I just rebuilt my first transmission, a 700r4. Then converted my 71 Chevelle with a th350 to the 700 r4. Doing the swap wasn't so bad. Probably the hardest part of the whole thing (besides rebuilding the actual unit) was hooking up the tranny lines and getting the dipstick tube in place. Everything else was very straight forward.

the th350 slip yoke fit the 700, I had to shorten the driveshaft 3 inches.
the stock crossmember worked, I used the 700 r4 mount
stock speedo cable worked
the column shifter just needed to be adjusted slightly
I bought a NEW TV cable from GM for an Early K-5 Blazer

One piece of advice for anyone doing this swap, buy the good TV cable bracket for your carb. DO NOT use the UNIVERSAL pieces of junk out there.

One thing I am wondering is how many miles its gonna take before I can relax and call this a sucess? I have heard these trannies will go bad in a hurry if everything isnt just right.

Congrats Joe,
Do you happen to have the GM part number for the TV cable. I got most of my parts bought, just about ready to assemble. I also need the ring that hold the cover on the 2-4 piston, mine was too corroded to reuse.
Thanks
Steve

I have the reciept for the cable somewhere, I'll look for it and get you that part number.-Joe

One thing I am wondering is how many miles its gonna take before I can relax and call this a sucess? I have heard these trannies will go bad in a hurry if everything isnt just right.

Hard to say Joe,

Some people smoke 'em right away. My first 700 went strong for 8K miles then went with almost no warning. My best advice is to check your pressures with TV movement and make sure you have a quality converter.

there are a few cable brackets that you can use off 84-87 Camaros, trucks and pass cars - stronger and factory fit. Some bolt across the rear two carb studs, I think the camaro one bolts onto two manifold bolts.

I bought a GM tv cable that was for an 87 chevy truck and a locking dipstick for a 97 1500 truck at parts counter this may work for you too.

Congradulations! If everything is working right don't lose any sleep over it. With the power and torque of our cars you will start to slip the 3-4 clutches after a while. My first 700 lasted 30,000 and my second lasted 25,000. Neither broke anything but they just started to slip in 4th. I guess my advice would be to use 4th only as a highway gear and lean more on 3rd than I did.
I know the feeling though, I just got my 4l80e finished last night and stayed out till 2am driving it around and playing with the force motor and part throttle shift tables. Nice feeling to be able to do your own tranny isn't it!

Nice feeling to be able to do your own tranny isn't it!

Hell ya it is!

A good friend who did this swap found the "travel" for the TV cable is different for the two trannies. It required some kind of bracket that attached to the carb to correct it.

The GM part number for the TV cable is 25515598. It was 17 bucks.

I don't think it was the cable part #, it was the distance from the carb throttle shaft to where the cable was connected on the carb was different, and the "length of pull" is very important to the 700.

I used gm#10066475. I forget what I looked it up for, but everything is fine. The biggest thing is to have it adjusted properly. That's the #1 reason for the 700R4 crapping out.