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I’ve a very nice 1967 Camaro that my sister purchased from the primary proprietor method again in 1979. It’s a California automotive with a matching-numbers SS350 engine with a Powerglide. The engine and suspension have each been totally rebuilt inventory aside from a slight drop in compression and a really delicate cam improve. The engine makes round 300 horsepower. It’s primarily a cruiser with manufacturing unit A/C and it even retains the California smog pump. I’d like to go away all of it as manufacturing unit as potential, even utilizing the tweaked OE shifter.
I’m considering severely about doing a 200-4R transmission swap, largely so I can drive the automotive extra comfortably on the freeway. It’s fairly busy with the ‘Glide and inventory 3.08:1 rear gearing. Doing a little analysis, I came upon a story you wrote about converting to a 200-4R transmission and changing the shifter. Is that this nonetheless a superb conversion?
N.M.
Previously, I used to be an enormous 200-4R fan in comparison with the 700-R4 for a number of causes. Extra not too long ago I’ve modified my ideas primarily based on two issues:
1. Availability of those transmissions is turning into very restricted. These transmissions had been primarily utilized in Pontiacs and a few Oldsmobiles within the late 1980’s which makes these transmissions roughly 30-plus years previous. Rebuildable transmission cores have gotten troublesome to search out.
2. The TV cable could be very troublesome to set appropriately. It may be completed with a high quality set of brackets. After all, this similar challenge applies to the 700-R4 as properly.
The 200-4R Transmission Swap
If you have already got a 200-4R to rebuild that’s in fine condition, then sure I might go along with it. My expertise with the 200-4R was on account of the story that you simply talked about. I labored with Artwork Carr, who now runs California Efficiency Transmissions in Southern California. I nonetheless have that transmission though it’s now not in my ’66 Chevelle—we went again to a TH400 constructed by my good good friend John Kilgore to check his SuperLite 400 transmission.
Over time, we found that there was some minor points with our 200-4R. We might by no means obtain the wide-open-throttle (WOT) up-shift rpm that I wished, so I at all times needed to manually shift the trans. The 200-4R, just like the 700-R4, units WOT shift factors with the governor springs and weights, and these are lower than correct in lots of instances. My 200-4R wouldn’t routinely up-shift at WOT any larger than about 5,500 rpm so I needed to manually shift it once we ran it on the monitor. In any other case it was a improbable transmission. It’s potential that we did one thing fallacious with governor as a result of it ought to work higher than what we might do with it. I additionally extremely suggest a lockup converter for no matter overdrive trans you determine.
With both the 200-4R or 700-R4, it might be a good suggestion to vary to a deeper rear gear because the overdrive for a 200-4R is a 0.67:1—which is an aggressive 33 p.c! Simply multiplying numbers, with a 3.08:1 rear gear, shifting into overdrive will change the efficient rear gear ratio to 2.06:1 It is a actually tall gear ratio that at 70 mph with a 26-inch tall rear tire will bathroom the engine right down to 1,864 rpm assuming a lockup converter. You’d actually slightly be someplace round 2,200 to 2,300 rpm at 70 mph. A 700-R4 or 4L60E is roughly the identical overdrive ratio at 0.70:1.
Various Transmission Decisions to the 200-4R
As a substitute of the 200-4R, recently I’ve be leaning extra towards the 4L60E – 4L65E – 4L70E household of transmissions.
All of these are digital transmissions. With the right controller, these transmissions will shift at half throttle and WOT at precisely the place you set them without having to fumble with a TV cable or mess with tuning the governor springs. Nonetheless, this may require a separate digital controller. This tends so as to add to the whole value of the transmission however for my part, that is properly well worth the funding.
One merchandise which will have an effect on you resolution is that the 200-4R shall be nearly assured to suit below your inventory floorpan with no modifications. A 700-R4 or 4L60E will, then again, seemingly require some minor flooring pan mods to clear the transmission’s servo housing on the passenger facet. These will solely require some minor hammering of the ground and never any critical slicing or welding nevertheless it’s value mentioning primarily since you are beginning with such a pristine automotive.
The 200-4R’s total size is barely barely longer than a TH350 so typically the driveshaft won’t should be modified from the Powerglide unit however the crossmember might want to both be modified or a customized crossmember can be utilized as a result of the 200-4R locations the rear trans mount farther again in comparison with a TH350 or Powerglide.
We’ve listed a crossmember and shifter conversion elements in a Components Listing on the backside of this story.
There are primarily two totally different 4L60E GM automatics—one for the unique SBC type bellhousing and one with a unique converter depth for LS type engines. You will have the one for the standard SBC type.
I did some fast comparability procuring with a big aftermarket efficiency computerized firm and a whole 200-4R package (aside from a crossmember or driveshaft) was roughly about $1,000 lower than a comparable package for a 4L60E model. Nearly all of that value was within the worth of the separate transmission controller. It is a large hit by way of value—roughly a couple of third dearer than the 200-4R transmission. So if this extra value is prohibitive, then the 200-4R or a 700-R4 is an effective technique to go.
1967 Camaro Swap Components Listing
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