2004R Questions

[87BlackSheep]

So my th200 craped out on me and I called the local salvage looking for a replacement. The guys says hes got one, but I get there and before me is a 2004R instead. He asked $150 . Now I'm about to go on the last 900 mile trip this car will take for another year and I know I'm gonna get better gas mileage, but what about installation to my Olds 307 and crossmember; also what kind of performance can I expect to be geared to?

 

[AlanB]

You aren't really going to see a performance gain with a swap to a 200-4R. I believe you'll have the same ratios as the 200-C for 1st through 3rd, but with an extra 4th overdrive gear. This allows you to take advantage of a better rear gear ratio without sacrificing driveability or gas mileage. So you might consider swapping rear gears to a 3.42 or 3.73. Depending on your existing ratio you should see a big performance increase.

Keep in mind that some 3 speed cars actually came with ridiculously low numeric ratios, as low as 2.14:1. This might even be too low for an overdrive. I'm not sure what was the minimum ratio from the factory for the 200-4R, but it was certainly higher than 2.14.

You are going to need a 200-4R specific crossmember. The crossmember will mount further back on the frame. Since you have an 87 you should already have extended frame pads to accomodate the overdrive crossmember. Everything else should bolt right up. You may not be able to move the shifter to 1st (low) because the shift linkage is slightly different between the 3 and 4 speeds. There is a bar that runs from the bottom of the column in the engine compartment to the trans. The 3 speed bar may hit the firewall when extended all the way into the 1st gear position on the 200-4R. It did on my car. I put on a 4 speed bar and it worked fine. The bars look very similar, but they are not.

Also to be perfect you would need a 4 speed shift indicator. I have been driving my 87 with a 200-4R and a 3 speed indicator for 10 years. I never look at it anyway.

Hope this helps.

 

[87BlackSheep]

Thanks a bunch, man. I got a universal B&M floor shifter so im not worried about the linkage. I wish I had the money for gears but I gotta make this trip home for leave. But again thanks, that was a lot of good info 8)

 

[87BlackSheep]

I'm not sure if I could get a cross-member but I can make a heavy duty bracket with grade 8 bolts to extend my stock cross-member at the transmission.

 

[jae]

You're not really sliding the member back, the trans pad / mount is further back on the 200-4R, see pic. The crossmember is more diagonal I'd say. You can find one darn near anywhere, factory or aftermarket.

A few other things to think about is whether or not you want lockup, powering the lockup, stall speed, TV cable & setup. Would check on the rear end ratio as well. Try to decode the trans too, find out what it came out of.

With the shifter there should be a pin & e-clip that can be removed, allowing you to get to 1st & you can buy a new indicator pretty cheap.

Before install I'd replace the filter/gasket, the front & rear seals. Oh, flush the lines and radiator cooler as well. Not 100% if you can reuse the same lines, maybe tweaking them slightly for fitment.

In any event, good find man.