83 WS6 T/A

I recently bought and all original, 1 owner title 1983 WS6 Trans Am it's an automatic. I would like to find out what kind of transmission it has in it. I know they came with 700r4s but they are 4 speeds with overdrive and mine has a 3 speed without overdrive. I'm thinking it's the same tranny that came in the 82 Trans Ams but I don't know what they're called.

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

TH200. Had one in an 82 Z28 and an 86 Monte carlo. Pretty weak tranny but had mine in my MonteCarlo built and the mechanic told me it would stand up to a strong small block and ive had no problems since.

83 WS6 T/A

Ok, that's what I thought. I bought the car a week ago for 600 and it has everything on it from 83, I bought it for parts, I have another 83 trans am that I will be switching the rear end out for this car and make a WS6 conversion.

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

Some of the later 83's did come with a 700R4. I owned two of them from brand new. Some early 83's had the TH 200C. Some 83's had TH 350C's and TH 200C's swapped in when the cars were near new, as the first 700R4's had issues. They did not circulate fluid to the cooler unless the torque converter was locked up, and they ran pretty hot in stop and go traffic. The fix was to drill a hole in the valve body that allowed fluid to circulate any time the trans was in gear. I have an 82 now with the TH 200C. The original trans quit and it was built with lots of upgrades. It seems pretty stout now, but than my engine is stock, so it is not much of a test. I miss the fact that there is no OD with this trans.

okfoz

What is the sequence number of your car?

I have an 83 Trans Am WS6 and it has the 700R4,

my sequence number is L218448, so it is within the first 20,000 made for 1983 @ Van Nuys, Dealer Introduction date was Nov 18, 1982 for the 1983 MY.. I would have to look at my door and it is literally buried right now to actually go and look to see what month it was made... Being that there was only 75,000 1983 Firebirds total, and they were split between Van Nuys & Norwood (not evenly mind you) it puts production in the April range...

3rdgenparts

iTrader: (8)

Have yet to see a '83 with a 200C from the factory !!! I thought only the export cars go those??




On my 82 T/A my 200C crapped out at 65K miles,then went in a built TH350

The guy who did my trans (35 years experience) said 200c's were so crappy he would DECLINE to work on them,Unless they were being replaced with something else !!

Dave

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

Agreed the 200C will probably go down in the history books as a POS. When they were first introduced they were called the metric transmission, and were the first stamped case transmissions.

I am sort of stuck with mine since my 82 is an all original car with 24k actual miles. It could be used as a reference car, and that has been suggested by several very respected people. We have been invited twice to the Norwood Reunion, and have not been able to attend due to health problems.

As for building a decent running 200C, I must have gotten lucky, as the thing shifts and runs perfectly since it was rebuilt in 2007. Oh, and I like it a lot better since I unplugged the lock up torque converter. The 200's used to lock up at 10 to 15 MPH and than lug like crazy. Since we live in the mountains, the thing was constantly locking, lugging, and unlocking. If the car was a driver and I was looking for performance and better drivability, a 700R4 swap would be the first mod I would make.

The lower gear ratio first gear in the 700 makes a car faster off of the line, and driving a three speed auto after becoming used to overdrive is a letdown.

okfoz

I think the 200 was originally designed for the Chevette... How or why they thought they could stuff it into a bigger car is beyond me.

petrolhead

Is there a way to know for sure that I have a ws6 car? I assume my 83 is, it's a cross fire 700r4 Lear siegler car. There is no option sticker anywhere, can the vin show it?

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

The Ws6 cars have rear disc brakes and 15 inch wheels. There were also ws7 cars that are exactly the same as a ws6 except for rear drum brakes. A ws7 will also use a 15 inch wheel. The standard model uses a 14 inch wheel. The sway bars are also larger on ws6 & ws7 cars.