Well it has STARTED.....

[Capt.D]

I guess it was inevitable.....I had to take the tranny out due to my stupid self driving a 700r4 with a broken tv cable and of course I burned the dang thing up, so I decided that since I had a rear seal leaking and I didn't know if the engine had ever been redone or not I figured I'd just take it out and see what I had. I guess once the air rachets started they just wouldn't stop and I am now going to redo this thing way more than I intended...at least I will know what I have when I get through.....

 

[Capt.D]

Well after talking to my buddy that is going to redo my tranny, I told him I'm thinking of going with a 502 and would need to find a 4l80-e to take the power I wamt. He tells me save the weight he can build the 700r4 to take it. I start shacking my head and he's laughing at me then tells me he has been building them for over 20 years and not at a dealership (he has to back his own work) so he promises that if it won't take it he will build me the 80-e for free...I'm really having a hard time believing it but with that kinda warranty what can I say...He will put it in as well so I guess we will be reading my How a 700r4 doesn't do so well behind a 502 thread!!!!!!!!It's either that or a 572...Now the debate is ...is there any reason to take the body off for a complete restore...I'm thinking no but my son is trying to talk me into it. The old Jimmy is in good shape with no rust underneth so I think it's a waste of time and effort.....I ran across a cheap 14FF and am trying to get a nice 60 for the front so that part should be ok.

 

[76zimmer]

And another money snowball starts rolling.

 

[USSkoval]

Sweet, a "might as well" build! Those are the best ones.

How does the motor look? (assuming it's torn down already)

 

[HeavyMetal72]

Yep, that's how it started for me. Never intended to do a full restoration, but like you said.....once the air ratchets started, they didn't stop. Maybe I'll have it all together sometime next year. Been saying that for the last couple of years!!!

 

[Burbdood 74]

Sweet, a "might as well" build! Those are the best ones.

Yep, that's how a simple rear main seal replacement on my Ford's 460 went. By the time I was "might as well'd" out, it had a new 468 with all the bells and whistles and a ZF5 speed in place of the 4 speed.

 

[rdn2blazer]

Let the financial ruin begin, your not alone pal .

 

[76zimmer]

Let the financial ruin begin, your not alone pal .

X2 for truth of statement

 

[Capt.D]

Well the more I dig into this thing the more I like the shape it's in. It had a rear seal leaking and power steering leak and that's about the worse things on the Jimmy. The seats were talen from a berb I think and it has Dakota digital dash in it....Looks like after I put another motor, rebuild the tranny, and get the bigger axles under it I'll have a nice rig....I also see that kids shot the side with a bb gun before I got it and got the side window in the back so I'll be looking for side glass soon too. Under the thing is suprisingly rust free....maybe all that oil and power steering fluid kept it away.....so it looks good...Thinking about the transfer case now...It smeeled like gear lube and was thick...looks like I'll break it open to see if they just didn't know or were trying to just limp it along....Could be time for an Atlas......

 

[Teck]

Well after talking to my buddy that is going to redo my tranny, I told him I'm thinking of going with a 502 and would need to find a 4l80-e to take the power I wamt. He tells me save the weight he can build the 700r4 to take it. I start shacking my head and he's laughing at me then tells me he has been building them for over 20 years and not at a dealership (he has to back his own work) so he promises that if it won't take it he will build me the 80-e for free...I'm really having a hard time believing it but with that kinda warranty what can I say...He will put it in as well so I guess we will be reading my How a 700r4 doesn't do so well behind a 502 thread!!!!!!!!It's either that or a 572...Now the debate is ...is there any reason to take the body off for a complete restore...I'm thinking no but my son is trying to talk me into it. The old Jimmy is in good shape with no rust underneth so I think it's a waste of time and effort.....I ran across a cheap 14FF and am trying to get a nice 60 for the front so that part should be ok.

I have a 700r4 also it is at the Tranny shop now. I was told the same thing, that he could build it to hold up. He did a good job years ago on it and it held up, it is just in there to get some updates and to be gone throught because it has been setting for almost 10 yrs