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700r4 To Th400 Swap All Done

scrappyk5

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Well after some quick motivation, The th400 I got last summer is finally installed.:D chaz(gmc4cw), posted the he was looking for a 700r4 for his rig after he finally toasted his. So I told him, if he helps with my swap, he can have mine. So we set up to do it at my work Yesterday( Saturday ).
I started taking the 700r4 out about 6:15am, while Chaz was on his way down to meet me. I removed the driveshafts first , then the Transfer case. Then i took a ratchet strap and ran it across the frame going under the oil pan to hold the motor up. Then I removed the three converter bolts and
then the connections and linkage. Next was the tranny to engine mount bolts, then I put a jack under the tranny. After that I removed the tranny cross member including the tranny tail end. I lowered the tranny and moved out of the way. It was about 8:30 then and i got a call from chaz, He was dealing with some bad weather on his way down which included a truck flipped over. I told him just to take it easy and hurry the F*#k up, he is missing all the fun.:D
Now what was good was that when Psudomike sold me the th400, he included everything from the flexplate,torque converter,tranny,crossmember and 208 case which I think he said all of it came out of a 1987 Suburban.( :bow: thanks again mike ).
I put the th400 on the jack and put it under the blazer and up into place. I installed the tranny to engine bolts, linkage, converter bolts, and then the th400 crossmember. I put the crossmember up agianst the frame and marked where I had to drill holes, becouse the crossmember is different then the old one. At that time Chaz showed up to join in the fun. While Chaz finshed drilling and bolting up the crossmember. I went and got the tcase. We put some rtv on it and bolted it into place. While Chaz finished hooking up the linkage and wires. I installed the rear driveshaft. It fit perfect. I have a 4" lift on the blazer so I assume that helped. While chaz fixed the tranny shifting linkage ,( I didnt have it in correcty :o )I ran over to napa to get a couple things. Since I had to cut the tranny cooling lines becouse I couldnt loosen them up, we repaired with rubber hose and clamps for the time being. To add though the flare connections of the tranny lines are the same for my 1984 700r4 and the 1987 th400. Then I installed the vacuum hose going from the modulater on the tranny to the back of the intake vacuum tee. I hooked up a wire going from the kickdown switch through the fire wall to the kickdown switch that I bought which was installed in place on the gas pedal.
I do need to add to this story That Cris (Big94gmc) offered to help, and through his busy schedule,3 jobs,and booty calls, He was checking in with us via by phone to see how we were doing.
So as we start finishing up, We installed the front driveshaft, which was a pefect fit :D and started adding fluid. Through years of experience and and a 13 episodes of macgyver, Chaz had put the valvestem6000 into play to add fluid to the transfer case ( see below for pic ). This thing was awesome. He actually installs a tire valvestem into a cap from the bottle of tranny fluid , then he is able to squirt the fluid into the tcase. Ofcourse the valve stem has no valve in it. I myself was adding fluid to the tranny itself. Out of everything involved, the 700r4 dipstick and tube does not work on the th400, so I will have to get one. Once all fluids were topped off, we took her for a spin and everything worked great. :waytogo:

We then got a call from Chris(big94gmc), he was on the way. While Chaz wentt and got lunch, ( it was about 1:30pm), I started cleaning up and putting everything away. Chaz showed up with lunch and we proceeded to eat lunch, talk about things men talk about about few other adventures in our lives. Chis showed up to hang out and change to conversation to include his thoughts on the brittney spears saga. :haha:
We finshed up lunch and hung out for awhile then everyone had to bolt.
Cris had to go to work and Chaz had to get home to hang out at Tractor supply, then watch transformers.

I will say this was a fairly easy swap and it was done in a day.
I enjoyed the 41 mile drive home and with 3:73 gears, driving 65mph was a comfortable drive. Thanks very much to Chaz and Chris, it was a great day of wrenching and hanging out.

onto the only pic for day long adventure:

The Valvestem6000
Inventor : chaz (gmc4cw)



To add , Check out the " for sale " section for left over parts.

MVC-011S.JPG
 
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glad I could help. nice pic of a red X there. as soon as I get mine done you need to come up for some wheeling.
 
I know about the red x . i cant seem to get the pics from my gallery to load. Maybe a moderator can chime in and help my dumdumness:D
 
host it on photobucket. thats what I do with all my pics. or email it to me and I will upload it.
 
What made you want to swap out tranny's in the first place?

Nice swap, just curious.
 
I just do not like the 700r4. I had bad luck a few years ago with a couple of them and I feel as if I am jinxed. Anyways, I have been behaving myself with my blazer for 5 years becouse i have been afraid of this 700r4 going bad. I finally found a th400 and i am happy!!!
 
Glad everything went well. If I didn't have to work the weekend I would have came down.
 
I thought the th400 was longer than the 700R? How did the driveshafts fit perfect? You used the same 208 right? The shafts were the main reason i was staying with the 700r4, but if i can reuse them them i will def be looking for a th400!! -thanks
 
when he lifted it originally the rear shaft slipped out over an inch. now with the 400 it slipped back in where it was stock.
 
when he lifted it originally the rear shaft slipped out over an inch. now with the 400 it slipped back in where it was stock.

according to the specs, the th400 is about a 11/4" longer and of course the 208 is the same for both. so since I lifted the blazer, the driveshafts seem to work perfect, and technically the front shaft has extended slightly but didnt effect it at all. so the only thing that I have to change is the dipstick tube.
 
according to the specs, the th400 is about a 11/4" longer and of course the 208 is the same for both. so since I lifted the blazer, the driveshafts seem to work perfect, and technically the front shaft has extended slightly but didnt effect it at all. so the only thing that I have to change is the dipstick tube.

:thinking: makes me think a 700r could work in my blue blazer, would be sweet to have an OD.
 
:thinking: makes me think a 700r could work in my blue blazer, would be sweet to have an OD.

Sorry already gave away my 700r4 :D,

the only real modification was drilling the holes for the th400/208 "w" style crosmember.
 

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