I was thinking about throwing a 700R4 that was from an 83 or 84 van into our '79 Malibu Classic, but it has a column shifter. Will this work at all, or will I have to cut the floor open - in which case I'll scrap that idea. What all needs to be done to the 700R4 to get it to use the lockup TC? Will the driveshaft need shortening? Will the mount need relocating? Any other possible problems?
The tranny that is in there now is a TH350 or possibly the metric one. Anyway it's a 3 speed non overdrive.

Thanks


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86 Z28
LG4 rebuilt, yet tired again
700R4 (father just broke it)
Have 400 short block waiting for a rebuild still planning it out
Edelbrock catback

 

I don't know for sure, but it "should" work. Your over drive will still work but you probably won't be able to drop it into 1st.
You would have to get a lock-up switch for the converter for overdrive, then there's that TV cable nightmare your gonna have to deal with or the tranny won't shift right.
700R4 IMO is the worst POS I've ever seen.
Good luck. Would be cool though if you got it shifting right. Shouldn't be too much work either. Just getting that TV cable right will be a pain.

------------------
1986 SC Camaro
Mods: Threw 2.8 in garbage, put in rebuilt
350 .060 over, XE268H Comp cam, Edlebrock
Performer Intake and Edlebrock 600 CFM Carb,
Pete Jackson noisy GearDrive (which sounded
cool for about 5 minutes, now I'm sick of it)
Rebuilt TH350, 3.42 Rear Gears. LCA RLB's.
B&M Mega Shifter.
Now has T5 in it. YES!!!
CenterForce Dual Friction Clutch.

 

Your column shifter is not as much of a problem as the crossmember and lockup
converter issues. You will need to relocate the crossmember and shorten the driveshaft.
The frame of a Malibu does not allow for
much rearward movement of the crossmember,
and the 700r-4 is 3" longer than a TH350.
The TV cable bracket is not a problem if you
use a cable bracket and a Q-jet with a
throttle lever like GM put on your '86 Z28. The Camaro dipstick and tube would work also.

 

Thanks for the info!
I wonder if there is a driveshaft out there that is 3" shorter?? Also, how hard is relocating the crossmember? If I hurry, I hope to have everything ready to go, so I can do this over winter break.

 

The driveline should be the same if it's a long tailshaft TH350. And for the cross member, if you can just drill holes for it or weld a piece of angle iron on it and drill the holes for the tranny. That's what I did on my Camaro. I had to weld the angle iron on it cause the mounting holes were a bit off. Not sure how much off, but not a lot.

Brad...

 

It may be easier to have a driveshaft shortened than to find a good one of the
correct length. If you were able to look under a Monte Carlo SS or a Grand National,
you would see what GM did in order to move the crossmember so the 200-4r could be used
in a G-body.

 

In the situation where the doner 700r4 comes from a van and then goes into a coulm shift car will work fine, you will be able to lock in any gear you want also. The linkage on the trans is different from a floor shift like ours than a coulmb shift like a truck van ect. You might be able to get away with your malibu driveshaft but the yoke will have to be changed and you will need to get a special Ujoint to mount the yoke and driveshaft togather autozone or any other nationwide parts store wont have a clue as to the ujoint you need so your going to have to go to a driveshaft or bering shop and have them measure out what you need.
Good Luck!
SSC