I got my 1982 TA in the shop right now. I got a fresh build on my carburated 350 and got some unfortunate news about my transmission. I had a turbo 350 in it and was informed that the fluid was far from red and was filled with metal shavings and filings. I tossed around the idea of rebuilding the t350 that I have but it would be about a month before I could get someone to start the rebuild, so I started asking around and finding different transmissions in my area. I have one lead on a 4 speed auto out of a 1982 Caprice. To my knowledge, it's a 700r4 and has 112k miles on it. If I bought this 4 speed, I don't plan on rebuilding it before putting it in. I know this isn't ideal but I don't think it's the end of the world to do this. Any thoughts or suggesting? I'm also wondering what would be involved in this swap. Would I need to shorten the driveshaft? Would the swap require any crossmember modifications or adjustments? Another thing I am wondering is how much I am looking at to do this sort of swap including labor? Any help or advice would be much appreciated since this is my first build.

 

Get a 700 you will love having overdrive but do not get an early one they wont last. I believe 87 up had better internals. I wouldn't waste any money on earlier ones they wont hold up very long. Need different crossmember and driveshaft. If you want to manually grab 1st you need overdrive shift plate. Your shifter mechanism just needs some filing to make it go back further so no need to swap that out.

 

As long as your not drag racing the car and want to just drive it, swap it in. Not sure how much power your pushing but it won’t break from regular driving.

 

You'll have to drill holes in the frame for the different location of the crossmember. '83 and later already have the holes but '82 doesn't...

 

Do it. You will love overdrive. Get the torque converter with the transmission. The rest is easy - all bolt ons.

 

700's are awesome, worth every penny. anytime you have the opportunity take it

 

How much does the swap usually cost?

 

You will need to find a 700R4 tailshaft housing to have somewhere for your torque arm from the rear differential to attach to if you use a 700R4 from anything other than a 3rd gen F body . See the three bolt holes in this tailshaft housing ? They are not gonna be on a 700R4 from a Caprice . Early 4th gen F body cars when they began calling the 700R4 by the new 4L60 name would work , it just can't be a 4L60E because our ECM can't control the Electronically shifted 4L60E .....

 

the swap is pretty easy-did it on my '82 back in the early '90s,tranny came out of a1985 caprice-did not rebuild it,still going in 2020.All of the t350s I have used all generated o substantial amount of debris in the pan and kept on going without trouble-700s generate a lot less debris in my experience very.Early 700s are a bit of an oddity in a few ways-including an "X"embossed into the pan,but '84 up are upgraded and improved-including 30 spline input shaft. Basicly used t700 3rd gen parts to install the 700 in my '82. These work great with 3.23 or 3.42 rear.