Any opinions on these two autos? After speaking with BowTie OD's they feel that the 2004R my be a better choice for me and I'd like to know others experiences. I currently have a 4spd in my car. Thanks. :)
I can't give you any experience, but the 200-4R is what my car is being built for. In my case I don't need the extra low first gear (rear has 5.38 gears in it), and can use a little more OD in high. The ratio spread is also better for the 200-4R. From my limited snooping, the 200-4R can be built to take plenty of power, courtesy of the Buick GN turbo guys who have pushed for development of this trans. It is also slightly smaller (and I think lighter).
From what your saying Greg, it looks like the 200 may be a better choice for myself then also. I have 3.90 gears so take off isn't too bad at this time. I like all the other things you say also about being smaller & lighter while also being tough :) . Sound great.
The consenses seems to be that a 3.90 or lower gear is better with a 200R-4 and under 3.90 is better with 700R-4. The gears ratios are more evenly spaced allowing less rpm drop when shifting, staying within your power range. Smaller size means less interference with exhaust systems. They can be built to handle quite a bit of power. I made a change from a TH400 to the 200R-4 because it was easier and required less modifications ( pretty much a bolt in ). Since you are changing from a 4 speed, you can probably find someone to pay for the swap for your old parts if you are going to part with them. Hershey :chevy :D
Thanks Jvette, that does look like a nice tranny choice. I love the 3.90's and wouldn't change them, just now I need to make the car a bit more highway/ mpg friendly again :) . Are you using an after market tranny cooler or the stock radiator/ tranny combo ?
George I checked out the price of a 4L80-E and as usual the really good stuff is a bit more than I can chew :( .
I'm really starting to lean towards the 2004R. They seem able to survive in 10 & 11 sec. GN's which says they're quite strong. Now I'll have to research a Trans-brake if I get one ;) .
I have only owned one trans braked car and this is a picture from years ago with my dau sitting in it. They are very hard on parts. this small block Hilborne alky injected dragster had 1.04 -1.06 60 foot times and weighed about 1340 lbs with me in it. Power glide with 6500 stall air shifted at 8800 rpm.
IMO transbrakes would be very bad news in a heavy car.
Smoked tires, im running a Summit aux trans cooler in addition to the rad cooler. My tranny came from BTO and has a 2200rpm stall vert. Heat is usually what kills a automatic tranny. Higher stall speeds create more heat from friction in the convertor. Its always good to fight back with a good cooler. Good luck on your swap.
Thanks Jvette, Do you have a temperature gage for your tranny? Why did you add the secondary cooler and do you think a single cooler will be adaquate? That's good news on the 2200 stall as I was wondering about that too or if I should go with the $500 one BTO offers.
Depending on your power level ... there are a couple places in the street rod mags that offer good package deals on the 200-4R with 2000 stall converter, cooler, dipstick, ... maybe even the kitchen sink. Here's the one I remember the addy to. http://www.tpiperformance.com/2004r.html
What about going with a TH400 and a Gear Vendors overdrive. That's what I'm going to do right now. A bit more expensive but supposedly wwwaaaayyyy more stronger. Think about it. Good Luck.
Smokedtires, I do not have a tranny temp gauge. All tranny builder love the hear that yur puttin on an aux cooler. It means thier work will ususlly last longer. Tranny builders highly recomend aux cooling anytime you get into towing or higher stall speeds. So for me, even though the stock rad cooler was good for the stock tranny, I wanted better to protect the expense of doing the swap and to cover for the higher stall speed. My 2200rpm vertor came from BTO and cost only $150. Its made by a dirrerent company called The Convertor Shop and BTO swears they're top notch parts. If you want stall speed higher than 2200rpm from BTO, thats when you get into the $500 convertors.
Have you seen the post I put out on my swap endeavor? If not let me know and ill try and dig it up for you.
Where did you put the extra cooler at, and how did you plumb in the hoses? I just ordered the new braided hoses from BTO along with some other goodies. I have a 700r4 and for what I paid for it want it to last as long as possible, it will have a 2400 convertor shortly.
I got a 7 1/2" x 12 1/2" X 3/4" thick cooler by Summit from Summit. I mounted the cooler on the front bumper support infront of the radiator with zip ties. I plumbed it as such: pressure line out of the trans, into the bottom of rad cooler, out top of rad cooler, through the aux cooler, then thru a magnetic inline filter before returning to trans. Even though I didnt mount the cooler on a plane even with the rad, there is still plenty of air circulating there as its pulled up towards the rad by the fan or vehicle motion.
Smokedtires, If you want to run toggle switches to controll lockup , the mini toggles I got from BTO were only $2.50 each. Theyre small enough to be mounted under the ashtray lid on the console. Well in reach. One toggle I use to kill the automatic 4th gear lockup. This helps you cruise at lower speeds in 4th with out getting the bog and bucking from a locked convertor at to slow a speed. The second switch is to enable the lockup in 2nd and 3rd gears. Locking 2nd and 3rd helps can help your 1/4 mile performance by an average of 2 tenths. It does mine. When racing with locked in 2nd and 3rd I wind the rpms 500 higher to shift at 5500rpm. Without the convertor slip it helps to have the engine on a higher power curve while the convertor is locked. This keeps the rpm's from dropping to low when shifting up to the next gear. The cool thing is, is just a flip of the switch to try different things. I found that locking in 2nd and 3rd and winding it up a bit more before shifting gave me the best results.
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TH-2004R vs TH-700R4
