Got the opportunity to buy an overdrive and want to know if it's the right one? It's out of a '88 Chevy Monte Carlo with a 5.0L engine w/4bbl. The guy says all he know is that it's a 200 metric OD which has a solid case from front to back (the tailshaft housing doesn't unbolt unlike the 700R) I asked if it's considered a 200R and he doesn't know. Can anyone tell me if this is a 200R ****** that is the desireable one to use? It will go behind a 350 Chevy engine. Thanks, J'Mike
Sounds like a 200 to me. If you can see the pan it should be longer/ more rectangular than a TH350 pan, which is almost square.
Was thinking about putting a 200R in my 50 Chevy cause it's an easy replacement for the TH350 but my xmission guy says parts are getting hard to come by and recommends the 700R. I don't know what the production numbers were for each but the 700R seems more popular for the hot rod community. Just a lot more work to squeeze one in.
it should be a th2004r. from the factory they were not very good, the trans in my 88 Monte Carlo SS was rebuilt/repaired 8 times while in the 12K mile warranty, the last time I ****ped out on me under warranty I fought my way up the food chain until GM replaced the trans with another. about 12k miles later it ****ped out again and I had a local guy "build" it for me and the transmission was still in the car when I sold it 200k miles later.
Early versions were notorious for high failure rates but by '88 they probably had the bugs worked out and improved. I had one in a '83 Firebird and it was toast by 20K miles.
it was the turbo Buick crowd that really figured out the th2004r, anybody that has played with the turbo buick will know how to make that trans bullet proof. From what I understand the th2004r has no support bearings between the front pump and the output shaft and when you apply copious amounts of power to the input shaft with a high load on the output shaft everything in between tries to exit stage left. As long as you dont have a high power engine coupled to a heavy car with driver that has a lead foot you should be ok
Good luck here. My 86 Buick GN went 180K miles with nothing more than an Art Carr (shift) kit and a couple fluid changes.
The 200-4R has a 2.74 ratio in first gear, which is 10% lower than most transmissions. The OD will give a 20 to 30% increase in gas mileage on the road, www.monstertrans.com www.rodandcustommagazine.com/techarticles/0606rc_gm_automatic_overdrives/index.html A little info? www.gearstar.com can build them from 400hp (375f/lb torque) to 750hp (675f/lb torque)
That would have been a 700R4 stock in that car. I have a built 200-4R behind a 462 in a 3900# Lemans for 10+ years - no issues
We had an '84 Buick with the 200R4. I killed it, but it took towing stuff as big as a 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup before it died. Then the shop messed up the rebuild, had to do it again, and that only lasted 20,000 miles. Took it to a different shop who said the trans core looked like it had been in a car that burned, and had to replace it entirely. On the other hand, my dad's spare car is the '88 Caprice he inherited from his dad which now has almost 140K on it and is fine. TV cable is key on these, just like the 700R4, get it and the brackets with the trans if possible and make sure it's adjusted correctly before you drive the car anywhere.
I'm pretty sure there were two different 2004R trans, the metric and then the ones used in the turbo buicks. My 86 T-Type had no issues and took 22 lbs of boost every time down the track. It's been awhile but the buicks did have a certain letter code to look for on the trans.
They had a "BRF" code on the side, at least the 1986-87's GN/TB's did, different valvebody and the like... but most of the trans was the same.
Only differences were the valve body, servo, and governer. The first two are changed in any performance oriented rebuild anyway. I am building a 200R4 for my chevyII
200-4Rs are scarcer than 700R4s, partly due to lower production but also because of the fact that too many people believe the "conventional wisdom" that they're no good and junk them for the aluminum, a lot of good cores got melted for s****. When built by someone that knows what they're doing they will take a lot and you don't need a lot of high priced trick parts to do it. A 200-4R for a strong street ride doesn't cost anymore to build than a comparable 700R4. A good friend has a trans shop and they do a lot of them for swaps into older cars, rods, etc., he's not had any problem getting parts.
Also has a much better spread between 1-2, and an "ultimate" 200R4 is stronger than an "ultimate" 700R4, by a substantial margin.
if its a METRIC 200 dont buy it. you want a 200 4R. check out a transmission ID site and look at the pan configuration, then you can identify a real 200 4R
I have one behind the blown Hemi in my Avatar (CZF 86 Monte Carlo 200-4R) And it's holding up just fine...
I use 2004Rs in all my Buicks. I absolutely love 'em. In stock configuration (GN configuration) they will hold up to hanging the wheels through 10-second blasts down the strip. Good enough for me. Both of my 2004Rs have been built with billet 4th gear servos, koline steels, red oxide clutches and custom shift kits. My 71 GS has a full-pressure valve body while the one in my 63 twin-turbo buick wagon has a full manual VB. I don't like TV cables, they **** and are hard to tune in custom applications (I have all of the geometry correctors too). The 2004R ****** has typically has "Metric" on the bottom of the pan, so don't let that confuse you. Also, most (but not all) 2004Rs have a dual bellhousing bolt pattern, both the Chevy and BOP patterns, which is really nice. Most of the people that have had failure problems are referring to the th200, which is a **** trans. The 2004R share a couple of pieces, but not the failure prone parts. The 2004R is almost bulletproof when set up correctly. It is considerably stronger than the 700R4, especially in performance situations. the 700R4 is not good for HP situations.
Just make sure if you get it rebuilt get it done by a known 200 guy. This is comming from a turbo buick guy that has seen a mess of joe smoes ******s not last because jimmys shop around back built it. And the cable adjustment is KEY in them lasting too.
What he said^ Unless you use a full-pressure valve body, then the TV cable becomes a kickdown only, no worries.
We installed a Phoenix-built 2004R in the 32 3W Coupe, great mileage, quick, and no problems after TV cable was finally adjusted correctly, now have well over 5K miles on it and would recommend them to anyone.
My transmission guy says that a BUILT 200-R4 is actually better than a 700R4. He builds them for the Turbo Buick guys around here. It is smaller and lighter also. The only down side is the speedometer. It is a LOT more difficult to get the drive/driven speedometer gears correct in the 200-R4 than a 700R4. The drive gear is part of the governor ***embly which is located inside the oil pan. The gear can be replaced separately by removing the retainer clip on the governor shaft. After removing the pan. Where a lot of the 700R4's are like the Turbo350, Turbo 400 and Powerglides. I went ahead and had him build a 700R4 for my coupe ... cause I had a good low mileage core and did not have a 200-R4 IF I had owned a 200-R4 ... that is what would be in my coupe.
I've had a 200-4r in a Model A for 15 years now and think it's a great trans. I would be very concerned about a "metric" 200 which isn't the same at all, that was a very weak 3 speed that was available in some of the smaller, cheaper GM cars. As already stated, the 200-4r can be built to withstand a zillion horse power and a ton of torque and since it came in a bunch of different vehicles shouldn't be "scarce". The trans pan is a dead giveaway, it is longer than any other pan and has a curious flat spot across the rear of the pan with a small bulge after that area. Can't be mistaken for any other pan. A quick Google search turned up a ton of information about the trans, but I couldn't find a picture of the original pan, just a lot of ads for deep aluminum replacements, but they also show the longer area at the rear of the trans. My opinion, the 200-4r is worth the investment. K
I had some difficulty finding a decent core in my area. When I first started looking, I though it would be a matter of checking Craigslist a couple times, and I would find one. It wasn't that easy, and at one point I was getting frustrated enough, I was considering buying a complete car and parting it out.I wasnt out hitting the wreckers every weekend or anything, but what I would call a low intensity search, checking Craigslist weekly and asking friends and contacts, it took about 6 months to find a decent, low mileage, unburnt, core. Depending on where you are, your mileage may vary...
I picked my last one from an 84 Sedan DeVille in a local junkyard for $100 and put it straight in with just an external cleaning and fluid change. My 55 will be getting one. A big plus of the 200-4R is the dual bell bolt pattern, but watch out for any bolted to Olds diesels. Usually got shaken apart.
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