Giving into my wallet

[yevgenievich]

But then you get trapped in never driving the vehicle you like. My TA set in one spot for almost two years barely driven with things slowly deteriorating with similar mentality. When it became a somewhat of a daily, stuff started to get fixed.

My angle with my big ole car that I care about is that I’ll never park it in some hell hole out of fear that someone will steal it or break into it and steel stuff out of it. That or someplace really crowded where I have to park it where it can get hurt. If I had some little POS, I could go and park anywhere, and even though I wouldn’t be too frazzled if I came back and it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t expect it to go anywhere. That and if it it gets crunched up in an accident and gets turned into Nestle water bottles later on, it won’t be the end of the world then either.

 

[Obwonkonobe]

But then you get trapped in never driving the vehicle you like. My TA set in one spot for almost two years barely driven with things slowly deteriorating with similar mentality. When it became a somewhat of a daily, stuff started to get fixed.

That's what I want to avoid. Right now the truck is my daily and its in the best condition I've ever seen it in, I know if I get a second car it'll get neglected a bit. But I may just have to bite the bullet

 

[Obwonkonobe]

Has anyone ever messed around with overdrives? If its easy enough I may just build a 2004r to take the power in the future, even if im not building for economy overdrive would be nice, and my stock th350 gets the snot beat out of it so I'm not expecting anything longer than 6 more months or so

 

[Obwonkonobe]

Honestly im not sure because my speedo dont work for me to track miles but i put in about 15 to 30 a week. If its empty it takes roughly 40. I dont drive to aweful far but it only uses like at most half a tank a week

Yea im right around there, I put in dual 16 gal tanks and just running around town i burn one a week if I'm lucky. If I visit my friend 20 miniutes away tho, I have to dip into the 2nd tank

 

[idahovette]

I know this is apples and oranges, I have a 2004R in my 66 nova, 327 and 3.31 rear. It is built to Grand National specs with all the good stuff. Works very well and low gear even with the 3.31's is way cool. Has held up so far but like I said before I am older and calmer now

 

[Obwonkonobe]

I know this is apples and oranges, I have a 2004R in my 66 nova, 327 and 3.31 rear. It is built to Grand National specs with all the good stuff. Works very well and low gear even with the 3.31's is way cool. Has held up so far but like I said before I am older and calmer now

That's good to hear, that's how I'd run it since its a daily, with the highway gears. Even tho I have a heavy foot I don't take it to the strip, did you rebuild the trans yourself?

 

[HotRodPC]

Has anyone ever messed around with overdrives? If its easy enough I may just build a 2004r to take the power in the future, even if im not building for economy overdrive would be nice, and my stock th350 gets the snot beat out of it so I'm not expecting anything longer than 6 more months or so

Hey, I'll be supportive of that. I've not entertained the idea of a 200r4 since I'm more into 4x4 and there's no married adapters for a 200r4 but I'd like to see someone at least give it a try. I know it seems the Grand National guys like the 200r4's and have them built to hold up to some hp/torque. Art Carr was known to build some bullet proof 200r4's. Some claim the 200r4 has better gear ratios and a more even spread between gears. Of course the 1st gear isn't as deep as the 700r4, but 2.75:1 is still better than a Th350 or Th400. It's a little deeper but it's not 3.06 deep like the 700r4. So yeah, get into that and let us know how it works out.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

But then you get trapped in never driving the vehicle you like. My TA set in one spot for almost two years barely driven with things slowly deteriorating with similar mentality. When it became a somewhat of a daily, stuff started to get fixed.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t let it stop me for the most part. I take my car in some gnarly areas and drive on some rough roads, and while there are some where I won’t take it, the places I do take it far outnumber the others. There are plenty of times when I feel really apprehensive about it, but it’s all I have that I can seriously depend on so I just have to bite the bullet and go. I’d just enjoy having something like they were talking about to go in the few places in the city that make me most uncomfortable with my stuff. I don’t want my car to look like this after dinner or a movie.

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[Honky Kong jr]

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t let it stop me for the most part. I take my car in some gnarly areas and drive on some rough roads, and while there are some where I won’t take it, the places I do take it far outnumber the others. There are plenty of times when I feel really apprehensive about it, but it’s all I have that I can seriously depend on so I just have to bite the bullet and go. I’d just enjoy having something like they were talking about to go in the few places in the city that make me most uncomfortable with my stuff. I don’t want my car to look like this after dinner or a movie.

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Yo dawg how much for the box?!?!

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Haha, that’s Mississippi, but in New Orleans they’ll just take it. Luckily for me they steal the newer cars here a lot more. Not lucky for people who have newer cars, though.

 

[idahovette]

I don't do automatics, they have always scared me. Have a good friend who does them. This one has a small stall convertor and a light shift kit in it. runs pretty good and gets almost 20mpg on the road. I build Muncie M-20 M-21's and M-22's because of prior necessity (old time drag racer) .Always liked pedal cars(4-speeds) but now I'm getting lazy

 

[Rusty Nail]

I think a $400 for a working 200-4r is a kinda great deal.
I disagree with some opinions in this thread by saying they were factory installed in some serious applications. Monte Carlo SS, Buick Grand National, Police Interceptor Caprice -all had 200-4r and made gobs of torque.
Stupid facts.
They have far superior gear ratios than a 700-r4. The first gear is better and so is the overdrive! Aluminum cases?
The caveat is they ARE more expensive to build but I think it's a better choice.
Yes, they physically interchange with a th-350.

Well...

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[Jrgunn5150]

Are you sure this is accurate? these are the figures for my old s10 I traded in on my Corolla.
Paymet was $240 a month that alone equals more than the yearly value this uses for the Corolla.

I only use the MPG portion of it, I have no idea where the cost of ownership numbers are coming from. When I have a beater though, I beat it, my cost of ownership is gas and minimum insurance. If I pay under 1500 for a car, I will leave it on the side of the road at any moment lol.

I think a $400 for a working 200-4r is a kinda great deal.
I disagree with some opinions in this thread by saying they were factory installed in some serious applications. Monte Carlo SS, Buick Grand National, Police Interceptor Caprice -all had 200-4r and made gobs of torque.
Stupid facts.
They have far superior gear ratios than a 700-r4. The first gear is better and so is the overdrive! Aluminum cases?
The caveat is they ARE more expensive to build but I think it's a better choice.
Yes, they physically interchange with a th-350.

Well...

2004r's are ok, first gear is better for a car, it's taller, for a truck, the lower 3.06 of a 700 may be preferred. The 230 ft/lbs of torque in the Caprices and Monte SS isn't exactly going to tax much, the GN put out 300, and the transmissions started pooping the bed pretty quickly. That's one area where Art Carr blew right up in the late 80's, was building and developing aftermarket stuff for the 200.


I say, plug the number you have now into the calculator, plug what you think you'll get from an overdrive swap into the calculator, figure out what you think a swap will cost, add 20% to that, and see if it's worth it to you.

But again, 400 for a trans, 400 for a carb, 200 for bolts, fluids, etc etc... Buys a 4 cylinder beater.

 

[Super-Dave]

I have a '74 Square C20. It had an OEM 350/350 combination and a TransGo kit when I bought it. It runs 3:73 gears. I drive mostly highway.

The OEM 350 was replaced with a pro built 355 SBC, mild cam, Heddman Headers, Edelbrock 650, and Edelbrock Air Gap manifold. The TH350 was replaced with a performance 700r4, mild stall converter (around 2000), and no lockup. Final drive is around 2:60.

The OEM wheels and tires were replaced with a new combo that was +/- 1/2" - coming in around 30.5-31 inches.

The OEM gauges were replaced with Speedhut gauges. The fuel gauge has been calibrated and verified accurate. The electronic speedometer has been calibrated with GPS and has been verified for accuracy.

In OEM form, I was getting between 12-14 MPG. With the Edelbrock 650, Air Gap and 700r4, I dropped to 7-10 MPG.

I was expecting at least 14-16 MPG, not the drastic decrease. I read where people say they are getting 16-18-20+ MPG even with BBC's. So, my experience is not anything close to expectations or claims from others.

We have reworked the timing several times, gone through the new 650 three times, there is no explanation. I have been told that the Air Gap is not allowing the fuel to atomize from the hot oil in the valley, like a non-Air Gap. . . among other interesting things.

At this point, I am debating whether an EFI kit from FiTech, or someone else, would change things for the better, but want to know what the issue is before dropping another grand.

All this to say. . . You can't always rely on the OD Transmissions to deliver the results you expect or what others say they are getting. Sometimes you find yourself chasing numbers and bleeding cash.

 

[4WDKC]

I have a '74 Square C20. It had an OEM 350/350 combination and a TransGo kit when I bought it. It runs 3:73 gears. I drive mostly highway.

The OEM 350 was replaced with a pro built 355 SBC, mild cam, Heddman Headers, Edelbrock 650, and Edelbrock Air Gap manifold. The TH350 was replaced with a performance 700r4, mild stall converter (around 2000), and no lockup. Final drive is around 2:60.

The OEM wheels and tires were replaced with a new combo that was +/- 1/2" - coming in around 30.5-31 inches.

The OEM gauges were replaced with Speedhut gauges. The fuel gauge has been calibrated and verified accurate. The electronic speedometer has been calibrated with GPS and has been verified for accuracy.

In OEM form, I was getting between 12-14 MPG. With the Edelbrock 650, Air Gap and 700r4, I dropped to 7-10 MPG.

I was expecting at least 14-16 MPG, not the drastic decrease. I read where people say they are getting 16-18-20+ MPG even with BBC's. So, my experience is not anything close to expectations or claims from others.

We have reworked the timing several times, gone through the new 650 three times, there is no explanation. I have been told that the Air Gap is not allowing the fuel to atomize from the hot oil in the valley, like a non-Air Gap. . . among other interesting things.

At this point, I am debating whether an EFI kit from FiTech, or someone else, would change things for the better, but want to know what the issue is before dropping another grand.

All this to say. . . You can't always rely on the OD Transmissions to deliver the results you expect or what others say they are getting. Sometimes you find yourself chasing numbers and bleeding cash.

You have no lock up so the tq converter is always slipping.. I am surprised you havent burnt up the tranny yet. While in OD the 700r4 is supposed to stop pumping fluids to make it more efficient and why lock up is needed to keep the tq from slipping and causing more heat. The calculator I used said your cruising rpm with lock up would be 1981 rpm at 70.. what are you turning going down the interstate?