I've been trying to decide what i need to do for a tranny in my old bird. I am going to have a mild 383 stroker, and I currently have a stock 700r4. I'm fairly sure(knock on wood) that it will hold for a while, but when it goes I have some options.

What is the biggest bang for the buck with trannys.

I looked into manual transmissions and I like the thought of a t-56, but it seems kinda out of my price range.

What tranny would give me the best performance.
Should I rebuild my 700r4? How much would this run me to hold my engine.

Also I want to keep my overdrive, so 350turbo's are out.


I know this is kinda vague, I'll add other thoughts as the posts go



TEll ME WHAT YOU HAVE.

 

Well, I love the T56 I have. I had the T5 with my 305 and now I've gone to a LT4 hotcammed L98 350 with a T56 and 3.42's. I like it. Maybe not as fast as it would be with a stalled auto, but I don't have slicks and gears yet either. Later!

 

after i dropped in my 383, i thought my t-5 would last a little while with some babying....boy was i wrong. blew right after the break-in period.

the t-56 is what i have in there now, and its nice, but mine is more of a street car (driven 4 days a week average in the summer). its all about what your building towards: an all-out drag car (in which case i would say beef up the 700r4) or a boulevard bruiser that u can take on the freeway and still get decent gas mileage.

its definately a tough call, but if u decide where u want your car to go before you start buying anything, you should be fine.

just the way i see things...

 

Well, I had 5 T5s in my '88. Now I have a th350 with a 10" converter.

I also got a T56 and 4.10s in my '94.

For ease of install, budget concerns and best bang for the buck, keep the 700 and do that up. For automatics and OD, this is your best and pretty well your only bet.

For automatic, go with a T56 or a Tremec 5-speed. Both will give you great performance, but the swap cost and the tranny cost itself is prohibitive.

No OD sucks, especially with a 10" converter and 3.27s. This is just temporary though, I am going to build a 700.

 

You, sir, are running on borrowed time. I left LPE's shop in Jan 96 and he told me that it would last no more than a year. I babied it all the way and 6 months later, it died. Got a new 500 aboves stock stall converter from him, sent the tranny off to www.rosslertrans.com and had it rebuilt. Lasted for 3.5 years with me beating on it daily.

 

I would stick with the 700-R4. If looking for someone to rebuilt it talk to a guy called probuiltautomatics on thirdgen.org. He is the best I know of for the 700-R4. He website is www.pro-built.net
Hope this helps.

 

I really would like to go stick. t-56 to be exact, but what is troubleing me is the cost.

which would be more expensive?


1 Turning a automatic 86 Trans am into a 6 speed or

2. Building a bulit proof 700r4 to handle somewhere around 400- 440 ft/lbs

 

I would imagine the 700 would be cheaper. Search for local guys that do trannies. A brand-name shop will likely charge you lots. Ask around in parts stores from people that know what they are talking about. Somebody might know somebody that does trannies. That is how me and my friends found a guy that only does trannies in him own small shop, does awasome work for nothing. He is going to put together a 700 for me, going to get me a core and rebuild it, beefing it up and using good parts. He is going to charge me $150 to build it, ALL else will be parts. It still wont be cheap, but in reality, he is good and it won't take him that long to put it together at all. Maybe a couple/three good hours plus parts cleaning time.

 

Well lets assume that i can get someone to do it for 150 also, what would all of the parts and pieces cost me to have a STRONG 700r4?

 

Well, without the converter, I was looking at at most between $650-$750 + a core (about $50-$100 depending). That is with a Trans Go shift kit (trick stuff), corvette servo, upgraded bands, etc. Converter is extra and can be $150-$800, depending on what you want. You already have a core, correct? I would phone around and see, it might be similar or WAY off.

 

whoa......that is more than I was hoping for. I might consider the six speed swap. If i'm gonna go that much the t 56 might be just as easy.

 

you could always swap in a 200-4r

 

A 2004r beefed to live behind a 383 won't be cheap:

http://www.drwtransmission.com/thm_200-4r.htm

 

neither would a 700r4

 

200 4r possiblility, but I like to low first gear of the 700.