tranny swap - T-10 to 200-4R

[trackster]

Lost a clutch in the Abone today.  Kinda shortened the cruisin' season a little!  I was planning on putting a 200-4R in over the winter anyway, just not this soon!  Have a few questions, but first, here is the info on the A:

1930 A pickup, 2500 pounds, 355 SBC, 4 barrel, '57 Chevy rear with 3:36 gears (have a set of 3:73's that can go back in), 28" tall rear tires,  Comp Cams 280H cam, duration @ .050 - 230*, lift - intake and exhaust - .486, lobe separation 110*.

Current trans. - T-10  4 speed

New trans. - 200-4R

Questions:  Will the drive shaft fit without modification?  Should I put the 3:73 gears back in?  Stock torque convertor or higher stall?  If higher, how much?  Shift kit needed - whose?

200-4R  will be rebuilt before install and probably will use Lokar shifter and TV cable.

Truck is used mostly for cruising to local (100 mile) and some long distance shows, etc. with an occasional stop light blast (those ricers just bring out the worst - or is it the best - in me!).

Any thoughts, guesses, opinions or comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks a bunch

[enjenjo]

The driveshaft may or may not fit, it depends on which version of T10 you have, there were a couple yoke splines. The length should be about right though. Trans mount is further back on the 200R4.

[1FATGMC]

While the trans is being rebuilt I would spend $75 and put in TCI's lockup kit.  A great deal and makes life with the transmission very enjoyable.

Also make sure you get the TV cable geometry and adjustment correct or the transmission won't live very long.  There is info on doing that on my site.

You will be very happy with it  and either gear set would work.  If you want the best mileage use the present gears.  If you want it to be a little quicker off the line go with the deeper gears.  You probably won't see more than 1 to 1/2 mpg difference in them, but that is just a guess.

You might want a 2100 or 2200 stall.  Won't hurt much in mpg as you will be locked up in 4th anyway and it might help the big cam off the line.  Also the deeper gears would help the cam off the line.  I'm running about a 2100 stall with my 700R4 and didn't notice any difference in gas mileage from the earlier converter, but most of my miles are in 4th on the highway.  Might be different if you have a lot of around town, not in 4th miles.

c ya, Sum

[trackster]

Thanks for the info. I was planning on using the lockup feature. Also will run a separate tranny cooler. May not get to the change over until winter as the cash flow and time available looks to be rather tight for a while. Thanks again for the input.

[1FATGMC]

Thanks for the info. I was planning on using the lockup feature. Also will run a separate tranny cooler. May not get to the change over until winter as the cash flow and time available looks to be rather tight for a while. Thanks again for the input.

Besides the cooler think about a remote filter.  They aren't much and go in the line to the cooler.  I've run one and they really keep the fluid clean.  I'm putting one now in Julie's truck when I put the 700R4 in it.

Also weld a drain plug in the pan.  Cheap and it helps on fluid changes (not as messy).  On the fluid changes I drain the pan, pull it, change the filter and put in more fluid.  There is still all the old fluid in the converter so I pull the line at the remote filter and put it into a drain pan.  Start the motor and the trans. pump will pump the fluid out of the converter into your pan.  It will usually "burp" between the old fluid and new fluid as it comes out the line into the pan.  I then shut off the motor and hook the line back up to the remote filter and fill the trans. to full with the motor running.  This way you change almost all of the old fluid out for new.

c ya, Sum

[trackster]

Sum, The remote filter sounds like a good idea along with the method of "emptying" the convertor of dirty fluid. I may use the Hughes aluminum deep pan. Don't know if it has a drain or not. The extra capacity probably wouldn't hurt.  Thanks for the info.