The 250 has three speeds, but they use only a band instead of a clutch pack, overrunning clutch, and light duty band for second gear. easier to explain if you've been inside a TH350.
How to identify th-200 and 250? vs 350? I have an 84 olds cutlass with 3.8 and an 80? pontiac yellowbird with 3.8. Would like to ID trans believe both working but have sat for years.
The T-250 looks like a T-350, but will have a band adjustment screw between the cooling lines on the case.
I ran one for a while because it came behind a 305 I used and I knew they were a running, driving set up. No problems for me but I did replace it with a T 350 when I came across a good core. Gary
Going back to 2004 when I was driving my first personal hot rod I built myself (honestly not what many here call a hot rod because "late model" lol)...an f41 aluminum bumper 86 cutlass supreme with a 307/th200. With the basically stock 307 and spirited driving the longest I got out of one was a month and a half to two months. The 307 didn't even make 200 hp. Then I helped a buddy swap his 72 cutlass to a 455 olds.... payment was a case of Budweiser (to drink while doing the 455 swap) and the cammed 350 Olds that came out. Cammed olds with headers went into my 86 cutlass where I continued to run th200s(plural). Average lifespan of one after that was 2-3 weeks. One split the case during a burnout. Changed so many out that even pushing two decades later there is a shortage of th200s in that area. Realistically the cammed 350 olds made MAYBE 250 crank hp. Reason I never swapped to a th350 or the bop th400 I had laying around is in my left handed cigarette addled 20 year old mind the weaker trans meant less parasitic loss. Years later now that I've been free of wacko tobacco for near two decades I call them what they are...low grade scrap aluminum lol
Is there a way if identifying the year of a TH200? I have one that I don't see a electric connection that would make it a TH200C with lockup converter, and the pan has "Metric" in stamped/raised letters. Would those two things possibly identify it as a '76-78? I'm looking for a shift kit in case I ever use the transmission. I some shift kits are specific to '79 and later 200's and 200C's and I found a TransGo SK200 that is listed for '76-'78 Just for clarity it is NOT a 200-4R Lynn
Lock up converter transmissions have a pilot on the end of the input shaft, with an O ring, to seal the fluid that activates the clutch. This is a picture of the end of a worn out 350C input shaft, showing the pilot and O ring groove. No connecter, no O ring groove on input shaft, it's a 200, not the C model. There could be casting dates on the transmission, look for a little circle with some numbers cast in it, post pictures, we might be able to figure it out. this is an example from another GM transmission, but there are different designs
Thanks squirrel! I'll take another closer look at the transmission, in particular the input shaft and will look for the star-ish or snowflake-ish mark hopefully showing the year of casting. I appreciate the suggestions. Lynn
After a more thorough look of the transmission I found the following information: Stamped just above the left rear corner of the transmission pan appears to be H7T05983. The first three characters are a little illegible so they could be 471 or 171. Here is a picture of ametal tag held by one rivet on the right rear area near the tail shaft. Other than the printed information the bottom section is stamped 77- CR-415921 Next, and possibly the most identifying as far as date of manufacturer is a circle similar to what you had posted an example of squirrel. In the picture below the only thing that appears legible is near the top is the digit 3, and if you twist your head around, almost upside down, raised numbers in the casting appears to be 1 - 77. I'm thinking that might be the most valuable information in determining that possibly it was manufactured in January of 1977. So.... With that information presented I would love other's thoughts on the likelihood of this being a transmission that was built in 1977. Thanks Lynn
I forgot that they had the same tag that the TH400 does. The 77 on the tag tells you for sure that it's a 1977 model year car that it was installed in. The casting date looks like 3rd week of January 1977 casting. I doubt you'll get many other opinions, because it seems I'm the only one on the internet that has any interest in figuring out the date of bizarre old transmissions. But the corvette guys should have their TH400s all scoped out, if you want to search for info on that type of tag. Generally if it has a C for the first of the two letters, it was installed in a Chevy car. And the year definitely means 1977.
Thanks again squirrel. You are indeed a wealth of information and I appreciate your posts here on the HAMB. I'm thinking of this transmission for a potential future T Roadster built. It's light and compact like a powerglide but with a third gear it would work out a little better for the street. My thoughts it would be behind a 153 Chevy II/Mercruiser engine I freshened about a year ago. Thanks! Lynn
I went to a GM transmission school when the 200 first came out. After having done a lot of 400's and 350's I was really unimpressed with the 200. At the time it was only offered in a small pickup. All the drivetrain parts were stamped other than the gears. You had to have a special tool to keep the output shaft from falling out while you were rebuilding it. I was amazed when GM started putting them in large cars. They must have really upgraded the internal drivetrain over that first one I had apart.
Here is some info that may help. And some more.......... OK, hopefully this has some info that will help you..............
@Ebbspeed You are very welcome. I found that creating electronic folders on my computer for things makes it easier to find helpful info quickly. Have stacks of old magazines, but takes too long to find related articles, so began the slow process of scanning them and saving them in a simple folder like "Transmissions" or "Rear Ends". Usually can find stuff like this very quickly now, so I try to post it so others can save them too. Glad you liked it.
The Jalopy Journal
