Best Reman 200-4R

Discussion in 'General Automotive Tech' started by smparr, Aug 18, 2020.

  1. smparr

    smparr Member

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    After finding bearing parts in the pan and most shops hesitant to rebuild a 200-4R due to lack of cores and experience we've decided to find a remanufactured one. I see a few, not many, on line and was wondering who is best. I've seen a few from PATC, Monster, and Transdepot. This is for a bone stock 1990 Olds Custom Cruiser in excellent condition otherwise. Any direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Steve.
     
  2. Darcane

    Darcane Well-Known Member

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    It's a bit of a drive for you....

    But maybe check out Puyallup Transmission.
    https://www.puyalluptransmission.com/

    They are a small family business that has been building trannies for decades. They likely have plenty of experience with 200-4Rs since they have been around for so long. The owner has been rebuilding them since 1978.

    I know for a fact that they have a core on hand... I gave them my old tranny for a discount on the 4L60E they just rebuilt for me.

    P.S. if you want a spare Olds 307, I have one you can have free...
     
  3. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    I can vouch for Puyallup Transmission; when I lived and worked in Lakewood, over by McChord AFB, the shop I worked at had dealt with them a few times, and had great results from them.
     
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  4. smparr

    smparr Member

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    Darcane, I'd love a spare 307 but I have nowhere to put it and my wife would kill me. I thought of swapping one into my 91 CC instead of the crappy 305 I'm constantly tinkering with. Before the tranny problem the 307 in my son's car seemed to have more pickup with the carb than the TBI 305!
     
  5. smparr

    smparr Member

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    I'll have to give them a call.
     
  6. smparr

    smparr Member

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    Has anyone ever used Extreme Automatics or Art Carr's California Performance Transmissions? They came up on other forums.
     
  7. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Those are very expensive, as they're built for racing. A standard rebuild always incorporates superceding factory improvements, for run-of-the-mill driving.
     
  8. KevinVarnes

    KevinVarnes Well-Known Member

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    Check the rear gears in each car. Maybe the older car has shorter gears. IMO the 305 is light years better than the 307. You can also do more with to modify the 305 with stock parts if you wish.

    I'm also shocked that you can' find a shop to rebuild a 200-4R. What is the world coming to?
     
  9. elB

    elB Well-Known Member

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    The 200-4R has been out of production for almost 30 years now. Even the 700R4 is having trouble finding love as they superseded that model with the 4L60E 25+ years ago. And with the known weaknesses and trouble spots on the 200 & 700, it's not surprising that it's hard to find a shop that wants to mess with them. Most younger techs weren't even born when production ceased. The one reason we have so many known upgrades for the 200-4R that are relatively inexpensive is the Grand National guys who are required to run them at the track for stock class drag racing.
     
  10. KevinVarnes

    KevinVarnes Well-Known Member

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    Fair enough, but so have the TH350, C4, and 727. I would expect to be able to walk into any trans shop and have those rebuilt. Then again maybe they wouldn't. The 200 and 700 are/were still popular OD swaps for RWD GM vehicles if you don't want to run a standalone trans controller same as the Ford AOD. I guess I don't understand the black magic behind a 200 that would prevent any reputable trans shop from being able to work on it.
     
  11. elB

    elB Well-Known Member

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    A Th350 isn't as popular as it once was but it's still available to be rebuilt pretty easily. The C4 and 727 are as well.

    I think what sealed the 200 & 700 fate was their naturally fragility combined with the TV cable issue. So many people don't set the cable right and it burns them up quick if you don't. Combined with the 200 being one weak weak internal transmission you have a recipe for lots of returns and reworks due to no fault of the builder\shop. For every "I ran mine 100,000 miles behind a big torque motor and it was fine!" story you have 20 "I was just driving down the road in my stock 307 and the transmission lost 2nd\3rd..." stories to complement them. I know the 700R4 in the light duty trucks have a terrible longevity reputation behind 350s and 6.2\6.5 diesels. A TH350\C4\Th400 just doesn't have that issue. I know a local transmission builder and another big name builder both stopped supplying them because of the effort involved and returns for failures made them not worth it to their business.
     
  12. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Actually, all the three-spped autos had massive teething issues, both when they debuted, and when the sperm whale oil was removed from the ATF recipes. But, they were relatively simple to rebuild, so everyone accepted their fate during those two periods. Also, the Big Three spent the R&D currency to continually improve those units. The wheels came off when the shareholders wanted maximum investment return, and the board members wanted huge Golden Parachutes.
     
  13. smparr

    smparr Member

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    We decided to go with Art Carr's California Performance Transmission since they had a more street tuned version. Extreme would have had to dial back a performance one.thanks for the help, now the wait for it to show up. It'll be nice to drive the car again.
     
  14. KevinVarnes

    KevinVarnes Well-Known Member

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    Art Carr puts a good transmission together (at least they did 20 years ago). I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just make sure you set it up right.
     
  15. smparr

    smparr Member

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    Thanks, I'll let everyone know how it works out.
     

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