Myfirstfirebird

Ok so its been like years since i posted here but im back finally and with some mods to my car. Best mod i did was blowing up my 700R4, lol.

Now i have been told that 700R's were junk and a bad tranny for a firebird and that i wanted eaither a 350 turbo or turbo 400. But i just could not bring my self to run with a 3 speed. So i went to my freind John Dawson whos been a trans mech for all his life and asked him if the 700's are really junk or is there somthing more. heres where it gets fun.


John tells me " yeah i can make your 700R good, but it will never stand up to the raw HP that 350 turbo will" ok good enough for me im not going nuts just a 350 stock in my ride so im set. He says up the line pressure and get a super servo. Im trans stupid so i have no clue what a super servo is, but i trust my freind so i buy one for about 80 bucks. Whole cost of rebuilind the trans and the new part and mod is 900. And yes thats pulling it in and out.

Took car out for a test drive came out of first gear went in second and BARKED THE TIRES. (and by bark i mean holding the gas down to the floor for a high speed shift and the tires chirped going in to second) I could not belive it it barked the tires with a 700R. John looked at me wide eyed "Now thats a sweet trans". Yes it is and still runs great and barks tires. So if you wanna keep your 700R and add a lil more bite get a super servo and hold on.

ed o

i've built barkers-the funnest ones were for G.I.'s chasing U2 bombers. They were barely 18 years old and going as fast as they could down the runway to catch the jets. the government funded the things hopped up camaro's-I did the transmissions. the kids would bark them at all times giving spectators a show and scaring the crap out of passengers-INCLUDING ME--

Myfirstfirebird

Nice to meet another who likes the 700R4's man its tough finding ppl that like those things! lol

atc3434

iTrader: (4)

I run the vette servo with an SLP shift kit and a 2500rpm stall, my 700R4 has redefined a few of my friends opinions on what automatics are capable of. I bark on the 1-2 and sometimes the 2-3, just gotta pay attention in the rain, those upshifts can catch you off-gaurd if your not paying attention.

Firebreather

I would choose a 700R4 over a TH350 in anything but a track car. The reason people choose the TH350 is the same reason they build Chevrolets, inexpensive and parts availability. Old school mechanics will tell you the 700R4is crap because when they were new, they were weak and there were no parts to make them really good. A hopped up 700R4 will withstand at least 600hp with no problem. The weakest link compared to the TH350 is the aluminum drum, and there's a fix for that as well. For me, who drive my car on the streets, an overdrive tranny is a must. Mine barks 1-2 and 2-3 without breaking a sweat. Actually, 1-2 shifts are brutal. There are a lot of parts out there to make these transmissions really good. There goes my .02

subroc

iTrader: (2)

Yea i love my 700. I wanted an auto in fact over the t5 cause of all the bad things ive heard over the years about the t5. The 700 is a stronger tranny and can be made to shift very nicely. Mine sure does.

vingta1989

i had a 700 in my monte ss it was a custom built tranny ..it took all the abuse from a built 355 and two seasons of nos 200shot..and never missed a beat sold the car and the guy who bought it still has the same trans in it..with no probs..i also put the identical 700 in my gta convertible...

vipershark11

iTrader: (6)

i love my 700r4 so much i just spent 1500 on it. I ordered a rebuild kit from probuilt with extra performance parts from other companies including a billet servo. Should be a badass tranny for my blown/ soon to be nitrous too highly modded 350. I am one of the few left to have faith in it.

Pat Hall

iTrader: (31)

Yeah I have to agree that the 700r4 got a bad rap in the early days since nobody really knew how to build one up for performance, plus the lack of good parts to upgrade them back then. Nowadays, they're one of the best choices for a hot street car since having overdrive is oh so sweet. If you have someone like Dana at ProBuilt automatics either build you one or sell you one of his upgrade kits, it'll be strong enough to handle anything a hot, street-driven car can dish out. The 4L60E's are even worse than a 700r4 in stock form, but my buddy just had his 4L60E redone with performance parts, and it's behind an LT4 hot-cammed, AFR-headed, 383 LT1, and it doesn't flinch at all. It'll roast the hell out of the tires from a dead stop and the shifts are firm and quick.

91camarosRS

iTrader: (5)

i talked to the guys over at transgo and they said hard shifting is not always a good thing. you can actually blow stuff up if its too hard. give them a call they gave me SOOOO much info.
i got my tranny rebuilt and i asked them what to put in it.
they said dont go with the high doller bilit servos they said put vette servos in, done. ok and they said put the larger of the two boost valves in, done. and the 700-2,3 kit in. the 2 is manual? and the 3 is auto? something like that. what does that give you? a tranny they put in dump trucks!
he said about 450hp can be easy on this car without really going in deep. and the best thing is it did things like doesnt realy shift hard untill you really give it gas so its not so butal on everything. also taking off the 1-2 shift override. and manual shifting is hard and crisp. i would recomend this to everyone!!!!!!

ps while its out put in the shift deturrent that allows you to cruise at high speeds in overdrive. your tranny wont downshift out of overdrive unless 75% throttle is passed its awesome.

Pat Hall

iTrader: (31)

Transgo is the only way to go when buying a shift kit for a 700r4. I highly recommend getting in touch with Dana at www.700r4l60e.com. Transgo is the only kits he sells, and he custom tailors each kit for your particular needs. When you get the right kit and the Vette servo installed, it should shift just as described in the above post, not too hard under part throttle, and progressively firmer/quicker as throttle is increased. Another thing Dana can help with is modifying the stock throttle valve sleeve for dirt cheap to where you can stay in OD at full throttle. All you have to do is install a couple of small allen screws in two of the ports on the stock sleeve, and your trans will function just like the Vette and cop car 700r4's. You can buy the Vette/cop car sleeve for about $50, but modifying the existing one only costs a couple of bucks.

Tyrel2018

iTrader: (2)

John tells me " yeah i can make your 700R good, but it will never stand up to the raw HP that 350 turbo will" ok good enough for me im not going nuts just a 350 stock in my ride so im set. He says up the line pressure and get a super servo. Im trans stupid so i have no clue what a super servo is, but i trust my freind so i buy one for about 80 bucks. Whole cost of rebuilind the trans and the new part and mod is 900. And yes thats pulling it in and out.

where did you get your servo from?

8t2 z-chev

I put a transgo shift kit in mine-kit came with the high
performance servo,also used a tci aluminum deep pan
(sticks down some,gets hit from time to time).
Only thing i didn't like about the 700r4 is the low 1st
gear combined with my 3.42 axle limits use of 1st gear
at speeds over about 25 mph.

otecnick88GTA

ya i dont agree with that statement at all, i have a 383 in my gta and im running a 700r that i fully built, trans cost 1400 in parts alone, and a $700 custom built converter, this trans has put up with plenty of power, 450hp off the bottle and then a 200 shot ontop of that, there great transmissons and they still have od, thats the bonus part

91camarosRS

iTrader: (5)

wow i know that tranny can hold. my 2.1k tranny/instal is supposd to hold 450hp and thats basicly stock internals. so i know yours can hold.
i know these can hold.
there is a biscane that i saw twin turbo with i think 1200hp with a 4l60e wich is just an electrical version of our analog trannys.

on a side note i recently read that the 200r is actually even stronger for one reason of the iron case instead of cast alum.

ed o

actually if you're referring to the 2004-r the case is aluminum just look to the left at my picture and you'll see one. They came in turbo buicks n nationals also which had some power-the stators need flame hardened, reaction shell needs heavy duty, the servo need at least a super servo, and transgo offers a hd and performance shift kit that brings them up to or over grand national specs.////I still think the 700r4 is better than the 2004r because all the shifts in the 2004r are accumulated and tend to feel a little sloppy unless shimmed solid accumulators are used IMO