Skydog9

I have a 72 Cutlass S with the 350/TH350 I purchased last September. I am looking to upgrade to the 200-4R later this year. I also plan on changing my gear to a 3.08 with Eaton posi
I have been looking at two companies for the trans. CPT and Monster. I am leaning toward CPT because of Art Carr's name. I know he's been building transmissions for decades, and as far as I know supplies good products. I'd like to hear from anyone that has the 200-4R from CPT and what they would recommend. I am looking at the base model transmission up to 450 HP.

HighwayStar 442

Lonnie Diers Extreme Automatics. So helpful. Over four years old, no problems. I have Lighting Rods, works prefect. I am not a gentle driver http://extremeautomatics.com
Bad thing about Monster, but that was years ago. I have his Stage 2

Fun71

That overdrive trans with a 3.08 rear gear may not be the best combination.

OD ratio x Rear gear ratio = Final Drive Ratio

0.67x 3.08 = 2.06


Unless you are making a Bonneville Salt Flat top speed car, I’d suggest a rear gear ratio in the 3.5 to 4 range.

boese1978

Skip Monster, I learned the hard way. Their tranny went out on me, at rebuild time I was shown some inferior and some superior parts that were used by them. Not worth the gamble with differing consistentcy.

Skydog9

I appreciate eveyone's input. I get a lot of useful info from this forum. One thing I discovered is that there are other sources for the 200-4R transmission.
I am seriously looking at Bow Tie Overdrive for their trans. I will also look at going with a higher gear for the rear end

matt69olds

I used some parts from Art Carr (the current owner operator of California Transmission) way back when Grand Nationals were still fairly new and common. At the time he was about the only one doing anything with the 200R4 trans, nobody wanted anything to do with them and was swapping in 400 in its place. My concern at the time was his insistence on deleting the lockup converter capability, I’m guessing his reasoning was nothing was available for improving the capacity of the converter clutch. No lockup converter, no worries about smoking the converter clutch.

Other than a couple articles in Car Craft a few years ago, I know nothing about his products. With the advances in converter technology, hopefully he has changed his opinion of the converter clutch.

Lonnie is a good guy to deal with, so is CK Performance if you can talk to anyone. Chris is very busy there, he is hard to get on the phone.

oddball

Skip Monster and Bow Tie. The problem is they're high production shops, so low-demand transmissions like the 200-4r can come out of those shops improperly built.

Lonnie (Extreme Automatics) has the most info available online and he is pretty easy to work with. I got my trans from him a few years ago. His converter guy messed up my order, but that happens. Extreme also sent me a replacement governor because the one they sent with the unit was waaaay poorly matched.
I installed a CPT unit in my buddy's Chevelle. No complaints.
There are also smaller shops that really specialize. Dave Husek (Turbo Buick Performance) is well regarded and makes some of his own custom parts. I just ordered one of his pressure plates. He's also super chatty, so once you get him on the phone he'll keep you there for an hour.
Then there's Janis Transmission in, I think, Ohio.

I've bought ~$1,700 of parts from Chris with mixed results. This last go around they said "Great! We'll get them boxed up and out the door tomorrow!" Six weeks later, something is showing up today. I sure hope it's everything....... But he publishes the most info, wrote the book, and has the broadest part listing.


200-4r's are a bit temperamental and can require tuning to nicely match the car. Unfortunately, every tuning step requires dropping the pan. I miss the days of the TH350 where just messing with the modulator screw can get you in the ballpark.


Art was the original champion of the 200-4r, back when it was grandma's economy transmission. Yes, you can get better lockup units now. I've used the 12/10 hybrid style unit from PATC, that worked great in my full weight '72 with 480 ft-lbs. Next engine will be brushing against 600 ft-lbs, so I went ahead for a billet 10" single disk this go around.

The absolute most important thing is GET A PRESSURE GAUGE, and follow your builder's checkout procedure. Lonnie's documents are a great reference. The TV cable MUST be correct or the trans will die quickly.
The kickdown mount on pre-77 Qjets is NOT a TV mount!

olds 307 and 403

A 300 psi pressure gauge is a good idea, even if someone else builds it. Mine was shifting soft, a pressure gauge showed 185 to 190 in foward gears, too low. Reverse was good. A .550" boost valve brought it to 220 psi and much firmer shifts. Along with the Trans Go green line bias and the governor I modify and stake the spring for nice 5000 rpm shifts. Go with a 3.42 gear minimum. I ran 1750 rpm at 60 mph with a 225/70R14 tire and 3.42 gears.

bccan

CPT builds a quality, reliable unit and Art is still not a fan of lockup but will build them. A friend has one in his GS and it worked nicely, though the pump broke which CPT stood behind without argument. Some of the other names advocated above are good too. My CK is still going after 10 years, because of geography CK or Turbo Buick Performance would build my next one if ever needed. The red car’s BRF is still working fine @ close to 200k on it with CK servo/shift kit in it. Original converter crapped itself last spring.

DO NOT “UNDER BUILD” A 200-4R. I have couple of cores from the learning curve era sitting in my garage!

You’ll be ok with the 3.08, iirc that combo runs appx 1800 rpm @ 70 mph (locked up) in my kid’s red car. I am quite happy with 3.91 in blue car that runs 2300 @ 70 (locked up). My opinion is put a little more gear in it (3.2x - 3.7x) so you can get max benefit from the combo.