Hi everyone!
I am new here but I need help, information.. Here's the deal, I have a 1981 Chevy El Camino, it had a 350 turbo trans at one time but we swapped that out for a 700R4 which is in there now, rebuilt and all.. because everyone told me to go for a 700.. Thing is, on any G-body cars like this, I am told by the dealership and parts stores that they never came w/ 700R4, only 2004R, that the 700's were the overdrive trans for the camaros and such.
Also, the Elky was not originally a console shift model (used to be on the column), but we got a shifter out of a non-overdrive Monte Carlo (same type of G-body shifter as an Elky) except that it doesn't have an extra notch for all the gears (i.e. I should have overdrive, but may lose my low 1 gear) which is ok too...
But! My mechanic friend is swapping things out and I had gotten a camaro shift cable (700R4, right) and a bracket for a 700 that mounts to the trans for the cable. He says neither the cable nor the bracket is adaptable enough for him to make work.. I ordered a cable for a 2004R trans and brackets (2, for the shift housing and trans pan) because he said these would work better.
I told the dealership parts guy and he told me about how the 700R4 is not original to G-bodies but thought I needed the camaro bracket and cable because of the trans, but I told him we had these and my friend said they didn't work out. I ordered the 350 trans brackets per my buddy. I would ask my friend how he thinks this can work but he is the most cantankerous guy I know and does not explain things well..
Has anyone ever tried anything like this? He works on dozens of cars for people, so I think he knows what he can make work, but there are somethings that I question sometimes.
Thank u, fellow car guys!

Eric

There is so much mis-information and bad advice out there about these transmissions it hurts. Contact Bowtie Overdrives (760) 947-5240. Talk to Steve Holmes directly and he will cut through all the crap. These guys really know the 200R4 and 7004R and have even patented several devices to make adaptation much easier. This is no job for the shade tree mechanic who is going off of instinct. Neither is it too hard for a do-it-yourselfer who has the right information.

Use the shifter and cable for the 200r4, the most that you should have to modify is the fulcrum legnth of the trans shift shaft to get all of the gears to line up in the trans and on the gate in the console.

Good luck.