I seem to have a problem with my B&M 350. Even though it is brand new I am gonna have to have it replaced.

Well why not spend a little extra cash for an overdrive.

From what I have read, a 200-r4 would be the easiest to do. Just move the crossmember and it should be a direct swap minus some adjustments and whatnot. However, being that I know nothing about transmissions or TV cables, I feel I should leave this to a pro.

I had called Art Carr and Bow Tie and they have quoted me from $2500-$3000 for the transmission.

My question though is do I really need a hrdened racing transmission?

I see myself using the car in the following. It is my daily driver. I go everywhere in it. I live in the heart of LA so there is always stop and go traffic. I zip around all over the city.

I go on a 400-500 mile trip a few times a year.

I might go to the track once or twice tops just to see how she does. My 65 is for getting me from point A to point B and looking good on the way.

And I do burn outs from time to time. I also have a tendancy to fly down the street now and again. I try not to, but hell, I'm still young and this has always been my dream car.

So for my purposes should I go with the expensive built for abuse Art Carr or Bow Tie transmission, or is that overkill?

I talked to a guy named Tim Deal in Hunington Beach. I learned about him on TC. He seams like a nice older guy and quoted me $1600. Now this is a major drop in price. However, I want to buy this thing and know that it will last me and treat me well and of course be dependable.

Input, comments, questions, experience welcomed.

Here are some stats on my car:
65 SS
MSD Pro Billet (Ready to Run) 8360 distributor
small block 350
Edelbrock Performer RPM cam
-- duration @ .050" intake/exhaust 234 degrees and 244 degrees. Lift .488" and .510"
matching Performer RPM intake manifold
Edelbrock gear drive (quiet).
Comp Cam roller tip rockers.
Holley 600cfm
BM turbo 350 transmission with the deep sump fluid pan
3,000 stall converter (assumed)
stock ten bold with 336 gear peg
heads were rebuilt with the engine. And they are the double hump 1.94 intake and 1.60 exhaust
upgraded valve springsThanks

The 200 is a good choice. Although Art Carr builds a quality unit I think for your application Bow Tie overdrives is much cheaper and puts out a good unit. If your in LA you might try ACT Transmisions. My 65 with a 502 has a 2004r from Act and has been pounded on for 4 years now without a problem. If you call them ask for Sal and tell him I sent you. www.actautomatics.com

Mark Lundquist

The Bow Ties price is actually about $500 more than Art Carr. Plus they quoted me having to drop it off and would be a little over a week.

Both Art Carr and Tim Deal are in Huntington Beach, which is a lot closer than Bow Tie. And quoted me about 2 days to complete. So if need be, I could limp there on side streets for about 2 hours.

I will do some looking on this ACT company. Can't find any mention on the boards or google, but I'll give em a call when I get back to town.

I would love to put an Art Carr in my car, but do i really need it? Would say a Tim Deal do the job and go the distance for my applications?

Take this for what it's worth...My buddy has a 1982 Olds Cutlass with a nice 350 and a junkyard 200 4r that does 12.3's in the 1/4 all day long. He has had it in for a few years now with no problems at all. Maybe he is just lucky.

I am doing a 700 swap in my 71 Chevelle. I went thru the whole trans replaced all steels,clutches, bushings and seal, plus a few weak links in the unit and I have spent under 500.00 including the convertor.
It's my first rebuild so we will see how much I actually SAVE in the long run.
I can see it now, my trans on the counter at the local tranny shop and I'll be saying "The guy I got it from SWORE it was rebuilt!"

The 200 is an excellent transmission, it is what I am using in my '65 El Camino. Just like you would hot rod an engine, the 200 trans has a lot of great upgrade parts available thanks to all of the hardcore Buick V6 drag racers. Of course for your combo you really do not need a hard core 200 buildup.

Why not build the transmission yourself and save a lot of money? For the premier step by step rebuilder manual on the 200 trans contact http://ckperformance.com/ Chris is one of the best 200 transmission builders in the nation, and he shares everything he knows in this book for the nominal charge of $65.

Thomas

Jim...what happened to the TH350??

Summit sells 200-4R's for $1400

My buddy has a 1982 Olds Cutlass with a nice 350 and a junkyard 200 4r that does 12.3's in the 1/4 all day long.

Tell me more! I'd love to make my Regal do the same.

Summit sells 200-4R's for $1400



Tell me more! I'd love to make my Regal do the same.

Simple really, SBC 350 bored 0.030 or .040 over. I think the key is the trick flow heads. And then he's got a decent bottom end, around .500 lift roller cam, headers, flow masters, holley 650 double pumper, electric fuel pump, single plane intake and a GN rear. Car really goes good.

What's his 60 fts? That's impressive for a 350 in a fairly heavy g body....unless he's running fiberglass and lexan

It sounds like a fairly stock rebuild is really all that you need. The 200 is decent, and it doesn't look like you're in the massive torque zone, which is where you start having problems. Also, the way you would be driving would put the least amount of stress on it too.

I'd go for it, but make sure your supplier/builder knows exactly what you have, know how you HONESTLY will be driving, and what plans you have for your car in to future regarding upgrades. On something like a trans, and the cash it can eat up, overkill is not necessarily a bad thing vs being stranded.

How hard would it be for me to rebuild one, being that i am a quick learner, but have no knowledge of transmissions at all.

Are the 200s easy to aquire?

Big Fred, Not really sure. have been having issues with it. one shop said it needed to be rebuilt, but they were shady. it isn't slipping at all. Feels a bit funny, but I have been driving a rental all week so not used to it. Was leaking (spraying) fluid everywhere, but it looks like it may have just been overfilled and coming out the vent at the top. I also had a hose pop off the cooler and sprayed all the fluid all over my engine bay and it slipped when i was pulling out fo a parking space right when the engine started smoking (from the fluid on the headers).

For all i know it may be fine, but don't trust it going any distance more than to work. i would love to get it looked at, but have no idea where to find a close, honest shop that wouldn't try to screw me.

I have done all the work so far myself, but the transmission intimidates me and I would hate to screw it up.

I would be up for rebuilding a solid 200, but would need to know it would be fool proof and I could do it on my living room floor. perhaps have a fellow TCer with experience help me install it and get the tv cable set up right.

What's his 60 fts? That's impressive for a 350 in a fairly heavy g body....unless he's running fiberglass and lexan

I gotta get back to you on the 60ft times. We went to the scales together once and I think that the car weighs in at around 3300lbs.

Jim. Order this and be done with it.

summit 200-4r (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=TCI%2D381500&N=700+4294925134+4294839071+4294861220+4294904007+ 4294908216+115&autoview=sku)

As I have posted in the past, I have an Art Car 2004-R in my Chevelle. I couldn't be happier. The ONLY fly in the ointment is that WOT 4th gear is out of my engine's comfort range and so I don't try to get it to auto shift into fourth at WOT. Besides thats so far over any legal speed limit that it'd prolly result in an overnight in the grey bar hotel anyway which I am not interested in. :)

Additionally with 3.73's I doubt I'd hit 4th gear in a 1/4 mile drag either. In fact there's no way.

As I have posted in the past, I have an Art Car 2004-R in my Chevelle. I couldn't be happier. The ONLY fly in the ointment is that WOT 4th gear is out of my engine's comfort range and so I don't try to get it to auto shift into fourth at WOT. Besides thats so far over any legal speed limit that it'd prolly result in an overnight in the grey bar hotel anyway which I am not interested in. :)

Additionally with 3.73's I doubt I'd hit 4th gear in a 1/4 mile drag either. In fact there's no way.

I've never been at WOT in 4th past 3300RPM. kinda scary on the roads up here. Doubt I'd ever see it on the track either, but nice for the cruising.

I've never been at WOT in 4th past 3300RPM. kinda scary on the roads up here. Doubt I'd ever see it on the track either, but nice for the cruising.

HWY 18 going north out of St Louis Park or I-694 past Central Ave. once you go over the next hill there is a nice long freeway downgrade. After midnigh......................never mind.

hehehehe, I was doing it on 694 ging west from 35E towards 35W when I was doing it. The math escapes me, but my incorrect speedo was pegged. When the car floats like that, and it's well after dark, things pucker.

I love the 200r4s i have bout 6 of them on hand an ive only had to use 1 and it wasnt because it stopped pulling it was simply it slipped into gear on upshifts i didnt like it so i replaced with a used 1.. The car its in now is a 81 elky 350 60 over 10.5.1 compression 3.42 gears 2000 stall its had 2.29 gears all the way up to 4.11s and i **** u not 13 rear diffs this car has junked 1 old tranny has been threw and its there every time..
And if you undo the detent cable an move it lmao it will go 145 MPH in forth lmao thats the only down side ive found on stock 200s in they wont shift into 4th at w o t unless u do somthing with the detent cable.. I think the old car would go dam near 160MPH with the 2.29 gears if u could hang on to it the wind gets funny at them speeds... I let a friend borrow the car is how i know the 145 it only registers 85 he was coming From evansville IN. to Northern Ky On 71 A got busted... Needless to say he wont drive mine again although he paid dearly for it.. But id say a good rebuilt stock 1 would get u buy for a good while and that shoudnt be but about 7-800 for a rebuilt 1 cya

I am so confused. I took it to another shop today to just get a second opinion. The guy said it has a very minor leak. However it shifts fine. Over all a strong transmission. That is 180* from the other shop that told me that it didn't shift right and the pump was bad and needed a total rebuild immediately. Or what the Gear Man had old me that there were some seals that were blown.

I tend to agree though that it is fine. Since it blew that hose off and dumped a few quarts on the floor it stopped leaking and spraying everywhere. So I guess it was just overfilled... I hope.

It is just really hard to know what is really going on when you are still new to old cars, constantly fixing problems on it and have shops that come highly recomended telling you completely different things. it tends to get you lost.

That being said...

It looks like my transmission may be fine. So I am gonna go under the assumption that it is road worthy. So that being said (with fingers crossed), there doesn't seem to be an immediate need for a new transmission.

So since it looks like I will have some time with this TH350 left, I think it would be in my interest to (re)build my own 200 for the overdrive. This way I could actually learn something in the process and have a better understanding of how they function.

Armed with a good book and TC on my side and being a total tranny newb, do you think it is something I could pull off myself?

The plan would be to find a 200 somewhere that was solid to start with and rebuild it on a tarp in my living room. Once I rebuild it I would find somewhere safe to hop the car up and swap them out.

My question is it that a pipe dream?

for an amateur? yes. If you find a used 200r4 that is truly good, dont bother trying to rebuild it. I stilll say get a 700R4 out of an 88-93 Camaro/firebird/corvette.

What ever happened to the engine running like garbage?

I built a driver a 1970 Red SS 454 LS5 Sta. Wgn with a 700R4. At 75 mph engine turns 1950 rpms 19-20 mpg on the interstate, 3:08 rear. Comes out of the hole like a rocket. Did this five years ago and drive it about 4-5000 miles a year. Love the 700R. Myself I think an O.D. tranny is the way to go. Every year the O.D. trannys get better. I have a show car 454-M-22. Just starting the engine for a short drive with a CRV-3:31, It is like flushing a toilet. At todays gas prices-Overdrive is a good choice.
Bob ACES-AACA