What engine is it?

[megaladon6]

the 200r4 is a good trans. when built right it's a great trans. if you have numerically low gears (and for some inexplicable reason want to keep then) i believe the th350 has better gear ratios. if your car is a late '80's model then the 200 is bolt in. the easy ways to tell a 200r4--the trans pan has a small second hump at the rear and it does not have a removeable tailshaft.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

350-400 hp is not going to be a strength issue on the stock pistons and rods of pretty much any Domestic V8 made in the last 40 years The only possible exception may be a few small displacement engines designed for fuel economy made in the late 70's thru the 80's like the Buick 265, Olds 260/307 or Ford 255. Olds 350's in 1970 made around 325hp stock in the Rallye 350 Cutlass, if memory serves. The only real issues for making that sort of power would be compression and head flow. For example, my very mild 355 Chevy with stock idle quality makes around 350-360 hp with over 400 ft lbs of torque. It has a cheapie rebuilder short block with cast pistons, stock rods and a stock cast crank. It wasn't even balanced and blueprinted. This was done with aftermarket heads that are basically a reproduction of the good heads from the early 70's, a Quadrajet carb from a 79 Chevy Van and the distributor from an old 77 Chevy Impala station wagon. The intake is a $15 junkyard piece while the cam is a mild Comp Cams grind. I am very happy with it, but to some it is a rather boring engine as 350-400 hp in a domestic V8 is the beginning of what is possible for little outlay of cash. It's not a turbo 4 which is really straining at that level on a stock bottom end. I am planning on a 100-125 shot of Nitrous to make it a little more fun in the future and have a hope at low 12's or even high 11's on the squeeze. By the way, it is a reliable engine having gone over 40k miles since it was built- mostly delivering pizza. Oh, and it gets 16-18 mpg in the city too.