What year 700-R4's will direct bolt into my 68? I have heard that I will have to use a TH400 crossmember. I also assume that I will have to get a short-tail. What is a fair junkyard price? How about a fair rebuild price? I don't want a beefy tranny, just up to about 350-375 horse. Are there any computer controlled years to avoid? What about some sort of "kick-down" switch? What's up with that?

Thanks
Brad

look into spending about a grand. if you have a Powerglide, then your set, the spline is the same. if you have a TH350, then you will need to get a new driveshaft also, and you will need the Xmember from one with a TH400, because of the shorter shaft. if you have a PG, then your set. just a snip of the driveshaft and reweld and bada-bing.

the "lockout thing" you refer to is the converter, the 700R4 has a electronic lock so it locks the converter to the same speed asn the engine RPM,. the Overdrive gear in the 700R4 takes it to .76 to 1 for that low 5th gear feel . you can get a kit from Jeggs, Summit , etc... for the lockout, it gives U the control with a button for the converter lockout, (you can even lock the converter when in regular drive, not O/D to help out) and that item is a hundred bux or so .

You might have a good (actually a great chance) of finding a 700R4 in Good shape in any scrap/junk yard. just look in any 3rd gen camaros , prefereably the 90-92 or the Firebirds also had them with the 305 pigs. (thatway you can get the Driveshaft too)

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[This message has been edited by Chris Edwards (edited 08-21-2000).]

Please remember that some TH-350's have a 9" tail shaft and this one is exactly the same length as a 700-R4. If I remember correctly the spline is the same as the TH-350 but I could be wrong. Also, you do not have to use the lockup converter. Some older ones do not have this feature.

The car had a PG, then I removed it in favor of the th350. SO it is off to the junkyard I go for a 700r4 and d-shaft from a 90-92 f-body. I will get a th400 xmember from rick's I think

thanks
Brad

Brad,
There is a little more to this conversion than meets the eye as I just did this in my '70 Nova. I too started with a PG, so maybe this can help. The 700 in stock form should be ok for your application, but you really need to use the lockup feature for longevity. According to several sources I checked with, these trannies tend to run hot, and without locking up, you will burn it up quickly. What I would recommend (what most decent tranny companies do) is to have a shop internally wire it so it automatically lockups up when it goes into fourth gear...this works really good. The crossmember is different, tho a 400 can be made to work, it is not a direct bolt-in. You can get a 700 anywhere from 1984 till '93 when they changed the name to 4l60 or something and then went to 4l60E which is the computer controlled one you do not want. The early years (from 84 to 86) sucked, so they made some improvements in 87 and 88, but really fixed most of the problems starting in 89. So I say anything after 89 is fine. I've never heard of a short-tail, I think they are all the same. Also, you will have to cut the driveshaft, cost me $60 to shorten it and re-balance. I didn't think that was bad. Next, there is the gear selector linkage thing to deal with, although you don't say what you have now ie. column or console. Finally, there is the TV cable that controls the whole thing. If you go to the junkyard, try to snag the bracket that bolts to the intake for the TV cable. It is absolutely critical that the TV cable is adjusted right if you want this tranny to last. Adjustment is not that hard, but you need the right parts to start with. All in all, this isn't all that hard, you just need all the info you can get up front. I found a company that specializes in putting these trannies in classics and street rods, and they did a really good job of matching everything in sort of a kit form for virtually any kind of car. They have xmembers, gear selector conversion kits, TV cables and brackets, etc...everything you need, including the tranny. I had some issues with their tech support, so rather than get into a discussion here, email me off-line and I'll tell you more and give you their name and number. Sorry this post was so long, but I tried to include most of what I ran into doing mine.

Bill C.


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[This message has been edited by BC (edited 08-22-2000).]

Most 700R-4's have a mounting pad directly behind the pan, Some 700r4'S used in Caprice's have a pad for the rear mount on the tail housing about 5 1/2" further back. I used this style on my conversion. Using a TH 400 X member, modified by notching to clear the passenger side rear corner of the trans and relocating the mounting holes back about an inch. I slotted the rubber mount and welded and re-drilled the x-member so I wouldn't have to drill holes in my frame. The driveshaft needs to be shortened, and the linkage worked out, as stated above. August 1988 Hot Rod had an article on the TV cable mounting and lock-up wiring.

The T/V cable is imperative to hook up if you want the thing to last. If you have a Holley you can get an adapter from jegs or Summit. I don' know about the Edelbrock as I try to stay away from those ah' things.

There are also two different splines on the 700R4 input shaft. The older style is a 27 spline shaft and should be avoided. The are the weakest of the two. I think the split is around 1989. After that, they were 30 spline. Most aftermaket convertors are for the 30 spline unit. I would really put an aftermarket cooler on it. They really do not like heat. I have one with a cooler, B&M shift kit and an 2000 RPM lockup convertor that will jar your teeth when shifting! I love it.



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Mark
1992 Firebird 355/Six Speed
1991 RS 350 / Blown (As in Broke)
1987 Toyota Pickup 383 / 500 + HP
**How fast is just a matter of how much $$$ **