had a professional built t700r4 from an 88 model TA ,,to put behind my 408sbc with a 3.08 possi rearend,,,,,,,,the original setup in this car was a 305 junk smog engine and a metric 3 speed auto,,,and a 2.78 rearend,,,i put the brand new 408 in and used the old metric gearbox for a few weeks til i got the t700 built,after i put the gearbox in the car seemed to have a first gear that was way too low,the car,then i put a 3.08 possi rear in the car,,things changed for the werst,,,,,,,,the car allways seemed to be in the wrong gear,,the car takes off at normal driving speed from first ,its hard into second, (vette servo),,then into third,,and after about 50mph IFF i have my foot on the gass a little it will select 4th, and stay there ,,until i get to a slight rise in the road,, then the car goes , back into third and will stay there until i give it more gas,,,to get it to change into 4th,,to save a little gas,,,,i dont want ,to be cruising around at 3000+ rpm,s, in 3rd all day,,,or having to push the car to get it to shift into top,buy then its well over the speed limit,and the car wants to keep going with the speed picking up,,and up,,,,,,the whole deal is a bad setup,,and a TH350 would be 150% better i think,,,,,,,,,,ALSO this gearbox !! IFF i nail the gas pedal off the line, the car will take off in 2nd gear,,,,still spin the tyres and go sideways,,,,,but iff i put the shifter in low it will take off in 1st, and its too much,,,,,,,NOW THE stinkin gearbox is starting to slip in gears,,,,,,,,,,ITS done about 750 miles, from new,,,,,,,,and the guy who built it ,has many top cars from his gearbox engine shop,,,some running 9 seconds,,,and a few blown big blocks , ALL RUNNING T400,s,T350,s and powerglides,,,,,,,,,,,,,,he told me these 700,s were junk,,,,,,,,,now i know,,,,,,,,,,,my cable to the carb is adjusted correctly,,,,,,,,,and i know its critical to do so,,,,,,,,,i just thought these were good gearboxes,,,,,,,,,,,besides inside em there weak,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,save money folks buy a t350 and be done with it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the torque of the larger engines is not suited for these stupid things,.,,,,,,,,,,,like i said the car is allways in the wrong gear,when driven in automatic mode,,,,NOT HAPPY

 

http://www.pro-built.net/ the strongest 700R4's I have found. I went throught a TCI and a B&M before I found out about Pro-Built. I run a 406 on a 150 shot and have not had a single problem with Dana's tranny. After my first two 700's my thought was alot like yours, but I heard so many good things about Pro Built I decided to give it one more try, and I am glad I did. Works awsome and I still have my overdrive.

 

Thats's what most shops will tell you that don't know how to build one correctly.

 

mate please,,,,iff you take apart a t700 and put the same part from a th350 beside it,there is no comparison,,,,,,,,,,,some parts in the 700 are made of tin,,flimsy,,a stock t350 will take punnishment,,,,,,,,,,,the 700,s were made for smog cars with no power to begin with,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i dont know why i spent money on junk,,,,,,,you please tell me how many 500,600hp cars at your local drag strip use the 700,s,
MY car has as much power as normal cars had 30 years ago,,its nothing new,,i got 440ftlbs of torque,and the car has enough power to rip the suspension points out of
the floor, and put the right hand shock through the floor,,,,these 700,s are not capable of this,,,,,,,,,its easy to say oh it wasn,t builyt right,,,,,THAT original JOB was supposed to be done by GM in DETROIT,,just like they did with the 350,400 turbo boxes,the engineering and cost cutting on quality hardy robust design all went in the 60,s 70,s
[check message length],,really i put a few dollars into this car,, and i shouldn,t have to buy 2 or 3 gearboxes ,,,to get it right,,,i am in australia things aren,t cheap here

 

Maybe you'd have better luck with a TH200C instead of a 700R4?

Just like you say, GM didn't design the 700R4 for your application. If you're going to use it, expect to make changes. The 700R4 can be built to handle the same power levels as a TH350. The only difference is that you can build about 3 TH350s for the same price as a 700R4.

 

the problem with me going to a th350, is the torque rod,, and crossmember,,*** knows why these cars have this stupid torque rod things,,really the original 305 had no torque to worry about braking anything,,i dont know why GM done away with the upper and lower control arm setup,,most cars around the world still used it for years ,, with no problem,,,,i gues i should just bite the bullit,, stop complaining,,,,,,,and fix this thing,more $$$$$$$$$$$$$,,,,,steve

p/s these were the years that the rest of the world stoped importing cars from america,,,GM here and in many countries used to gring cars in and just change the badging, and sell cars through local GM outets,,,,,,,,,,you wont see these cars in europe,,,,,but the early cars were popular,,up to about 1974,,,,,,,and its not the price of petrol,,its the quality of engineering,, that was in a very very steep slide down,,GM boses came here of late and said they forgot how to build a rear wheel drive car,,,,,,,,its a shame,,,,,,,,,,i love american cars

 

When I say build one correctly, I don't mean a stock rebuild, I mean fixing the weak points. Sunshell, sprags, kevlar plates etc. There are many shops here in the US that know how to do it & make the trans hold up to a lot more power than you have. I can't speak for the shops "down under" though.