ok, i have an 82 z28 camaro and was wondering what is the stock rear end in it, gear wise. i talked to a transmission mechanic today about putting in a 700r4 to replace my th200 and he said i would have to change the cross member, put a different rear end , change the drive shaft and who knows what else. He also told me i would be better off putting in a turbo 350 than the 700r4 since it would match up better. he said my rear end wouldn't match the 700r4 and make the rpms around 1500 on the highway which is too low he said. any thoughts or ideas on this?

 

any ideas? almost 30 veiws

 

the 700r4 is the same gears as a 350 except the od. and running at 1500 is not too low unless u have a motor built to the hilt. check here and see if they have what u need to do your switch a little easier.
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/highperflist.htm

 

Technical info: http://www.f-body.org/tech/tech.htm#ThirdGen
Yes you'll need to change, or alter your crossmember, but don't forget that 3rd gen's came with a 700R4.
The driveshaft would need to be shortened, or get one out of a newer 700R4 equipped 3rd gen. You'll be able to find them on ebay, craigslist, or a boneyard.
Your rearend gearing won't match? Whether to pop the trans into overdrive or not is totally optional. Third gear in the 700R4 is the same 1:1 ratio as third gear in a T350. But your car would perform better with a lower rear gear. For all you know, you might have a lower gear which was optional from the factory in the Z.

 

Thanks for the links, I have a 86 700r4 tranny and one of the site shows it doesn't require the lock up wires connected if it is a late 84 on up tranny, the guy i got the tranny from is going to give me the cross member and shaft to make it work also.

 

As long as you don't want it to lock up. It's an option for better fuel economy and less heat build up that's caused by natural torque converter internal slippage. Without it locked up, it will operate like any other non-locking trans. But, I would consult a transmission rebuilder, just to make sure there won't be any fluid flow problems. I've heard and read both that fluid gets redirected when the t.c. locks up and it could do harm, and also that it wouldn't harm it? You can hotwire a switch to it for a cheap way to make lockup work.