Hi all, I'm rebuilding '71 455 BBB, which initially had Th400 behind it. it has stock Edelbrock intake, compresion of about 10 and hope that will have fuel injection, other items are stock. Camshaft is unknown, anyway it will be smth mild for daily driving. Seems the engine will have 300-350HP, and usual torque of 610N/m The plan is to put this engine in later buick, estate wagon '89, and some times cruise in long distance trips, so overdrive is more than welcomed. I have several 200-4r, two are stock and one is strengthened, as I was told, with hardened internals. Do not sure about exact parts. What do you think, is it possible to drive "strong" 200 (seems that it is still mush more weak than stock TH400) behind 455? I would like to put low-stall speed converter, and tune tranny for shifting on low RPMs, like it do for current olds 307. May be some advice for tuning, if idea is not so crazy? Another question is about rear axle, I have stock 8.5" for '89 with gears like 2.32 or smth like this. I've heard that this axle not so strong and I can get broken axles, especially if leave limited slip in differential.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you are planning to do... The 200R4 is a good trans especially if you are not drag racing with sticky tires. Put it together and see how it works, I would not be too concerned about it.... What you do need to do is ensure that the TV cable geometry and length etc is perfect. Confirm the line pressures yourself before you drive it or pay a shop to do it. regarding the rear end, I would not worry about that either.... It will tell you if it has an issue with the power.
Avoid that "green lumber" . . . (Re: Am I crazy if I put 200-4R behind 455?) Dear ak88, Jim, Joe, Sean, and V-8 Buick fans of "properly seasoned" longroofs . . . . . . . :Brow: . . . Well, that's a bit weak for a station wagon, but that's a start! . . . :laugh: Yup, I can attest to that! :3gears: . . . Ah Ha! I see your problem right there! . . . Buick makes a great wagon, but they need a long time to mature. Don't waste your time with anything say less than 40-50 years old. Everything else is "green lumber!" . . . . . . . What? You guys think I'm biased or something . . . . :Brow: Cheers, Edouard :beer
my 2004r runs fine, car goes 12.00's at110 in drive. check the rear gear ratio before you use a 2004r. with 3.73's, it turn 2400rpm at 70mph. if it had 2.32 it would lug in high gear. Cheers!
The 8.5 10 bolt is plenty strong for what you want to do. The 2004R will last as long as you don't subject it to full power with sticky tires.
89 wagon would be a 200-4r and 8.5 rear from the factory fyi. all you need is buick motor mount 73 a body mounts should work and then move the wiring and fuel lines to opposite sides of the engine bay. pretty simple swap.
I would think with a 200R4 you'd need a rear gear between 3.42 - 3.73. Check with Monzas here on the board, he generally has both sets for real reasonable money.....And the 8.5 is a plenty strong axle, the issue with them is in later trucks where they went with larger carrier bearings at the expense of carrier thickness, and the carriers would break under load (or so I'm told).
I had to use a hammer to "modify" the firewall to make the Buick 455 fit into my model year 1983 Caprice wagon. Also: I broke the rear axle in 20 seconds or so :3gears:
I run one behind a supercharged 455. Start with a BRF or CZ code. Stock D5 converter may be a little light for a 455. Have run at track with Nitto drag radials but mostly street car. Best 60 for around 1.7
it should fit no problem. the late b bodies had the same amount of room and same frame as the second gen a bodies. the motor mounts you used may have pushed it back to much or something? some cars had 7.5 rears but I think wagons where all 8.5s but that im not a 100% there. you can tell by the bolt pattern. small bolt pattern is 5x4.75 is the 7.5. the 8.5 is the larger 5x5. being a stock 200-4r 8.5 car it should be a 3.08 or a 3.23 rear stock. the process should be the same as bbb swap in a regal cept you have more room. the only thing that might cause an issue is the heater box.
I have one in my car and I love it. Total cost was around $3600, so be prepared. That's a lot of gas instead of overdrive.
The 200-R4 is temperamental and if everything isn't just right it will go away in a heartbeat. They weren't designed to withstand a lot of torque. For what it costs to make them strong enough you can go another route and have a less temperamental setup. 400 Turbo with a gear vendor or a 4L80E would be a better way to go. If you do a search I think you will see where a lot of people have had problems with the 200-R4. Bob H.
Thank you all for such useful info and your own experience. Sorry for being away for the long time, it's a hot time before the New Year, and also I tried to measure my engine to ask more questions :=) I'll try to answer you all now. What about "green lumber" - true, it's not so rare car for restoration. I have wish to get somewhen a Hudson or Buick from mid-50th, but now it is really impossible here. I am from Moscow which is in Russia, and actually there are nearly no interesting american cars. I would say that we have less than a couple of hundreds cars produced before mid-70th, and usually they are either not sold by current owners or need so many things to repair that it is easier to make another such a car from sheet metal. Nevertheless, I love my buick, it served a great job in our family and is worthy to become as young as it was 20 years ago. Also, it will be an attempt to restore smth before I get more interesting car Artem
All correct, swap is not complicated. Also, I've measured space under the hood, and looks like Buick have about an 1" more than the caprice. Still I have no motor mounts, but expect that they won't add more height to engine than chevy's do. Just to clear - why do you recommend to use '73 motor mount? I've thought that all buick '70-'76 mounts are similar?
Usually I hear the same here, in Russia - that 700 are junk and the 200-4r are even weaker. But you see, here are a lot of people who drive it successfully... I've thought about Gear vendor, a bit costly thing for a parsimonious person like me. $2500 with delivery will be 3000+, it is 5-10 pieces of 200-4r in lockal prices, 3-4 of 4l80 and nearly the price of Alisson or 6l80 (though, not sure about control module). But it is really a way if 200 won't be fine enough, because I already have the th400 in good condition. And what about gear ratios -may be I'm wrong with stock 2.32 and 4spd auto, but actually that doesn't matter. If there is a chance that 8.5" axle will handle such a power, It is worthy to make an attempt. Also I have other 8.5 b-body axles with 2.93, 3.08 and may be 3.23, remember only that it is bigger than 3.08. Another item is that I'm usually cruising at 80-85mph, and for me it is better to get better mileage at this speed than get a second less on a 1/4 mile.
I have a 200-4R behind my 462 Stage 1 and it works great. I've had it for 4 years now. It has never been on the strip or had sticky tires but I know it was built to take 500HP+ and it feels pretty strong with the right torque converter when I've played around on the back roads.
Re: Avoid that "green lumber" . . . (Re: Am I crazy if I put 200-4R behind 455?) True, but a bit more than olds 307 produce :laugh: will be enough for a start, untill I get a better car for this engine. Actually, 300-350 is my guess, may be you could correct numbers? later I'll start another thread, for questions about engine... What I got from previous owner of the engine: not ported 1237661 '71year heads, with stock valves. they are 55cc - so looks like they were machined. Block is 030 edelbrock intake, sealed power H392NP pistons with 20cc dish for 9.5 compression. Casting numbers on Exhaust manifolds tell that they are from BBB '68. An I will put there new camshaft(have not decided yet which one, but surely not aggressive) and may be machine the block to get compression closer to 10.5. It is very likely that it will be fuel injection instead of carb, because it is easier to find a person who can install FI than tune 4barrel carb. Though, I have a new Holley carb and may be put it if will learn how to tune it.
