I gotta TH-400 in my Cutlass. I love it, it's simplier, cheap and can take tons of abuse. I however would like a 4 speed, I gotta 455 being built for my car..., I just like the lower rpms the 200-4R provides on the highway when you hit 60 plus mph. I just don't wanna spend that much on a transmission tho so I know what you're saying.
1987 Olds 442 Project Build
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Thanks for the compliment. I started the videos as a lark and kind of just kept going. Good luck with choosing a trans. If it were me, I would prob avoid the 700R4. The gearing is not as good and it just doesn't hold up as well as the 2004R or TH350. Post back with your choice.
I'm right there. You just can't beat a TH400. OD is great, but almost $1000 extra can kill the deal. What to do, what to do?
The frame sitting outside, ready to be stripped down
Sandblasting with a tiny hopper
The blasted frame back in the garage
Sandblasting with a tiny hopper
The blasted frame back in the garage
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Looking good. I will be watching this one for sure. Your garage looks mighty clean as well. Before you started it looked like you could eat off those floors. 8)
It was a pretty new floor coating at the time (U-coat-it). I used Eastwood's undercoating remover on the 442 and the floor is a mess now. I will say that the undercoating remover worked well. The heavy duty stuff sprays on like foam and sticks to the surface (since it's upside down). Leave it for a few minutes and it softens up the undercoat so you can just scrape, and in some cases just wipe it off. I was impressed! It does leave a honking big mess though.
Put your hott real street car hat on or even street strip as long as you are building something you may want to take up on the highway or out of town and not soley light to light.
Anybody who has experienced the benefits of a well done 200-4R taking full advantage of rear gear selection and a high stall lock up converter would put their th400 on CL the next day.
I like the ole th400 but it is very obsolete except for a race car, concors type restoration, or bare budget built.
Major benefits not just lower rpms at crusing. If thats how you are thinking you are not getting it. In fact its normally the single biggest upgrade you can make to your fast street car. If you are not buiding a fast reliable real street car and are not taking other areas closer to the street car limit such as compression, cam, stall, gear, then the benefits are not as great but still substantial.
Major props on taking it down to the frame and doing the frame.
Anybody who has experienced the benefits of a well done 200-4R taking full advantage of rear gear selection and a high stall lock up converter would put their th400 on CL the next day.
I like the ole th400 but it is very obsolete except for a race car, concors type restoration, or bare budget built.
Major benefits not just lower rpms at crusing. If thats how you are thinking you are not getting it. In fact its normally the single biggest upgrade you can make to your fast street car. If you are not buiding a fast reliable real street car and are not taking other areas closer to the street car limit such as compression, cam, stall, gear, then the benefits are not as great but still substantial.
Major props on taking it down to the frame and doing the frame.
Thanks. It's the first time for me doing a frame off. If you noticed the sandblasting pic you saw the tiny hopper it had. I borrowed it to do the job. It stripped the frame ok, but I had to keep stopping to refill it (which was often). Between that and the huge amount of undercoating that I had to scrape off, it took forever. The sand would just bounce off of the undercoat and I would have to stop and scrape it down as much as I could so the blaster could do the rest.
I'm glad I blasted the frame myself, but it's prob worth it to pay a professional parts stripper to do it.
I'm glad I blasted the frame myself, but it's prob worth it to pay a professional parts stripper to do it.
Pics of the frame with Chassis Saver applied
Stainless brake lines on along with the new Inline Tube proportioning valve. It's designed to let you run rear disc brakes with your original master cylinder.
It looks pretty good all cleaned up. I covered the gloss black Chassis Saver with Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black "Satin" paint. I prefer the stock satin look.
Stainless brake lines on along with the new Inline Tube proportioning valve. It's designed to let you run rear disc brakes with your original master cylinder.
It looks pretty good all cleaned up. I covered the gloss black Chassis Saver with Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black "Satin" paint. I prefer the stock satin look.
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Yeah, the 2004R vs TH400 is going to go around in my head until I get to the point to buy one. It may just come down to money at that point. At least the G-Force dual exhaust crossmember I got will fit both.
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