[henkelphoto]

Hi Guys,

I was talking with a tranny shop who came recommended by some muscle car people I know about a new tranny for my 68 Firebird. I would like to get an od gear so my engine isn't always at 4k crusing down the highway.

Anyway, he said the only od tranny that would bolt up to a Pontiac engine is the 200R4 and it's not strong enough for a 455 with some horsepower. He said the only way to go is to get the GearSplitter gizmo. Is this true? What the heck are the racers using?

Jerry

[silentpoet]

I think you can get a 200r4 that has been built for heavier duty. The external unit is what I was going to suggest as an option, but I think a good 200r4 would be cheaper. Have you considered a manual transmission?

[astroracer]

Art Carr can build you a 200-4R as can most good aftermarket tranny suppliers. Most 200-4R's came with the dual Chevy/BOP mounting holes. If you can get one from a 3.8 V6 car it will bolt up to the Pontiac.
A 700R4 is do-able with a $70.00 dollar adapter from Trans-Dapt or Trans-Go.
Talk to a few local hot rodders about local trans shops. If you can get one locally do that. Saves a lot on shipping and warranty issues are a short drive away...
Mark

[henkelphoto]

I'm pretty well set on the auto. I talked with a guy named Andy at California Performance Transmissions and it sounds like they've got what I need. Does anyone have any opinion about this company?

Jerry

[Crosley]

Originally Posted by henkelphoto

I'm pretty well set on the auto. I talked with a guy named Andy at California Performance Transmissions and it sounds like they've got what I need. Does anyone have any opinion about this company?

Jerry

California Performance Transmission is owned / operated by Art Carr the person .....

Art has been around a long time.

[jakeshoe]

Originally Posted by Crosley

California Performance Transmission is owned / operated by Art Carr the person .....

Art has been around a long time.

I've heard good and bad experiences from people who have bought Art Carr (CPT) 200-4R's.
I personally believe Art Carr should be able to build you a nice 200-4R as he was one of the pioneers with using it. However my only concern would be what type of forward drum he uses.
AFAIK he uses a heat treated piece and other's experiences have proven these to be hit or miss with a billet shaft piece being necessary for applications with alot of torque.

I haven't tried to test the stock pieces reliability, I install the good billet drum because I prefer the dual feed technique and dual feeding usually results in early demise of the stock drum.

[Crosley]

Actually I would suggest Bruce at http://www.ptsnctb.com/ for a stout 200-4r

if a person lived on the west coast area.

Years ago when the Art Carr company was sold we bought a bunch of tranny cores and pieces ...... I dissected a few of them

[jakeshoe]

I bought some stuff from PTS, Bruce, and wasn't impressed...

I bought his 200-4R valve body kit and boost valves. Buy the TransGo, its essentially the same thing but includes the large boost valves for the same price.
His ultra large boost valves had some "issues" that were resolved by replacing with a normal .500 boost valve.

Bruce at PTS and Chris at CKpeformance are the only people who make a billet forward drum AFAIK. Chris is considerably less costly at about $400 for this drum compared to Bruce's $600 plus.

There are some other issues that would cause me not to further purchase anything from PTS but they are not related necessarily to any problem specifically with the products.

[Crosley]

good info to have.

[msc66]

Here's a link to 200R4 code info and links to many other 200R4 sites.
http://members.aol.com/powerrslid/thm2004r.html