I’m finally burying the 200 in favor of a 700R4 in my 82 Camaro. No computer in the 82…but the trans. shop has told me they’d take care of lock-up for me without a lockup kit (unsure of what they are doing, but I trust them by their local rep.). I’ve ordered the crossmember brace, poly tranny mount, B&M Overdrive kit, the speedo housing/gears, and I have a local on standby to make a driveshaft…but I have some open questions that I need some help with:

1) Temp control. My 82 has no radiator with built-in transmission cooler. What are the chances of a simple external cooler in front of the tranny doing the trick?

2) My stock inst. cluster only has the TEMP idiot light. I need better insight--want to add a real gauge to the passenger side “blank-spot.” I’d like to have a matching transmission temp gauge there, too...and maybe rpm (very basic instrumentation was stock with this one)! Does a nice kit that matches and installs well in the Camaro exist?

3) Can I (and should I) re-use the 200’s transmission dipstick/tube with the 700r4?

4) Do you see anything that I’m missing...something else that I should do while I have the transmission out?

Thanks!!

 

i'll try to answer soem of those

1: you can get a cheap cooler that will do the job. it will really help over nothing at all, thats for sure

2: you can look to swap in a new generation instrument panel and guages and wire it all up. I do believe there are some "kits" with gauges in them but i think they are just a 5 gauge kit with speed, rpms, oil pressure, water temp, and voltage. You can always custom make a instrument panel or get gauge pods to mount extra gauges outside the stock panel. thats probly what i'd do

3: sorry i'm not sure about that one. to be safe i think you should keep it all 700r4, but you'll have to check the 200's tube length and such to see if it gives good readings of fluid levels

4: ARe you getting a torque converter or just using a stock style converter with 1600 rpm stall? i think the motor would respond well to a 2400-2500 on the street. Keep lockup tho and it will be great. They can give you lockup kits that you can lock with the press of a button, just got to remember to unlock it at times

 

Thanks!

With the 305, will liftoff be that noticable with a higher stall//betterT.C.? One day I'll ditch the 305, but I'll have it for another year or two...it's still running strong. I'll ask what the rpm is//I didn't even know that 1600 was stock. That's sad.

Yes, I believe that the torque converter that they sent with the 700r4 is stock-style. I'll verify tomorrow. The folks that built it told me that the setup would have lockup...without a kit or my computer, but I'm not sure how. They did mention that I'd need 12V. I'll get more details on what they are doing and post back.

Unless someone talks me out of it, I decided on a cheap DER-13250...it's tubular, and should fit easy. I'll compliment it with the BMM-80212 temp guage and see how it runs.

 

I guess I don't understand why this is so difficult, or what half of the parts are that you're using (B&M Overdrive kit?) or why.

You need a stock driveshaft from any 84 or newer F-body. You need the stock torque arm for any 84 or newer F-body. You need an 84-92 700R4 transmission crossmember. You will need the tailshaft housing for any 700R4 from 84-92 V6 or V8 car for your torque arm mount. You should be able to use a standard f-body 700R4 dipstick tube as well. Most of these parts are available at the wrecking yard for little to nothing.

You just need the torque converter lock up kit as aftermarket, but other than that, I don't see the problems.

Why does your radiator not have a cooler? Didn't your 200 use one? Mine did... Make sure you get the biggest cooler that you can run external if that's what you decide to do.