Rebuilding a TH 200 4R at home?

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

My trans is about shot, and I was thinking about trying to rebuild it at home. I want to do a 5 speed swap, but don't have all the parts to do it right now, and my bench seat is almost perfect so I was thinking of trying to do the auto at home to save some money and keep the car drivable. Does anyone have a website they can recommend with a good tutorial on how to rebuild one of these things? I have the GM service manual for the car that includes the trans section, but I was hoping to find some other resources to read before attempting it. Also, does this trans require any special tools beyond snap ring pliers and a slide hammer? How do you properly modify the governor to shift at 5,000 RPM at WOT rather than the stock 3500? Is there a template somewhere showing how much to cut off the fly weights? I have a B&M shift kit in it right now, should I change that to another one, and if so, which one?

I have torn apart and attempted to rebuild automatics before (TH200C, Torqueflite 904), but always screwed it up somewhere, and want to do it right this time, so any advice is welcome.

 

[84cutspreme]

Be extremely anally clean. Buy a worthwhile manual. I used Haynes Techbook #10360. Get all the right tools or have a shop install any parts with a tool needed. Front pump and valve body are the most complicated and critical parts in rebuilding process. Check and double check everything. Bench test transmission before reinstalling. Any questions you have, ask a shop professional to become certain. I made about 10 trips down to my trusted shop about everything little thing I was unsure about. I completed the transmission and it runs like a champ.

 

[RegalBegal]

You might want to pick up an instructional DVD. You can usually find them on Ebay. It makes it way easier to understand first the first timer.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Talk to someone like CK performance, Extreme automatics or any of the other experts on the 2004r. A hardened input, good frictions, Biggest servo and good shift kit is a start. Everyone says the CK is the best shift kit. He sells a reman Monte SS and turbo Buick governor, has pictures. I ground the inner part of the governor to go from 3000 rpm to 4300 rpm full throttle shifts. A good pump with hardened rings is a good idea also. Mine has stock hard parts with hardened pump rings, big trans go shift kit, deep pan, big trans cooler, generic high stall converter (POS) and Bowtie(ugh) Overdrive servo. Shifts OK and has held up so far. Get a D5 converter, will stall more than this generic converter. I also bought a 700r4 filter with an extension to feed from the bottom but a deep pan is necessary.

 

[79loserbluebu]

Use this along with a rebuild manual
http://www.jakesperformance.com/200-4R_ ... _Tech.html

I used Ron Sessions' book for my TH350 and it went very smooth. A couple rough spots but it all worked out. I PM'd Jake on www.hotrodders.com and he quickly responded and verified what I should and shouldn't do.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Most Transmissions are tough to get right, with out experience. The 200C is quite similar to the 2004r. These trans seem to harder then some to get right then some. And less experts seem to know how to make it right. A 700r4 is another option,more know it and are somewhat stronger stock.