Hey guys, Got a few questions I'm hoping you guys can offer some advice and some imput on. This morning my transmission decided to take a **** on me. My question is this. What tranny can I throw in with a shift kit and have reliable fun with? TKO 600(yes i know its a 5spd), TH350, or another 700R4. I'm still learning about f-bodys, and having come over from the import side of things, I have some knowledge of cars in general. But any advice, criticism or help will be appreciated.

 

Well, I just did a little search for pricing on a TH350, and ran across some info, stating TH350's are reliable up to 275HP, And I'm going to be around the 350hp mark within the next few months. So a TH350 is outta the question. Any other suggestion's?

 

A Tremec is not a 'throw-in' job. I'd suggest a TH400 for street/strip or the 700 for street/cruising.

 

any trans you listed will work, aftermarket transmissions can be had to hold up to any ommount of power, so you could do a th350, 400, 700. the tko600 is a manual and would require a lot more work to install.

 

Whoever said that the TH350 is only reliable up to 275 HP needs to put the crack pipe down. In stock form that may be true, but they can be built to take 700-800 HP depending on what's done to them. If you're going to doing a lot of driving on the street, I'd recommend using a 700r4 instead though. You'll hate driving on the freeway with the TH350, since there's no overdrive. A properly built 700r4 can handle up to 600 HP if you have the cash to spend on the upgraded parts. The TKO 600 is an awesome trans, especially if you prefer manuals like I do, but as stated above, there's a lot of parts you'd have to round up to put it in your thirdgen.

 

you could go with a th350, with a gear vendors unit. then you get an overdrive and a gear splitter. plus theyre rated at 1200 hp, so its good if you ever decide to go all out.

 

Theres been MANY 10 and 11 second cars with 600+ HP using th-350 transmissions.

As far as shear strenght in auto trans in order strongest to weakest..
Th-400
Th-350
200 4R
700R4
then the real weak ones like the metric 200, 250c, etc

 

Welcome to american muscle, but converting over from imports, you got the wrong state of mind. These cars are known for torque more than horsepower. Thats why the 145hp 305s in the early 80s surprized alot of ppl because they put out 245 ft/lb of torque.

Not sure where you got that 275hp number from, but unless you slip into the 450+ hp and torque, you can slap in a stock TH350 and beat it to death, and it'll take the punishment. A very cheap shift kit, with a quick shift will save your clutches too.

 

I drove a 74 El Camino (see screen name) for 10 years to work everyday and it has a TH-350. I'm talking about a 40 mile one-way commute with about 12 miles of that on the freeway. It never bothered me one bit that I did not have overdrive. I also had a van with a 700r4, but I rarely ever used the OD because of all the hills out here in the potato patch.