially on the highway. With a 307? Why??? If you were going to replace your 307 on the other hand with a 350, I'd say sure. I remember my 83 Regency Brougham could have benefited from that extra HP and torque.

chip-powell

Not to nit-pick, but wasn't the 307 replaced by the 305 by 1984?

joe_padavano

Nope. Olds built the 307 through the 1990 model year - it was the last carbureted motor sold by GM in a production vehicle.

As for the OP's question, a 1984 D88 could have come with either a TH200 three speed or a 200-4R four speed OD trans. In stock form, the TH350 is stronger than either of those two transmissions, and is clearly better than the TH200, but as Allan correctly points out, the 200-4R has both a better first gear for off the line acceleration and an OD for better highway mileage.

Professur

For everyone except Olds.

84OldsName

Okay thanks guys just looking for ways to get the old delta to push out more hp..I'm upgrading the 307 to 350..Now i've asked how could i increase hp and all i hear is bigger engine but what's the use if i can't get the power on the ground,right? So i'm swapping out engine,trans and rear end.. Now the rear end is something i know nothing about but i'm looking to swape with posi rear but don't know where to start..So if anyone have any info that could help me out,I'm listing ...

Thanks in advance

Allan R

Interesting.
No problem with the engine swap. An Olds 350 will bolt right up to a 200 4R. I'd look at changing the rear gears before changing out the tranny. What gears do you have in it right now? Also - double check and see if you already have a posi - or Limited Slip diff. My 83 Regency did. Maybe they were on select top line cars?? IDK.

FYI the 200 4R will handle the TH350 nicely. Just remember to transfer your TV cable and bracket to the new engine and set it up properly before driving.

joe_padavano

And yet, my 1986 CHEVY Caprice wagon came from the factory with a "Y" in the VIN and an Olds 307 under the hood. All four car divisions used the 307 Olds motor through the 1990 model year, primarily in the B-body wagons but also in the G-body cars. For example, you could get a Buick Regal T-type with an Olds 307 and not a Turbo V6. Go figure.

joe_padavano

The TH350 requires a different crossmember than the 200-4R in the B-body. The crossmembers are shaped differently and you can't just slide it forward the way you can in an older car.

My personal experience would suggest otherwise. I've blown up two 200-4R motors behind stone-stock VIN Y 307 motors. My third one has one foot in the grave. On two of these, I have no history of the trans before I got the cars, but the third one is a rebuild that I installed and took care of. That one apparently either snapped an input shaft or sheared the splines on the stator shaft.

Professur

I knew about the wagons ... did not know about the g-bodies. But I was talking about the B-body cars. My '85 pontiac hides a small bowtie under it's hood. Oh the shame of it all.

Just tossing this out ... if OP's going to up his power with an old 350, he'll want to change that crossmember to an aftermarket universal anyhow to accommodate a true dual exhaust. Pointless to do all that work and leave the single IMO.

Allan R

What would you do differently on the 200 4R to avoid those issues? On the third one, is it one you did the build on or was it already done when you bought it? Just wondering if the rebuild was 'subject to' workmanship or used/substandard parts?

84OldsName

How do i find out what gears i have??

Professur

Should be stamped on the axle tube

84OldsName

Well couldn't see no stamp but i do know it's not posi.. Do anyone know what vehicle with posi rear that can interchange with my 84 Delta88??

Allan R

I borrowed this chart from another forum



The axle code location is on the passenger side of the rear axle, similar to this.

sammy

My 1987 Cutlass supreme had a 305 with a metric 200 behind it...
The metric quit going into reverse so I replaced with the 2004r....IMO, if I was to drop in a 350, a TH350would be behind .....

The 305/metric 200 must have been a Canadian thing

joe_padavano

Any 1977-1990 B-body sedan (not wagons - those use different axles) is a potential donor. Note that police/taxi/HD suspension cars got bigger brakes and the 5 x 5" wheel bolt pattern as opposed to the 5 x 4.75 pattern on lesser cars. The 1991-96 Caprice axles will fit, but I believe all of those are 5 x 5".

joe_padavano

It was.

Professur

Yeah, almost nobody rebuilds the 200c. I like it tho. Small, light, and damned if it isn't the easiest tranny to learn on. What speed did you manage to get into 4th?

84OldsName

Thanks again fellows for the useful info but i have one question..Okay till this day i haven't yet purchased an 350 engine for rebuild and i'm still running my 307 with my stock worn trans and i have a rebuild 200 metric stage2 sitting in the storage..The question is will the the stage2 200 metric swap give me a lil more hp?

Allan R

It would be fine if you had a 400 or 500 hp car with torque. I doubt your 307 is going to do anything with it though. If you have a 200 4R stage 2, why don't you go with a 455 instead of a 350? Same engine mounts, same bolt up etc. But way more HP and torque. The 455 isn't called a 'Torque Monster' for nothing....

84OldsName

If you can point me in the direction that would be nice..It's hard enough trying to find a 70-74 350 rocket that i could rebuild..I mean i found some but what they wanted it was crazy..

Allan R

Check with Thomas - he goes by olds442redberet on this site. He's in AL
If he can't help, try:
jensenracing77 (Eric Jensen) in Indianapolis IN
oldspackrat (Scott Winn) in Brazil IN

84OldsName

Allen R thanks alot i've learned a ton of info here today..So what's a fair price to pay for an old scrape engine running or non running?

Professur

Well, if you talk nice to F-85, he's trying to move a solid, fresh 455. Very reputable builder. But you're definitely going to want to go even stronger than a stock th-350 to back that up. A bulletproof th700-r4, or a th-400 would be my choice. A lot of rotating mass there.... but your big *** ol Delta is gonna make fart can powered civics cry for their mama. Of course, you'll be crying for yours when you pull up at the pump.

66400

Better get used to it! As you no doubt know Canadian Pontiacs had Chevy engines all through the '50's and '60's and into the '70's. Maybe even earlier and later too?

Henry

66400

No shortage of these engines in Austin, Tx!
I have 15 or so of them your choice at $300.00 apiece complete.

Henry

joe_padavano

The third one was a stock rebuild by a reputable builder. I installed it myself. Obviously I cannot vouch for the quality of the internal parts. I now have all the Kent Moore tools for rebuilding a 200-4R an will be building one with CKPerformance parts for my Vista.

Allan R

I hate to sound evasive on this but the stock answer is 'as little as possible'. I would also factor in whether the core engine has all the correct pulleys and accessory brackets, water pump, starter, exhaust manifolds etc. The pulley issue is very important for all the belts to line up. I saw Henry's post that he has 15 and his price. For a runner, 300 seems ok but you'd also have to factor in palloting and shipping. Up here a short block is 150.00 and a long block is 200.00. I checked the Dallas area Pick n pulls but they have nothing right now.

Maybe you can negotiate with Henry considering the shipping? You don't need a runner if I understand your needs right now, plus factor shipping unless you can make the trip and pick it up? Probably a good days trip there and back. Might be cheaper to go pick up than have it shipped. Not sure though.