what should it cost?

[Crosley.In.AZ]

the 700 has a band for od. the 200 has a separate clutch pack for 4th. i have used them since 90 and have never had a failure except one that was streetraced for 4 years. it is a stronger box than the 700. when the sprag goes [ and it will] in a 700 it destroys the case and all. gm trucks had nothing but trans problems with the 700. i just prefer the 200. 1 hot wire for lock up and thats it. you can even run without the lock up. plus it takes less room.

Well, I have built automatic trannys for 3 decades , I still build 4 - 6 of the 700 trannys a week.

Looking at your line of thinking : the 200-4r uses a band for second gear, so  I guess it is not a true 4 speed automatic?  How about a Ford or Mopar tranny, they use bands too.  Or is a band OK for other gears but not allowed for 4th gear use?

The 200 line of trannys in OE stock form are not stronger than the 700 in stock form. In the days that the 200-4r was in daily drivers , when one came into my shop the 200-4r was the most expensive tranny to rebuild at the time due to parts failure.

I've seen many sprags blown up in a 700/4L60 tranny, that damage does not take the case apart each time. You will see larger amounts of damage from an output shaft breaking and blowing out the back of the case.

Now if you take the availble beefy parts from CK performance or Bruce Toelle at  PTS Xtreme you can build a stout 200-4r tranny.

Oddly enough GM never used a 200 tranny in a full sized truck.  The 700 did have many problems ( still does) in truck useage. They even used the tranny in 3/4 ton applications and there were many failures.

There are many 4L60 failures in super charged SUV applications currently on the market.

The attached photo is broken parts from a 2005 Caddy Escalade AWD vehicle with a super charged 6.0 motor. We had to disassemble the T-case on the Caddy to get the piece of broken output shaft pulled from the input gear of the T-case.

your mileage may vary.

[1FATGMC]

As far as having my driveshaft shortened, I just got a new one not too long ago!
I read and understand some of what the transmission builders can do to the 700r4 including new and updated "items" to rebuild this trans! I don't race the car, I don't have a high horse power motor, it's just a cruiser which I display it's power from time to time, I just want reliability and lasting durability from the transmission I get! I don't mind paying for this, I just want my money's worth!
Bruce

If you go from the 700R4 to the 200R4 you will probably have to "lengthen" the drive shaft.

Having a reliable 700 should be no problem with a competent builder.  I have over 80,000 miles on mine since it was rebuilt and have pull the teardrop over 35,000 miles of that with a combined vehicle weight of about 5700 lbs.

I bought a B&M rebuild kit and had my transmission guy do the re-build.  Since then I feel B&M isn't the best you can get out there, so I would go with whatever your transmission guy feels is best now.

c ya, Sum

[Bib_Overalls]

Shops around here are in the $1,700 to $2,000 range for a remove, rebuild, and replace job.

Before you have yours rebuilt, check with your Chevy dealer.  Dealer here sells new transmissions to the trade at prices that are competitive with rebuilds.

[Kctom]

Hello;
Got a topic that will bring out a lot of answers (I hope). I have a 57 Chevy that has a ugly 700r-4 trans in it. I have decided that this transmission has to go!
Been getting some quotes from local shops to do the job. These quotes range from $1200 to $1700. Including a mild shift kit, Corvette servo, with the lock up properly put in to make it lock up in 4th gear, as well as my tv cable properly adjusted and installed!
My question is, How much should a job like this cost me?
Bruce

I went to a local chevy powertrain supply. Got a brand new 2003 4l60e and converter for 1400.00 Why pay that for a rebuild?

[1FATGMC]

Hello;
Got a topic that will bring out a lot of answers (I hope). I have a 57 Chevy that has a ugly 700r-4 trans in it. I have decided that this transmission has to go!
Been getting some quotes from local shops to do the job. These quotes range from $1200 to $1700. Including a mild shift kit, Corvette servo, with the lock up properly put in to make it lock up in 4th gear, as well as my tv cable properly adjusted and installed!
My question is, How much should a job like this cost me?
Bruce

I went to a local chevy powertrain supply. Got a brand new 2003 4l60e and converter for 1400.00 Why pay that for a rebuild?

I don't think anyone is charging that for a re-build.  Most of the prices I see posted here include removal and installation which if you had that done at the chevy dealer would add quite a bit to the $1400.  One other thing is for a high performance application I might want the re-build with higher hp clutch packs and so forth.

Now saying all of that if it was a 350 hp or less motor I think the new transmission for $1400 looks pretty good if you don't have one to re-build in the first place.

c ya, Sum