my 700r4 just took a s*** on me its fried at 145k im pretty sure it burned up from improper tv cable adjustment.

i have a friend with a rebuilt th350 sittin around i could probably get cheap. from what I've read the th350 is good in every aspect except overdrive but even then theirs less rotating mass. i plan on going to 400 hp max probably around 350 on my 305, going to be getting shift kit, maybe stall converter.

what I've heard of 700r4's is lot of early failures around 150k, stupid OD tv cable F'in people up, soft shifts. then i hear durable, just as good as th350 plus OD.


lets turn these rumors and assumptions into facts.
i would like to know what i should be paying for these tranny's.
from what i've gathered i got 350 on the th350 and 600 on 700r4.

 

i have had both in my car over the years,i liked the 350s 1-2 ratio spread
better and it is possible the 350 might be a little stronger,but i have had very good luck with and like the 700r4 i swapped in back in 1995;
bought the 700r4 out of an '85 caprice-as is/u-pull-for $150had
110,000 miles when i put it in and still going strong with now well over
200,000mi. 2yrs ago Had to drop the tranny to partly disassemble in
in order to inspect and muck out a bunch of metal particles/shavings
after aftermarket converter lunched it's thust bearing...everything i looked
at was still in eccelent shape-pump had some damage,but after a good
cleaning still works fine.In my experience at least,700r4 produces far less
"metal"in the pan than the th350s i have had over the years in different
vehicles and i think the 700r4 has a stronger case and bellhousing than
the350,but i could be wrong on that.
You will need some different parts and a torque arm mount kit to use
the th350 in a '91

 

i was aware of the torque arm kit that shouldnt be to much.
i'm pretty good friends with the guy that has the th350 i'm hoping for 300 and my dad can install it for me for dad prices haha. or i could go to junkyard and pull one but the th350 just had full rebuild.

im not that worried about overdrive i don't go very far and the track is only 25 mins max away for next summer. that was another thing i saw was the 1 and 2 gear ratios that was a big problem for me before with the 700r4 it would shift into 2nd at about 1200 rpms and take forever to get up their, or maybe that was one of the signs of tranny failure.

 

Fix the 700r4
http://www.700r4l60e.com/
And if you have deep pockets you can fix the 700r4 1-2 gear spread
Scroll down till you see, Mega Raptor "Power Gear"
http://www.transmissioncenter.org/700r4_Parts_List.htm

 

working an 8$ hr job not exactly a deep pocket.
money is gonna be tight about 80% of my paycheck goes to camaro and saving towards winter car.

i checked out your two websites that s*** adds up way more than the th350 im not exactly sure yet how bad the 700r4 is.

the guy before me took it to the track all the time and threw it into neutral and wound it up and stuff like that.

no one supports the th350??
anyone else want to tell me to rebuild the 700r4?

 

i cant say anything about the th350 since iv never had one but i can tell you one thing, im about fed up with the 700r4 thats in my camaro now and when i go to drop my 350 vortec in im thinking really hard about shoving a th350 behind it. one of the main reasons im looking at it is because im going to be driving this car hard and i need a tranny that can stick up to it and take the abuse and i dont think the 700s can take it.

 

for dragstrip use,i'd install the th350. for street use i'd fix the 700r4 or
round up a good one to install.If you install the 350,do keep the 700r4
and all related parts in case you decide to swap back

 

The TH350 is a decent trans and so is the 700r4.
Both can be made to handle decent power and both cost money to do it.
If you only drive in town you won't have a prob w the th350. I say keep the 700r4 for mileage. You can also do a budget build on the 700 if you know someone that builds them. Last stock type rebuild I had done on a 700 cost around $200 for parts and 100 for labor. (friend prices on both)

 

Spend the $$ and put the HD parts into one and they will last
Five years of strip work (20+ passes a meeting >12.9 on mine and it was perfect when opened up for inspection
But as 8t2 z-chev states above;
if primarily a track car and not worried about fuel economy, go for the TH350 if only because of the better 1st gear
Once you get some RWHP and a engine that revs fast , low 1st gear on a T700 doesn't let you go far before he upshift

 

im not worried about fuel economy at all.
i plan on abusing it quite a bit by next summer theirs going to be a lot more than just a new tranny. i'm liking the th350 a lot and if i dont like it i could probably rip it back out and sell for a profit, - labor of in and out.
next question is anyone got t arm relocation kit for under 250? where do people get off charging so much for specially shaped metal.
i think im going to crack this tranny open and its going to be unsaveable no doubt im keeping it though my dad buys and restores classic cars and he gets a 700r4 from time to time.

its going to be an long expensive winter



right after the tranny gotta fix frame alignment issue (drives straight but stock tires dont fit) gotta buy stock tires and rims to fit has 70r15 215s on right now

 

I have had both tranny's. The th350 was nice, but mileage suffered on the highway(4.10 gears) The 700r4 I have now is very nicely built but a bit expensive if you dont know anyone to get a good deal on it. If you swap over to the th350, depending on what length tailshaft is on it, you will need to have a longer driveshaft made, unless you can find one from a 82-83 car with the th200c, that would be the only years a driveshaft and factory crossmember would work. You will also need the tq arm relocator and a different shifter. Depending on your budget and what you have, sticking with the 700r4 may be the way to go.

 

finally got same day off as my dad and got the car up, he thinks the tranny is fine and i just lost all line pressure and the fuel filter is clogged to the point of 0% getting through. this is what he thinks he was trying to get the filter off but he was twisting fuel line he said hes just gonna work on it while i'm at work.

the car was starting for a split second and turned right off, the tranny fluid seemed alright if anything it was to full.

still not 100% though i hope im not going to get stuck paying some money it would be nice to get more stuff done this winter than just a transmission

 

That's also my opinion. The 700R4 is a great street transmission. It has the low first gear to get you off the line without needing a deep diff gear. The OD combined with the shallow diff gear gives good fuel mileage on the highway. It's the best of both worlds. The terrible 1-2 spread is poor for dragstrip action at WOT.

However, the TH350 was GM's main transmission for a very long time. It was the evolution from the Powerglide to give an extra gear and many older cars that came with a powerglide could easy have the TH350 swapped into them. Like all transmissions, it wasn't perfect and there are plenty of factory variations of it through the years. The aftermarket makes lots of upgrades to make it better and they're still cheaper than upgrading a 700R4.

The real workhorse is the TH400. Without dissembling all the transmissions to see how the parts all go together, you'll never really really understand why this transmission can take so much abuse.

If your driving is mainly on the street, stick to a 700R4. If you need an OD gear, the 700R4 is good but for a better gear ratio, the 200-4R is a better choice. If the type of driving you do doesn't require an OD and you're not too concerned about slightly worse fuel mileage on the highway then a TH350 is just as good. There were millions of miles put on TH350 transmissions long before an OD was a factory option so don't believe someone when they say you can't drive a non OD down the highway. Everyone is very concerned about getting the best fuel economy possible and having a transmission with one or more OD gears is a good way to do it. The lower the engine rpms are while going down the highway, the less fuel it will burn but you sacrifice operating in a higher rpm power band.

 

well my dad ruptured the fuel line getting it off the fuel filter and got a good spray on his arm and it crystalized and burned him and stained his arm yellow.

obviously i pissed someone off and they put sugar in my tank nothing wrong with the tranny at least and i learned a frickin a lot of stuff about transmissions