I'm looking to make a change for the 327/T350 to a 350 TPI/ 700R4 from an 1985 Corvette. I have the 350/700R4/computer and the wiring harness from the '85. There are a few things i know i need to do in order to make this swap and have not found too many issues so far. Please let me know if anyone has done this before and if so teach me what to beware of.
Thanks ~ JROD

 

Do you know if the -R4 will fit under the car. I know that you'll have to move the tranny mt back like 2' and the drive shaft needs to be shortened, but will the housing fit in the tunnel. I was going to put a -R4 in my 68, but I was afraid of this so I went with a Gear Vendors 6 speed conversion. I HATE IT!, but I blew my load on it so I'm stuck for now.

 

I believe the 700 will fit up under the car and i was aware of the mount and driveshaft having to be modified. The thing about the 700 is, i believe, that you have to go with a digital gage. And then adding the painless wiring harness or doing it yourself you still run into lots of money making the swap, just between the gages and the dash wiring. I was going to the TPI for better fuel milage, but when you think about all the extra money i would spend to get it in there, i could buy atleast 1,000 gallons of gas. I don't think it is worth 3-4 miles more out of a gallon. I'm staying with the 327/T350. Why don't you like the 6-speed?

 

I don't like the 6sp because it's not what I wanted. I wanted to shift like a R4 or at least a 4R, but the kit was designed for the strip. It shifts throught the gears fast and hard when your on it. I also wanted the RPM's down in OD. It lowered them some but in final gear I'm still 3300-3400 range @ 65MPH. I know with the R4 I would be 2500-2600. Its not what i expected for the price. I'm building a cruiser not a 10 sec. car you know?
For the R4 by itself you only need to wire the tranny up so the converter locks up. I hear that it's simple but I don't know how to do it. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site so I'm sure someone knowshow to do it.Your going all out with the TPI so I can't help you there. I would start with knowing what I needed to run the TPI system and go from there. I wish I could help. God luck with it and keep us posted. Thanks Shaun

 

Wiring up the r4 is not the hard part it is the TPI and dash wiring where it gets expensive and everything else that goes into the converstion......the money does make sense. I'm going to back off the idea about the TPI, from the knowledge i have it's just going to take way too much out of my pocket and i've already got agood running 327 that just needsto be tuned up.For right now the 327 will work and the next time i'm looking to spend big$$$$$$ i will be looking to put an LS-6 in it.

 

About the 6-speed, what motor are you running and what tranny did you have before the 6-speed?

 

that conversion is very easily done. you have many ways you can do it. you can send out you computer for just a few hundred bucks to get it re-programmed exactly for your set-up (no this can't be done with a hand held one), you can probably keep it the way it is and just buy a different sender for your speedo so you can stay mechanical (I think they're are $60.), or you can call someone like painless and have one made (they probably have them in stock for you anyway) for you after they ask you some questions like accessories, tranny, open loop or closed loop, gages and stuff like that, if you have the mill and tranny already, this swap will cost you plenty under a grand including your new length driveshaft

 

That's great and all but what about an eletronic fuel pump, new return lines, new radiator with electric fan,gages cluster, Throttle linkage, there was alot of stuff little and big that after i did the math added up well over 2 grand just to make the swap correctlynot counting what i was going to pay for the motor and tranny. It might be something i do down the road but for right now i doesn't make sense toswap. I really appreciate the adviceand through talking with you and others i have decided not to swap at this time, i don't think it will increase hp or fuel efficentcy some much i could justify spending that much money.

 

I right now just in stall a 1990 l98 350 vin code 8 motor from a firebird with a 6 speed from a 1994 z28 camaro .

I have it all bolted in . The 700r4 would of fit , but that auto tranny when in my chevy nova . So nice with the O/d
But back to 1967 camaro

I'm going with the stock wiring harness from a 1988 GTA trans am , only because I wanted the mass air . The motor is a 383 worked motor . So mass air will work out better for me

And a 1987 ECM so the vats will be gone .

What I need is the dash wiring diagram so I can cut and rewire the stock TPI the the stock motor side of the fire wall plugs with the dash

 

^ Please start your own new thread, instead of reviving a 4+ year old one.