Im looking to buy a used 700r4 but I cant trust sllers on craigslist without first having a look see at stuff for myself. I was wondering if there are any surefire or pretty sure ways to check a loose trans to see if its still good.

A guy on CL I emailed said hes got one he had rebuilt last year for his van and that his engine blew up and junked the van and kept the trans and hes cleaning out his garage and wants $100 for it and a newer converter


Also, I was just wondering some stuff about a 350th swap. Whats all needed to do the swap? A crossmember and driveshaft or what? Where would I get these parts?

 

Install it and drive it.

Without applying power to it, at road speed, there's no way to be sure.

You can test some of the clutch pistons with air pressure, to make sure they operate and don't leak excessively; that's about it.

 

What will I gain/ lose by swapping to a TH350? Besides gas mileage of coruse

 

Gain: nothing
Lose: OD, money

 

Oh. I might as well just keep it then. I was told by a guy on OT that theyre alot stronger than the 700r4's but I didnt know for sure

 

Some 350s can sometimes be somewhat stronger than some 700s.

This is not the same thing as saying that 350s are stronger than 700s.

OTOH, you have a TBI 305. Is any of this really an issue?

For $100, I'd say the CL trans is a good risk. For the same reason that a junkyard one is. Think about it..... car is driving down the road, catastrophe strikes, now there's the trans. It was DRIVING at the instant of the catastrophe. Now, that's no guarantee of how WELL it was driving, or HOW MUCH LONGER it would have KEPT ON driving; but at least, it WAS driving.

At worst, you can jam the $100 trans in your car, and drive it while you get your existing one rebuilt. Then maybe even sell the other one, before you take it out; "see it drive, drive it yourself" kind of thing, and even make money on it. Kind of like buying a "see it run before I pull it" motor.