I saw on the "1983 2.8" thread that TomP said that late 80's (87 and up, was it?) 700R4's were better than the 84-86 model years. My car's an '84...so needless to say I'm a bit interested. If I track down one of the newer tranny's, is everything going to hook up all right, like the torque converter lockup stuff and the shift linkage? I know the bell housings are the same, so no worry there.

edit*....forgot to ask, is the gearing the same between '84 and '87-or-so in the 700R4?

 

Yeah everything mates back up just right.
Gearing is the same.
It's the "internal's'" that are beefed up, by GM engineers, between the years.
PS IF ya got a good tranny shop, they can "do the same" to your current tranny, too.
My 85 tranny in the 3.4 Firebird works just great. The tranny guy did a few tricks.
I expect same "results" from tranny in my 85 3.4 powered Blazer, as it was "beefed" up, too.
IF your tranny works well, you are ahead right now.
Sure there are ways to increase tranny performance, yet, trannys run as much as built engines, these days.

 

Best to get an '88 or newer (and as close to a '92 as you can get). The '87 being a transition year some things changed again for '88. As for the bellhousing the trans has to be from a 60 deg V6 (2.8l or 3.1l). The 4.3l V6 is a 90 deg engine that matches the V8 block.

The only item may be the torque convertor. If you get and use the one that is with the newer trans then all is OK.

The reason is that in '84 or '85, I can't remember which year, the input shaft splines on the trans changed. This also required the torque convertor to be changed. So your current torque convertor may or may not work wih the newer trans, dependent upon the year of changeover.

Everything else bolts right up. And the 700R4's all have the same gear ratios, no matter what the application was.

RBob.

 

I believe '85 was the start of the 30 spline torque convertor. (It went from 26 spline to 30, right? Or did I mess up the spline count? I think I need a refresher course )

Don't forget, before installing the junkyard trans, you should flush out your factory trans cooler to remove any metal inside. Places sell trans flush; it's pressurized cleaner in a can... about $10.

And it might even be wise to buy a rebuilt torque convertor (and trade the junkyard one in as a spare). Once metal gets inside a torque convertor, there's no way to get it out unless you cut it open and weld it back together.

Here's a link to a flusher: http://www.bulkpart.com/cgi-bin/miva..._Code=Lubegard