Well, After reading a ton on here and looking around at what was available in my area I opted for the small block and auto tran. I have to put all of the work in to installing an engine so I thought I might as well go BIG. The auto tranny is thanks to a long fall with a quick stop a few years ago and the ensuing arthritis. I am very excited! Picked them up yesterday and now I have to spend all dya today at work thinking about tearing the engine down. Soon enough!!
Zoom-Zoom Good for you, Jason! That rumble may give your wrench fetcher something else to be excited about as well! Long fall with a sudden stop? Sounds like what's happened to a few former roofers I've known...
Excellent choice, Jason! That 700 R4 should be just the ticket, and you can't go wrong with a 350. You're going to build the engine up yourself?
Zig, It was actually a frozen waterfall and some thin ice at the top that caused my fall. But same idea as the roofers I have taken care of. Spika, I am going to be doing the rebuild with the help of my dad and father -in-law. Both boys of the hot rod days. Dad had a 62 Vette when he was a troublesome youth and F-I-L has built several hot rods over the last 40 years. I am looking forward to it. Going to start breaking it down tonight, as long as the wife doesn't mind too much!! Thanks to all of the knowledge here I looked for the 700R4. It seemed to get a lot of good press here even after reading some of the purists' posts. Hahaha
stock parts hope you share your build with us here and please don't trash the stock parts we are always looking for stock parts here. Good Luck look up penniwinkles post on v8 install lots of info here also old cheby Russ. Robert
Any clearance issues with the 700? For some reason, I seem to remember that the 200 4r was an "easier" installation. Don't remember the details though. Thoughts?
No clearance issues. The 200 is a popular swap because it is dimensionally the same as a t350, a common hot rod trans. swap. The 700 is the same as a long tailshaft 350, as I happily discovered.
When your installation is complete be SURE the TV cable is adjusted correctly. A 700r4 won't last any time at all if not right. To determine what rear gear to use take 0.70 x the rear end ratio since the 700r4 has a 30% overdrive. The factory rear end for OD was 4.11 which is 2.88 when in OD. For a using rear end I like a 3.90 (2.73 in OD) and for a cruising rear end a 3.56 (2.50 in OD) works well. These are all generic figures since the engines torque is the determining factor on what works well. A sure way to tell if your geared right is to use a vacuum gauge. Drive at what you want to be your rpm and cruising speed and if you get an 18 or higher reading your good. If the rpm is too high or the vacuum reading too low your geared wrong and wasting gas.
Thanks for the gearing info. It will come in handy. Any suggestion on how to loosen the bolts holding the old torque converter to the flywheel? I have used gobs of PB on the bolts and have been trying for a couple of days but they won't budge. The gap is so small the only thing that fits is an open end wrench. Any advice would be appreciated. I spent a couple hours tearing down the external workings of the motor but had to do it with the motor at ground level because I can't mount it to the engine stand with that darned converter in the way. I will post some pictures a little later. Thanks in advance.
Torque converter is OFF!!! ell, I decided to go back to my paramedic roots and break out the ol' sawzall. A Miwaukee Power metal blade and 8 minutes of my time and the torque converter has been removed. Why does it seem like all of my wrenches are about 1/16 too big or too small for the bolts on this motor? Is it metal loss from the rusting? I assume that must be it and a DANG good reason to buy a more complete wrench set! Hope the Mrs. will understand!
Try this! Hi, if you can get hold of something like this: http://cgi.ebay.de/Zoll-Metrisch-Nu...n_Heimwerker_Handwerkzeug&hash=item3ca970839e I bought myself a set, and since i´m wrenchin´ on metric and sae stuff, this comes in handy
Jason Never short your self on tools , I'm sure you've had many responses to accidents from use of poor quality or wrong tools . Besides , explain to SWMBO that the $ is better spent keeping you in the garage or around the house than in the bar like other Hubbies do... My memory never was any good , is Concord where the prison is ? .
There is a prison in Penicook which is a suburb of Concord. I have only been there as a paramedic!!!!!
