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Automatic tranny builders.

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I told a buddy that I would rebuild the TH2004R for him out of his Monte Carlo SS. What should I order? I have never rebuilt a 200. Are there any standard upgrades? I was assuming a TransGo shift kit. What else do I need to know?

Martin
 
I told a buddy that I would rebuild the TH2004R for him out of his Monte Carlo SS. What should I order? I have never rebuilt a 200. Are there any standard upgrades? I was assuming a TransGo shift kit. What else do I need to know?

Martin
tell him to opt for a third pedal
 
Not gonna happen. He is married and has three kids. His wife isn't even very happy with him for buying the car, so I am doing the work for free.

Martin
 
I would take a look on a Grand National/ T-Type forum. I believe that there were some early versions that were pretty weak until the Turbo versions came out. I know when I had my GN, there were guys with 1200 HP running them.
 
I think even the GN versions were fairly "weak" by todays standards (by that I mean how much power people are putting down, and the components GM used) but yes, the SS, 442, and GN trans were stronger than other variants.

I built mine years back, but unfortunately the seller of the parts is no longer doing 200's.

I agree, if anyone is still messing with these things, the GN guys are going to know. As I recall though, until you get to some really stout power numbers, there weren't a TON of upgrades that needed done to make it last.

I put mine up against 403, and based on advice I was given by builders, it didn't take much in the way of parts/money to get to a level of performance that was felt enough to handle the motor. Of course, I immediately tore the car back down, so put almost no miles on it since. :( The core I started with was an SS as well.
 
There is a guy in New York who is supposed to be "the guy" on the east coast for GN trans stuff, my buddy had been having problems with the 200 that was in his T-type (10.50 street car) and this guy went through it while he waited. I can find out a name if you want.
 
If yours is an 85-87 model then it has some goodness in it already, like a hardened sun shell, 10 vane pump rotor etc.. A Superior HP kit is far less complicated than the TransGo kit and works very well in these units. Make sure the direct drum is square and flat on the band surface, machine if needed and use a wider band. You will probably need a three ring servo pin if you machine the drum, 2 ring if not in most cases. You will need some special tools ro build this unit, one to hold the rear gear train in place as you load the case, a special tool to remove and install the low clutch housing, snap ring pliers for the large snap rings on the overdrive housing and a pump alignment tool to mention the most important ones.Be sure and use a .500 boost valve in the pump and a stator tube with hardened splines, yours will most likely be half gone. The converter clutch solenoid should be replaced during the build and pressure switches checked.The Monte Carlo SS uses it's own valve body and governor so don't bung these up. Stock clutch packs are good to 350hp and a little more, the direct clutch housing uses 6 frictions with thick steels, shoot for .050 clearence there. Pay attention to all splines in the trans for wear and ring wear in the direct drum bore. This is just the most basic of advice on this, there is plenty more you can do to these budget permitting but this will get you a pretty solid trans for the money.
 
Just a note on that statement, need to read that in context...they are talking about 800HP/7 second cars there as best I can tell.

I do recall things like the upgraded pump, heavy duty band and what not, but when you start talking about the drums and shafts, at least in the past, those parts would easily more than double the cost of the rebuild. The cheap upgrades (and ones like the bands and clutches that you are going to replace in any case) are certainly worth it, but I'd defer to the experience of others when it comes to what will work and what will fail with the punishment the transmission is expected to see.

Edit: Greg, I remember some TCC solenoids (aftermarket) being sold as "universal" for the 200 and 700, but there being some issues. Is that still the case? I ended up buying a couple of GM units as backups (they were still available at that point) because of that. The TV cable was another problem area, the aftermarket at the time sold garbage, and Delco again was the piece of choice. Any words of wisdom on those?
 
Greg, do you sell these parts? Or where would you recommend to purchase them from?

Martin
 
Just a note on that statement, need to read that in context...they are talking about 800HP/7 second cars there as best I can tell.

I do recall things like the upgraded pump, heavy duty band and what not, but when you start talking about the drums and shafts, at least in the past, those parts would easily more than double the cost of the rebuild. The cheap upgrades (and ones like the bands and clutches that you are going to replace in any case) are certainly worth it, but I'd defer to the experience of others when it comes to what will work and what will fail with the punishment the transmission is expected to see.

Edit: Greg, I remember some TCC solenoids (aftermarket) being sold as "universal" for the 200 and 700, but there being some issues. Is that still the case? I ended up buying a couple of GM units as backups (they were still available at that point) because of that. The TV cable was another problem area, the aftermarket at the time sold garbage, and Delco again was the piece of choice. Any words of wisdom on those?

The Rostra solenoids work pretty well and give decent service. The aftermarket cables we use are very reliable so I guess things have come along a bit as far as quality goes. I think the market has a way of flushing out the junk eventually when it has been exposed as such.
 

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